Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Forty-Fourth Session at New York Headquarters, 11-14 December

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its forty-fourth session from 11 to 14 December 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 Committee, namely:  Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta (Vice‑Chair), Natalia A. Bocharova, Richard Quartei Quartey and Janet St. Laurent were in attendance.

The Committee’s forty-forth session was highlighted by the successful third meeting of the Chairs of the United Nations system oversight committees.  The meeting, which was attended by Chairs or other high-level representatives of 20 United Nations system entities saw a robust exchange of information on best practices and lessons learned.  The Committee expressed its deep gratitude to its colleagues for their active and engaged participation and looks forward to working with each of them.

In addition, the Committee held meetings with:

1. Jan Beagle, Under-Secretary-General for Management, on (i) updates on the Secretary-General’s management reform initiatives; and (ii) the status of the implementation of recommendations of oversight bodies.

2. Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Field Service, on how he can engage with the Committee as the head of the new Department of Operational Support.

3. David Kanja, Assistant Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Service and senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including (i) the status of vacant posts; (ii) utilization of the peacekeeping budget; (iii) the status of the peacekeeping workplan implementation; (iv) the audit on the governance structure and related processes of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board; and (v) updates on the investigation function, including the length of time it takes to complete cases of retaliation.

4. Chandramouli Ramanathan, Acting Controller and Project Director, Umoja, on (i) the peacekeeping budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for 2019/20; and (ii) on the status of the project, especially as it relates to the GRC module.

5. Members of the Internal Control Advisory Group, on best practices pertaining to the internal control framework.

The Committee also unanimously elected Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta as Chair of the Committee and elected Natalia A. Bocharova as Vice-Chair for the following year starting 1 January 2019.

The next (forty-fifth) session of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee is scheduled for 20‑22 February 2019 at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

For further information on the Committee’s work, 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.