As Budget Committee Takes Up Accountability, Delegates Stress Need to Finalize Agreed Definition of Fraud, Revised Whistle-Blower Policy
As the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) considered the topic of accountability today in its review of the Organization’s efficiency in administrative and financial functioning, speakers welcomed achievements and acknowledged areas where further progress was needed.
Yukio Takasu, Under-Secretary-General for Management, introduced the Secretary-General’s fifth progress report on the matter, which was organized around key concepts embedded in the accountability system: performance and results; stewardship of resources; and compliance. The report also described the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Umoja, the Organization’s enterprise resource planning system, as key platforms on which a more efficient United Nations was being built.
Personal accountability was one area that required focus, he said, noting that his Office was preparing a framework to provide information and guidance on preventing, recognizing and addressing fraudulent acts. The anti-fraud framework would explain the responsibility of staff members and other United Nations personnel, as well as establish principles to which third parties in contractual arrangements with the Secretariat — vendors, suppliers and implementing partners — must adhere. It would also include a definition of fraud and corruption.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introducing that body’s corresponding report, said additional practical measures should be introduced to ensure improved institutional and personal accountability.
Delegates agreed that accountability was a priority matter and mainstreaming such measures was critical to the Organization’s long-term viability. Several acknowledged the creation of structures within the Secretariat to bolster the United Nations accountability system.
Thailand’s representative, speaking for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, lamented the low implementation of oversight bodies’ recommendations. She urged the Secretary-General to redouble efforts in that regard, stressing that a single agreed definition, and proper guidance on prevention and identification of fraud and corruption, must be put in place.
The European Union’s representative similarly expressed interest in an update on the anti-fraud framework, as well as updates on how Umoja had strengthened accountability. Effective resource use, which had a direct impact on the delivery of mandates, should be central to any accountability system.
Indeed, said the United States’ representative, the mere implementation of “enablers”, such as Umoja, was not sufficient. Regular review and analysis of programmatic and financial information to inform strategic planning must become a “cultural norm”. Japan’s delegate stressed that a revised whistle-blower policy must be finalized without delay.
Switzerland’s representative, also speaking for Liechtenstein, added that progress on results-based management had been running below expectations. In light of the alleged bribery of a former General Assembly President, it was important for the United Nations to renew its commitment to zero-tolerance for fraud. In addition, it was crucial that peacekeepers who committed crimes against vulnerable local populations be held accountable.
The Fifth Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 10 March, to discuss the 2016-2017 programme budget for special political missions and financing of the Arusha branch of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. It will also take action on a draft resolution on reports of the Board of Auditors.
Introduction of Reports
The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met today to take up two reports on the accountability system in the United Nations Secretariat.
YUKIO TAKASU, Under-Secretary-General for Management, introducing the Secretary-General’s fifth progress report on the matter (document A/70/668), said it was organized around three key concepts embedded in the accountability system: performance and results; stewardship of resources; and compliance. The report also described “enablers” - or the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Umoja, the enterprise resource planning system - as platforms on which a more efficient United Nations was being built. While measuring efficiency might be relatively straightforward for an entity that produced measurable goods and services, it was more complex for the United Nations, which had a variety of mandates and operations.
“There are limitations in trying to measure efficiency at the results or impact level,” he said, recommending continued focus on outputs and processes, a more objective method, as they were more within the Secretariat’s control. In response to a General Assembly request, his Office was improving logical frameworks to focus more on impact and results, and preparation of the biennial programme performance report. Turning to enterprise risk management, he said implementation over the last two years had been significant — a “front-runner” in the United Nations system organizations. In July 2015, the Management Committee had approved the risk treatment and response plans for six critical risks, developed by the corporate risk owners, and working groups were now implementing action plans.
Within the accountability system, he said personal accountability required focus: performance management for staff-at-large, compacts for senior managers and disciplinary action for misconduct. The accountability policy in field missions had been adopted by the Departments of Political Affairs, Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support in August 2015 and now applied to all peacekeeping and special political missions. Also, his Office was preparing a framework to provide information and guidance on preventing, recognizing and addressing fraudulent acts. The anti-fraud framework would explain the responsibility of staff members and other United Nations personnel, as well as establish principles to which third parties in contractual arrangements with the Secretariat — vendors, suppliers and implementing partners — must adhere. It would reiterate the zero-tolerance approach to fraudulent acts and include a definition of fraud and corruption.
He said the report contained an analysis of implementation of high-risk and main recommendations of the Board of Auditors and Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Improvements were due to the Management Committee’s proactive role in following up and stressing the importance of implementing recommendations by programme managers; engagement with oversight bodies and the important role of managers and oversight body focal points in taking prompt action.
CARLOS RUIZ MASSIEU, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), introducing that body’s corresponding report (document A/70/770), acknowledged the Secretariat’s progress in establishing structures and systems for a viable accountability framework and recommended that more practical measures be introduced to ensure improved institutional and personal accountability. The report addressed the framework’s four underlying concepts: monitoring and oversight mechanism; measuring organizational activities and processes; evaluating outcomes; and operationalizing and enforcing a credible personal and institutional accountability framework. An accountability framework must include proper guidance for the prevention, identification and handling of fraud and corruption, as well as parameters to identify possible operational irregularities which, if necessary, would trigger corrective action. It must also include a policy to protect whistle-blowers and he asked the Secretary-General to provide an update on the development of the anti-fraud framework to the Assembly at the time of the report’s consideration.
