Transcend Politics, Put Aside Differences to Ensure Sound Management of United Nations Resources, Concrete Deliverables, General Assembly President Urges Fifth Committee
The President of the General Assembly urged Fifth Committee delegates today to transcend politics and put aside their differences as they ensure the efficient management of the Organization’s resources and assess the long-term viability of an annual budget cycle.
Stressing the Committee’s critical role in upholding the Organization’s reputation and credibility, Csaba Kőrösi (Hungary) asked delegates to wrap their work in a timely manner during the main part of the seventy-seventh session. “Please focus on making decisions that will ultimately improve the management of this organization and provide concrete deliverables,” he said, before the Fifth Committee considered reports from two oversight bodies: the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and the Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC).
Pakistan’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” and China, said OIOS — an internal oversight body of the United Nations that conducts internal audits, investigation, inspection and evaluations of the Organization’s resources and staff — plays a key role in improving internal controls, risk governance, accountability and organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Stressing that all United Nations entities should fully cooperate with the Office, he welcomed the $0.1 million in savings through its recommendations on loss and waste of resources. However, he expressed alarm that despite the overall decrease in the Office’s recommendations, including in peacekeeping missions, the percentage of its recommendations deemed important had increased.
The representative of Switzerland, speaking also for Liechtenstein, attributed the recent increase in OIOS Inspection Unit investigations to its importance as a central forum for complaints and the confidence others have in the Office. She called for it to be given the necessary resources and urged OIOS to conduct its investigations with a victim-centred approach and specialized interventions. OIOS must be an important instrument to strengthen accountability at all levels of the Organization, she stressed, adding that its recommendations and those of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee must be implemented in a timely manner, and any obstacles must be identified and addressed.
Benjamin Swanson, Assistant-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, introduced the annual OIOS report on its activities for the 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 period.
Janet St. Laurent, Chair of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, introduced that body’s report on its activities for the 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 period — which outlines trends in the implementation rate of recommendations issued by the Board of Auditors, OIOS and the Joint Inspection Unit.
In other business today, the Committee, acting without a vote, approved a draft resolution titled “Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations: requests under Article 19 of the Charter”. Through the text, the Assembly would agree that the failure of Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia to pay the full minimum amount of their assessments, necessary to avoid the application of Article 19 of the Charter, was due to conditions beyond their control. It would also decide that those three Member States shall be permitted to vote in the Assembly until the end of its seventy‑seventh session.
Speaking after the approval, the Russian Federation’s representative said that while he did not object to allowing those countries to vote in the current Assembly session, the report under consideration — an account of the Committee on Contributions’ eighty-second session — contains information presented by the Secretariat about the war in Ukraine and its impact on the countries’ economic problems. Attempts by the Secretariat, in paragraphs 101, 102 and 107 of the report, to justify the vulnerable financial situation of debtors by current circumstances in Ukraine are awkward, “to put it mildly”, he said, stressing that politicization of the Committee’s work is unacceptable and disassociating his delegation from those paragraphs.
Philippe Kridelka (Belgium), Chair of the Fifth Committee, assured the Russian Federation’s delegate that the Secretariat and presidency have noted his concerns. He also noted that the Chair and Secretary of the Committee on Contributions were present in the room.
The Fifth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 October, to discuss the 2023 proposed programme plan and budget and other issues.
Address by President of General Assembly
CSABA KŐRÖSI (Hungary), President of the General Assembly, said if the Assembly Committees were considered different vital parts and organs of a body, the Fifth Committee would be the heart pumping the blood or the lungs providing the oxygen. “Without it, the United Nations cannot function or carry out its important mission,” he said. The Fifth Committee ensures the Organization has the resources it needs to confront the multiple challenges facing the international community — from the climate crisis to political instability and seemingly intractable conflicts around the globe. As the world looks to the United Nations for action and solutions, the Fifth Committee plays the critical role of upholding the Organization’s reputation and credibility by ensuring that resources are managed in a fully accountable, transparent, effective and efficient manner.
He made three requests of the Committee as it moved forward with its important work. First, he asked delegates to avoid the contemporary dynamics of extreme politicization and deep divides. Rather, Committee members should build consensus and overcome differences. “We need to build on what unites us, to deepen solidarity and build trust,” he said. “I urge you to put in the hard work and find common ground and sustainable solutions, for the benefit of our “stakeholders” — the citizens of the world.”
Secondly, he asked delegates to transcend politics as they assess the Secretary-General’s reforms on the budget cycle as the three-year trial period is completed. The decisions made in the seventy-seventh session will have a long-term impact on how the Secretariat reports upon and manages the United Nations budget in the future. “Please focus on making decisions that will ultimately improve the management of this organization and provide concrete deliverables,” he said. Finally, he asked delegates to complete their work in a timely manner as the Organization faces urgent, multiple and multifaceted crises around the globe. He offered the Committee his full support as well as the support of the Assembly President’s Office.
