Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Sixty-Second Session, 15-17 May

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its sixty-second session from 15-17 May 2023 at the United Nations Office in Beirut at the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).  The session was presided over by the Chair, Imran Vanker.  All the other members of the Committee, namely: Janet St. Laurent (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Bradley, Anton Kosyanenko, and Suresh Sharma, were in attendance.

The IAAC’s deliberations included the finalization of the Committee’s report on the regular budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) for the fiscal year 2024.

The sixty-second session of the IAAC was highlighted by a visit to UNIFIL — the Committee’s first-ever visit to a Peacekeeping Mission.  The Committee had a fruitful discussion with Major General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, the Force Commander and Head of Mission of UNIFIL, where, inter alia, the Committee discussed how the work of oversight bodies has assisted the Force Commander in managing the Mission. The Committee also discussed other matters of mutual interest to the work of the Committee.

In addition, the IAAC held meetings with;

1. The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka (at her Offices), on: (i) the risk and challenges of the delivery on the 2030 Agenda including how the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon is collecting and using data to improve contribution to the sustainable development goals; and (ii) the status and impact of the Secretary General’s reform initiatives (including the delegation of authority) on her work in Lebanon.
2. Deputy Executive Secretary, Programme, for the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Mounir Tabet, on: (i) the effectiveness of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) (Internal Audit Division, Inspection and Evaluation Division, and Investigation Division) in assisting with the oversight responsibilities of ESCWA; (ii) the implementation of recommendations of other oversight bodies such as the Board of Auditors and the Joint Inspection Unit; (iii) the implementation of enterprise risk management and the internal control systems at ESCWA, and how this work has been guided by the overall enterprise risk management and internal framework of the organization; (iv) The status and impact of the Secretary-General’s reform initiatives (including delegation of authority), the statement on internal control (SIC) and the Secretary-General’s data strategy on the work of ESCWA; (v) the Accountability Framework as it relates to fraud and the anti-corruption framework; (vi) the risk and challenges on the delivery of the 2030 Agenda including how ESCWA is collecting and using data to improve the contribution of the sustainable development goals; and (vii) the lessons learnt from ESCWA’s participation in the pilot projects of the organization.
3. Director of Mission Support for UNIFIL Ms. Melva Crouch on: (i) the effectiveness of OIOS (Internal Audit Division, Inspection and Evaluation Division, and Investigation Division) in assisting in the oversight responsibilities of UNIFIL, together with the quality/usefulness of the oversight bodies recommendations to their work; (ii) the implementations of other oversight bodies recommendations such as the Board of Auditors and Joint Inspection Unit; (iii) the implementation of enterprise risk management and the internal control systems at UNIFIL, and how this work has been guided by the overall enterprise risk management and internal framework of the organization; (iv) the status and impact of the Secretary-General’s reform initiatives including delegation of authority, and the Statement on Internal Control on the work of UNIFIL; and (v) the Accountability Framework as it relates to fraud and the anti-corruption framework.
4. Ms. Fatoumata Ndiaye, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, and with OIOS senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including: (i) the status of the regular budget workplans implementation for the period 2022 and 2023 for the Internal Audit Division, Inspection and Evaluation Division, and Investigation Division; (ii) the budget proposal under the regular budget for 2024, including capacity gap analysis for the Internal Audit Division, Inspection and Evaluation Division, and Investigation Division; (iii) the status of the implementation of the recommendations of OIOS by Management, including a list of the top 10-20 recommendations which have not yet been implemented; and (iv) major findings in the reports of OIOS on the thematic evaluation of the Secretariat, and the Secretariat's support to the Sustainable Development Goals.
5. Mr. Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller on: (i) the OIOS regular budget submission; (ii) the main findings of the Board of Auditors report on peacekeeping operations (Vol. II); (iii) the major decisions of the General Assembly during the first resumed part of the seventy-seventh session; (iv) status of risk mitigation efforts pertaining to enterprise risk management risks for which he is the corporate risk owner, namely: a) financial contributions, and (b) extra-budgetary funding, donor fund management, and implementing partners and (c) updates on the ongoing financial situation.
6. Mr. Christophe Monier, Director of the Business Transformation and Accountability Division, on: (i) status of the implementation of oversight bodies’ recommendations as noted in paragraphs 12-32 of IAAC report A/77/273; (ii) status of the accountability system of the Organization including updates on the salient features of the General Assembly resolutions pertaining to the 12^th Progress Report A/77/692; (iii) update on enterprise risk management — including the status of embedding and the risk mitigation plans of the Organization; and (iv) status of the delegation of authority and the data analytics modules in the context of the three lines model.

The IAAC appreciates the efforts of ESCWA and UNIFIL in hosting its meeting.  The next (sixty-third) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 19-21 July 2023.  The venue and/or mode of the session will be determined at a later date.

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