Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Thirty-seventh Session at United Nations Headquarters, 15-17 February

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its thirty-seventh session from 15 to 17 February at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan.  All the other members of the IAAC, namely, J. Christopher Mihm (Vice-Chair), Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta, Natalia A. Bocharova and Richard Quartei Quartey, were in attendance.

The IAAC’s deliberations included the finalization of the Committee’s report on the peacekeeping support account budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for the fiscal year 2017/18.

In addition, the IAAC held meetings with:

1. Yukio Takasu, Under-Secretary-General for Management, on (i) organizational transformative projects, including Umoja, the global service delivery model and flexible workspace; (ii) the sixth progress report on the accountability system in the United Nations (document A/71/729); and (iii) the main decisions of the General Assembly during the main seventy-first session.
2. Heidi Mendoza, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Service, and senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including: (i) finalization of the report on the peacekeeping support account budget of Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS); (ii) status of vacant posts; (iii) strengthening the investigation function, including the status of the central intake mechanism for investigation cases in the Secretariat; (iv) audit of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund in light of General Assembly resolution 71/265; and (v) the approach of OIOS to fraud and corruption.
3. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, Controller, on: (i) finalization of the report on peacekeeping support account budget of OIOS; (ii) a preliminary review of the OIOS programme budget for 2018/19; (iii) statement on internal control; and (iv) steps in ensuring the completeness of fraud reporting and the controls in place to ensure detection.
4. Atef Riazi, Chief Information Technology Officer, on how the United Nations is dealing with cybersecurity and digitalization risks, including Umoja.
5. Chandramouli Ramanathan, Project Director, Umoja, a.i., on the status of the project, especially as it relates to identifying and managing current and emerging risks.
6. Elia Armstrong, Director, Ethics Office, on: (i) the new whistle-blower policy; and (ii) strengthening the investigation function in the Secretariat.

The next (thirty-eighth) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 19-21 April at the United Nations Office in Vienna.

For further information on the work of the IAAC, please see the Committee’s website at www.un.org/ga/iaac, or contact the Committee’s Executive Secretary, Moses Bamuwamye, at e-mail:  bamuwamye@un.org, or tel.: +1 212 963 0788.