United Nations Board of Auditors Holds Seventy-Fifth Regular Session on 22 July at New York Headquarters, Remotely from Santiago, Bonn, Beijing

The General Assembly established the United Nations Board of Auditors in 1946 as an important mechanism to promote accountability and transparency in the United Nations.  The Board performs external audit of the accounts of the United Nations Organization and its funds and programmes and reports its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) as also to individual governing bodies not under the General Assembly.  The members of the Board have collective responsibility for the audits and approved 23 reports at their regular session at United Nations Headquarters in New York and remotely from Santiago, Bonn and Beijing on 22 July.

Currently, the Board comprises Jorge Bermudez, Comptroller General of the Republic of Chile (Chairman), Kay Scheller, President of the German Federal Court of Auditors, and Hou Kai, Auditor-General of the National Audit Office of China.

The Board members connected virtually with the Chef de Cabinet for a formal exchange on important priorities and challenges faced by the United Nations on Thursday.

Through its work the Board provides independent assurance to Member States and other stakeholders regarding proper use of the resources of the United Nations entities.  It reports on financial matters as well as on regularity and performance issues.  It plays a significant role in assisting the United Nations to improve its operations and its internal control systems.  The findings and recommendations of the Board have led to continuous systematic improvements in the functioning of the United Nations.

This year the Board of Auditors audited the financial statements and reviewed the operations of 17 organizations.  All 17 audited entities received an unqualified audit opinion.  Two entities received an Emphasis of Matter.  The Board further produced two subject-specific reports for submission to the General Assembly and produced another four reports for submission to other governing bodies.

More detailed information about the Board’s findings can be found in the individual reports published on the Board’s website at http://www.un.org/en/auditors/board/.