In that context, he said an effective accountability system hinged on the full and timely implementation of recommendations of external and internal oversight bodies, as well as Assembly resolutions. It also rested on measurement of the Organization’s efficiency and effectiveness, based on realistic indicators. The Organization’s ability to operationalize and enforce remedial measures for staff and officials who had not exercised their responsibilities was also important and as further work was needed, he recommended that the Assembly ask the Secretary-General to develop parameters that defined responsibility areas, particularly for senior managers, for non-compliance in those areas.
Statements
SIRITHON WAIRATPANIJ (Thailand) spoke for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, saying accountability was a priority matter for Member States. She noted progress in setting up structures in the Secretariat to provide management and corresponding legislative bodies with accurate information to implement accountability measures. Concerned by the low rate of implementation of recommendations of the oversight bodies, she urged the Secretary-General to redouble efforts in that area. The Group fully supported the zero-tolerance approach to fraud. It agreed with ACABQ that a single agreed definition and proper guidance on prevention, identification of fraud and corruption must be put in place and that the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) was best placed to develop it. Monitoring the status of the implementation of Assembly resolutions on administrative and budgetary matters would be a useful accountability tool for Member States and the Organization. The Group would seek clarification from the Secretariat on the effective implementation of results-based management.
She said the Group was concerned to learn that the third evaluation of the self-evaluation pilot programme by the Department of Management had not been conducted and that it had no intention to replicate the model or to recommend it to other departments and offices. Oversight bodies had repeatedly emphasized the importance of creating a culture of evaluation and self-evaluation. Given that the process of implementing an effective accountability system was an ongoing exercise, an annual progress report for the Assembly’s consideration was necessary.
JAN DE PETER of the European Union welcomed progress made in preparing the anti-fraud framework and expressed interest in receive a status update. Pleased to note that the Management Committee had taken steps to define ownership among the United Nations senior leadership for each of the Organization’s top risks, he said holding senior managers accountable for the delivery of results remained a work in progress, with more needing to be done to promote a real culture of accountability.
The European Union looked forward to receiving updates during informal discussions as to how the implementation of Umoja had helped to strengthen accountability, he said. He welcomed the ACABQ recommendation related to the view that the credibility of the accountability framework rested on the ability of the Organization to operationalize and enforce measures for staff and officers who had not adequately exercised their responsibilities. The effective use of resources, which directly impacted the delivery of mandates, should be central to any system of accountability.
MATTHIAS DETTLING (Switzerland), also speaking on behalf of Liechtenstein, said, with regard to enterprise risk management, that assessments of institutional risk across the Secretariat should be conducted regularly and adapted continuously to the changing environments in which the Organization operations. He welcomed implementation of the pilot project in MONUSCO and encouraged the Secretary-General to mainstream the project throughout the Organization. Progress on results-based management had been running below expectations, and the Secretary-General was encouraged to address that issue with greater conviction. In light of recent events, most notably the alleged bribery of a former President of the Assembly, it was important for the Organization to renew its commitment to a zero-tolerance approach towards fraud.
With regard to peacekeeping operations, it was crucial that peacekeepers who committed crimes against vulnerable local populations be held accountable, he said. It was hoped that the Secretary-General would follow up, in a comprehensive manner, on the recommendations of the Report of the Independent Review on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by International Peacekeeping Forces in the Central African Republic and those of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations. Going forward, the agenda item “review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations” should be conducted by the Fifth Committee on a biannual, not annual, basis, to take into account the Committee’s increased workload and to take better measure of the progress that was being made.
CHERITH NORMAN CHALET (United States) said establishing and mainstreaming accountability measures designed to improve personal accountability and deliver results was critical to ensure the long-term viability of the United Nations. She said that, while supporting efforts to implement results-based management, more could be done to create a culture of performance, in part through increased monitoring and evaluation. Noting progress in enterprise risk management, she expressed interest in learning more about the pilot programme in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Mere implementation of IPSAS and Umoja, the key foundations of an accountability framework, was not sufficient. The regular review and analysis of programmatic and financial information to inform strategic planning must become a cultural norm at the United Nations. Measurable benefits should include cost savings in the near-to-medium term, she said, urging the Secretariat to focus on the business intelligence function of Umoja, using data analysis to reshape the Secretariat’s planning process.
While she appreciated the Secretariat’s current efforts to promote and improve performance management and senior managers’ compacts, further progress could be seen in those areas because personal accountability was of paramount importance. Further information was also needed on the anti-fraud framework, including a definition of fraud and corruption. The United States remained deeply interested in the issue of accountability in field missions, particularly as it related to conduct and discipline and sexual exploitation and abuse.
NOBUKO IWATANI (Japan) welcomed progress in establishing accountability structures and systems in the Secretariat, but agreed with ACABQ that more practical measures were needed to ensure elements other than management and those of governing bodies led to improved institutional and personal accountability. She asked the Secretariat to indicate which initiatives would potentially require additional resources. She looked forward to the Secretary-General providing a detailed plan for the implementation of results-based management, as called for in resolution A/RES/69/272, paragraph 14. Revision of the policy regarding the protection of whistle-blowers from retaliation needed to be finalized without delay. On enterprise risk management, she noted the Advisory Committee’s comment that the risk treatment and response plan lacked operational precision and did not in fact include a response strategy to hold senior managers accountable for risk. She expressed interest in a concrete timeframe for the risk treatment plan’s implementation in full.