Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Forty-Fifth Session at United Nations Office in Geneva, 20-22 February

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its forty-fifth session from 20-22 February at the United Nations Office at Geneva.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta.  All the other members of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, namely:  Natalia A. Bocharova (Vice-Chair), Maria Gracia M. Pulido-Tan, Richard Quartei Quartey and Janet St. Laurent were in attendance.

The Advisory Committee’s deliberations included the finalization of its report on the peacekeeping support account budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for the fiscal year 2019/20.

In addition, the Independent Audit Advisory Committee held meetings with:

1. Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Kate Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights on how the Oversight Services’ audit and other functions have assisted them and senior management in managing their office resources, including the usefulness of the oversight bodies recommendations/reports pertaining to audit, investigation and evaluation.
2. The senior management team of the United Nations Office at Geneva, including Corrine Momal-Vanian, Officer-in-Charge, and Director, Division of Conference Management; and Clemens Adams, Director of Administration, on how OIOS audit and other functions have assisted them in managing their office resources, including the usefulness of the oversight bodies recommendations/reports pertaining to audit, investigation and evaluation.
3. Senior management of entities based in Geneva including Arancha González, Executive Director, International Trade Centre (ITC), and Isabelle Durant, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), on how OIOS audit and other functions have assisted them and senior management in managing their office resources, including the usefulness of the oversight bodies recommendations/reports pertaining to audit, investigation and evaluation.
4. Inspectors of the Joint Inspection Unit, on (i) salient features of the Unit’s annual report for 2018 and programme of work for 2019; (ii) the status of the acceptance/implementation of the unit’s recommendations; and (iii) an update of the Unit’s reports on the “Review of audit/oversight committees in the United Nations system” and the “Review of the state of the investigation function”.
5. David Kanja, Assistant Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Service and senior managers, including those based at the United Nations Office at Geneva, 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; and (iii) the investigation function.
6. Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller and Project Director, Umoja, on (i) the finalization of the report on the peacekeeping support account budget of OIOS; (ii) update on the Secretary-General’s proposal for managing after-service health insurance liabilities; and (iii) the status of the implementation of Umoja Extension 2.
7. John Levins, Chairperson of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, on the audit by OIOS of the Board’s governance structure and related processes.
8. Henrik Malmquist, Head of Investigation Service, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on sharing best practices, lessons learned and hearing his views on (i) proactive investigations; (ii) length of investigations; (iii) fraud reporting, prevention and detection; (iv) investigation staff recruitment and retention; and (v) retaliation/whistle-blower matters.
9. Christophe Monier, Deputy Director, Division of Financial and Administrative Management, UNHCR, on how OIOS audit and other functions have assisted the senior management in managing UNHCR resources, including the usefulness of the oversight bodies recommendations/reports pertaining to audit, investigation and evaluation.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee would like to thank the United Nations Office at Geneva for the hospitality they have shown.  The next (forty-sixth) session of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee is scheduled for 29 April to 1 May at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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