Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Forty-Eighth Session at United Nations Headquarters, 10-13 December

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its forty-eighth session from 10 to 13 December at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta.  All the other members of the Committee, namely:  Natalia A. Bocharova (Vice-Chair), Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan, Richard Quartei Quartey and Janet St. Laurent were in attendance.

The Committee’s forty-eighth session was highlighted by the successful fourth meeting of the representatives of the United Nations system oversight committees.  The meeting, which was opened by the Chef de Cabinet on behalf of the Secretary-General, was attended by Chairs or other high-level representatives of 20 United Nations system entities.  The meeting 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 one of them.

In addition, the Committee held meetings with:

1. Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, on:  (i) updates on the Secretary-General’s management reform initiatives; (ii) the status of the implementation of recommendations of oversight bodies; and (iii) the status of the enterprise risk management and the accountability system of the Organization.
2. Fatoumata Ndiaye, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, on her vision for the Office; and with 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; and (iv) the budget proposal under the support account for peacekeeping operations.
3. Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller on:  (i) the peacekeeping budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for 2020/21; and (ii) the status of the implementation of Umoja, especially as it relates to the GRC module, and (iii) the financial situation.
4. Elia Armstrong, Director of the Ethics Office on:  (i) the strengthening of the ethics function of the Secretariat; (ii) developments with respect to the proposal contained in paragraph 94(b) of the Secretary-General’s report (document A/73/89); and (iii) the status update on the whistle-blower policy.

The Committee also unanimously elected Janet St. Laurent as Chair of the Committee and elected Richard Quartie Quartey as Vice-Chair for the following year starting 1 January 2020.

The next (forty-ninth) session of the Committee is scheduled for 19-21 February 2020 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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