Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Sixty-Fifth Session, 21-23 February

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its sixty-fifth session from 21 to 23 February, via hybrid format at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The session was presided over by the Vice-Chair, Anton Kosyanenko.  All the other members of the Committee, including Jeanette Franzel, the newly appointed member from the United States, were in attendance.

The Committee’s sixty-fifth session saw a robust exchange of information on best practices and deliberated on the support account budget proposals of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

In addition, the IAAC held meetings with:

1. Fatoumata Ndiaye, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, and with senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including:  (i) the budget proposal under the support account for peacekeeping operations for 2024/25; (ii) highlights of the OIOS 2025 programme budget proposal; (iii) impact of vacant posts, budget utilization and the changes in peacekeeping operations on the performance of OIOS; and (iv) updates on the status of the external quality assessments;

2. Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, on matters of interest to the Committee, including the status of implementation of oversight bodies’ recommendations, enterprise risk management and other matters of importance or high risk;

3. Alexandre Zouev, Assistant-Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions, Peace Operations, on:  (i) the status of implementation of oversight bodies’ recommendations; (ii) update on United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the Mine Action Services; and (iii) risk management and other matters of importance or high risk;

4. Thi Kim Xuan Nguyen, Acting Director, Ethics Office, on operationalizing the General Assembly resolution on the role of the IAAC in strengthening the ethics function and other matters of interest to the Committee.  The Committee agreed to finalize a proposed revision to its terms of reference in time for the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly;

5. Maria Costa, Deputy Controller/Director of Finance on:  (i) the support account for the peacekeeping budget of OIOS for 2024/25; (ii) highlights of the 2025 programme budget proposal; (iii) updates on the major decision and outcomes of the main part of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly; and (iv) risk management and the financial situation.

The next (sixty-sixth) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 6-8 May 2024.

For further information on the work of the IAAC, 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; or tel.:  +1 212 963 0788.