Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Forty-first Session in Nairobi, 21-23 February

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its forty-first session from 21 to 23 February at the United Nations Office at Nairobi.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan.  All the other members of the Committee, namely:  Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta (Vice-Chair), Natalia A. Bocharova, Richard Quartei Quartey and Janet St. Laurent were in attendance.

The Committee’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 2018/19.

In addition, the Committee held meetings with:

1. Sahle-Work Zwede, Director-General, United Nations Office at Nairobi, with respect to:  (i) the effectiveness of OIOS in assisting the Director-General in her oversight responsibilities; (ii) the implementation of enterprise risk management and the internal control system at the United Nations Office at Nairobi; and (iii) the implications of the Secretary-General’s management reform on the Director-General’s work.

2. Senior officials in the Funds and Programmes based at United Nations Office at Nairobi, including Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat), and Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on:  (i) the impact of the OIOS work on their respective programmes; (ii) the implementation of enterprise risk management and the internal control system; and (iii) the implications of the Secretary-General’s management reform on their work.

3. Jan Beagle, represented by Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, and senior managers in the Department of Management, on:  (i) follow-up to the discussions on the Secretary-General’s reform proposals; and (ii) the accountability framework.

4. Said Djinnit, Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, on:  the effectiveness of OIOS in assisting the Special Envoy in his oversight responsibilities.

5. David Kanja, Assistant Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services and senior managers, including those based at United Nations Office at Nairobi, regarding a wide range of matters, including:  (i) finalization of the report on the peacekeeping support account budget of OIOS; (ii) status of vacant posts; (iii) the investigation function; and (iv) a follow-up on questions the Committee posed during its fortieth session.

6. Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, on:  (i) the finalization of the report on the peacekeeping support account budget of OIOS; (ii) the major decisions of the General Assembly during the main part of the seventy-second session on the budgetary process and reform proposals; and (iii) implications of the changes with respect to the reform proposals on the internal control framework and the outcome of the Internal Control Advisory Group.

7. Chris Kirkcaldy, Director of Administration and the senior management team of the United Nations Office at Nairobi, on:  a follow-up and an in-depth dialogue on matters discussed to with the Director-General.

8. Senait Bethane, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) Liaison Office, on:  the impact of OIOS audits on their work.

The Committee would like to thank the United Nations Office at Nairobi for the great hospitality they have shown.  The next (forty-second) session of the Committee is scheduled from 25 to 27 April at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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