Action on Draft Resolution: Scale of Assessments, Requests under Article 19
The Committee then considered a draft resolution titled “Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations: requests under Article 19 of the Charter” (document (A/C.5/77/L.2).
By its terms, the General Assembly, reaffirming its role in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 and the advisory role of the Committee on Contributions in accordance with rule 160 of the Assembly’s rules of procedure, would agree that the failure of Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia to pay the full minimum amount of their assessments necessary to avoid the application of Article 19 of the Charter was due to conditions beyond their control. It would also decide that those three Member States shall be permitted to vote in the Assembly until the end of its seventy‑seventh session.
The draft was approved without a vote.
DMITRY S. ALYAKIN (Russian Federation), speaking after the adoption, recalled that paragraph 6 of Assembly resolution 76/238 reaffirmed that the Committee on Contributions is a technical organ. He underlined that the Committee needs to work strictly on the basis of verified, corroborated, verifiable, comparable and compatible data. In the report under consideration — of the Committee on Contributions’ eighty-second session — there are political subjects. Paragraphs 101, 102 and 107 are dedicated to information presented by the Secretariat that talks about the war in Ukraine and its impact on the economic problems in Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. At the same time, the Secretariat did not provide information about the reasons that compelled the Russian Federation to launch a military operation in the Ukraine and the devasting consequences of illegitimate, unilateral sanctions on the economies of developing countries. He repudiated and rejected the references in the report to war and related economic consequences.
Attempts by the Secretariat, in paragraphs 101, 102 and 107 of the report, to justify the vulnerable financial situation of debtors by current circumstances in Ukraine are awkward, “to put it mildly”, he said. The economic difficulties are systemic in nature and emerged long before the beginning of the special military operation. He pointed out that the Assembly does not adopt the report of the Committee on Contributions but rather decides to pardon debtor States and let them vote. He did not object to allowing Comoros, Somalia and Sao Tome and Principe to vote, but underlined that the politicization of that Committee’s work is unacceptable and dissociated his delegation from paragraphs 101, 102 and 107.
PHILIPPE KRIDELKA (Belgium), Chair of the Fifth Committee, assured the Russian Federation’s delegate that the Secretariat and presidency has taken good note of his concerns. He also noted that the Chair and Secretary of the Committee on Contributions were present in the room.
Report on Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) Activities
BENJAMIN SWANSON, Assistant-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, introduced the annual report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for the 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 period (documents A/77/281(Part I) and Add.1). The Office issued 241 oversight reports relating to non-peacekeeping operations, including 16 reports to the General Assembly. The reports included 514 recommendations to improve risk management, governance and operations, of which one was classified as critical. The addendum provides an analysis of the implementation of OIOS recommendations. “During the period, we issued almost 30 per cent more reports and 23 per cent more recommendations than last year, reflecting our continued adjustment to and recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. During the reporting period, the Office made the following areas a priority: implementation of reforms, procurement and supply chain, missions in transition, and organizational culture, including addressing the risk of misconduct, such as sexual misconduct and retaliation, through investigations.
During the reporting period, the Internal Audit Division issued 513 audit recommendations, 366 of which were to entities not related to peace operations. Areas of focus included improved programme management, information technology, data management and financial management. OIOS also continued to issue a high number of recommendations aimed at strengthening the second line of defence through improvements to risk management, strategic planning and performance management. The Inspection and Evaluation Division continued to apply its new approach to evaluating the outcomes achieved by subprogrammes and prioritized those under the sustainable development pillar — completing evaluations of subprogrammes within four Regional Economic Commissions and eight mandated triennial reviews of the implementation of recommendations emanating from OIOS evaluations conducted in 2019. He said 39 of 41 recommendations had been implemented, with two in progress.
Of the 632 non-peacekeeping matters reported to OIOS during the period, he said 147 were assigned to the Investigations Division for investigation and 71 remain under review. The Division issued 136 investigation reports and closure notices and 20 advisory reports. While the timeliness of investigations remained a challenge because of the pandemic, the gradual phasing out of pandemic-related restrictions led to more in-person interviews and evidence gathering. Average investigation completion times have fallen below 12 months and continue to decrease. Also encouraging was the reduction of around one month in the duration of sexual harassment investigations, which continue to be prioritized and which, at the end of the reporting period, were taking an average of 9.3 months to be completed. He noted that independent experts will shortly finalize the report on their external quality assessment review of the Investigations Division and OIOS will commence a similar review by the end of this year of the Internal Audit Division, the Inspection and Evaluation Division and the Office as a whole to inform the General Assembly’s review of the Office’s functions and procedures during its seventy-ninth session.
Report on Independent Audit Advisory Committee Activities
JANET ST. LAURENT, Chair of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, introduced that body’s report on its activities for the period from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 (document A/77/273). In looking at implementation rate trends for recommendations by the Board of Auditors, OIOS and the Joint Inspection Unit, she said the rate for Board of Auditors recommendations by entities under the Secretariat’s purview continues to lag behind those outside of the Secretariat’s purview. The Committee recognized some improvement and encouraged Management to make further progress. The Management Committee has an important role in ensuring the implementation of oversight bodies’ recommendations and must pay particular attention to implementing OIOS recommendations, she added. The Committee also noted challenges with respect to acceptance and implementation rates of Joint Inspection Unit recommendations.
Turning to the Organization’s risk management and internal control framework, the Committee noted the efforts to implement enterprise risk management and mitigate risks which include the recent finalization of the Fraud and Corruption Awareness Handbook. While Management has developed risk treatment plans for some entities and critical risks, the Committee identified three critical risk areas — implementing partners, information and communications technology (ICT) strategy and infrastructure and cybersecurity — that warrant additional attention. Management must update the current risk mitigation plans to address the Board of Auditors and OIOS recommendations. On the quality and impact of recommendations, the Committee believes that OIOS is conducting audit work to address many important organizational risks, she said. As several important OIOS recommendations had not yet been fully implemented, the Committee called upon Management to ensure that these and other recommendations are implemented in a timely manner.
On strengthening the investigation function, she pointed out that the Investigation Division’s caseload has increased by about 300 per cent over the past eight years while the number of staff has only increased by 10 per cent. While there have been slight improvements on key performance indicators (the ageing of cases and average length per case), the Committee expressed concern about the pressure on investigators to manage an ever-growing caseload. OIOS should review the Division’s resource needs and develop a plan to further reduce the average time of completing investigations and managing referrals, she continued. On trends in financial reporting, the Committee noted that although the percentage of employee liabilities declined as a percentage of total liabilities, after-service health insurance liabilities remain a significant risk. The Committee suggests that the General Assembly revisit this matter at its future sessions, she concluded.
JIBRAN KHAN DURRANI (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, welcomed the OIOS planning phase and priority areas and urged the implementation of reforms to go hand in hand with the strengthening of internal oversight through audit, inspection, evaluation and investigations. OIOS plays a key role in improving internal controls, risk governance, accountability and organizational efficiency and effectiveness, he stressed. In reaffirming support for the Office’s operational independence, the Group commended its continuous coordination with other oversight entities to minimize overlap and duplication of work. All United Nations entities should fully cooperate with OIOS and the Secretary-General should continue his reporting on impediments and take prevention measures.
Turning to the increase in OIOS reports and overall decrease in recommendations, including in peacekeeping missions, he noted his interest for further discussions. While the number of cumulative open critical recommendations has been reduced to one, he expressed alarm over the percentage increase in recommendations considered important. He welcomed the $0.1 million in savings through recommendations on resource lost and waste. On the Internal Audit Division, the Group recognized its work, including the roll-out of the framework for the delegation of authority and strengthening of the second life of defence in the face of reforms. The Group also expressed support for aligning the Inspection and Evaluation Division’s work to cover more of the Secretariat’s subprogrammes, reducing the average time for the Investigations Division to complete an investigation and OIOS’ enforcing of the zero-tolerance policy for corruption, fraud or misconduct. On the Independent Audit Advisory Committee reports, the Group welcomed improvements in the implementation of the Board of Auditor’s recommendations, with peacekeeping missions, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) being the largest. The Fraud and Corruption Awareness Handbook will be useful a tool in addressing risk, he added.
GINA ANDREA SCHMIED (Switzerland), speaking also on behalf of Liechtenstein, reiterated the call for a strong, efficient and effective United Nations while highlighting OIOS’ key role in the Organization’s good governance and functioning. OIOS plays a crucial role in combating violations of ethical standards and various forms of misconduct including retaliation, discrimination, sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, she emphasized. Attributing the recent increase in OIOS Inspection Unit investigations to its importance as a central forum for complaints and the confidence others have in the Office, she called for the allocation of necessary resources and urged OIOS to conduct its investigations with a victim-centred approach and specialized interventions. OIOS, she continued, must be an important instrument to strengthen accountability at all levels of the Organization. To that end, OIOS and Independent Audit Advisory Committee recommendations must be implemented in a timely manner; any obstacles must be identified and addressed. OIOS must also have an adequate level of real and perceived independence and must be able to carry out its mandated activities in an impartial and objective manner, she added. She then welcomed the Office’s coordination efforts with the Board of Auditors and the Joint Inspect Unit.