Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Sixty-Seventh Session, 17-19 July

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its sixty-seventh session from 17 to 19 July via hybrid format at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Imran Vanker.  All other members of the Committee, namely, Anton Kosyanenko (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Bradley, Suresh Sharma and Jeanette Franzel, were in attendance.

The Committee’s sixty-seventh session was highlighted by a successful first interim virtual meeting of the representatives of the United Nations system oversight committees. In attendance were the Chairs and/or representatives of approximately 24 United Nations entities’ audit and oversight Committees.  The meeting saw a robust exchange of information on best practices and lessons learned and preparation for the ninth meeting of the UN system oversight committees to be hosted by the Universal Postal Union on 3 and 4 December.

The IAAC examined activities of various oversight bodies — external and internal oversight, as well as management oversight — and deliberated towards the preparation of the Committee’s annual report for the period 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2024.

In addition, the IAAC held meetings with:

• The Secretary-General, on the activities of the Committee.
• Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, on: (i) the status of the implementation of recommendations contained in the most recent reports of oversight bodies; (ii) the alignment of Enterprise Risk Management with the Statement of Internal Control; (iii) progress on the Board of Auditors’ observations and recommendations regarding risk management in peacekeeping operations as noted in Board of Auditor report A/78/5 Vol II and A/79/5 Vol I; and (iv) and other matters of interest of the Committee.
• Fatoumata Ndiaye, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, and other senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including:  (i) Office of Internal Oversight Services’ (OIOS) approach to risk assessment in developing the work plans of the three divisions; (ii) OIOS performance metrics; (iii) OIOS’ external assessments including how OIOS has dealt with results of the completed External Quality Assessment; (iv) OIOS’ approach to investigation of fraud and presumptive fraud; (v) the effort that the Organization in general, and OIOS in particular, is putting into addressing the matters associated with mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals; and (vi) status of the implementation of the recommendations of OIOS by Management.
• Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General, Controller on:  (i) the status of the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Office for Project Services, including how the recommendations in the Board of Auditors report A/78/5 Vol I have been implemented; (ii) the main features of the 2023 Statement of Internal Control and remediation plans; (iii) the major decisions of the General Assembly during the second part of the seventy-eighth session; (iv) operational implications of any issues and trends apparent in Volume I of the financial statements of the Organization, including the status of the fraud and presumptive fraud reporting and investigation; (v) the status of the after-service health insurance; and (vi) on the ongoing financial situation.
• The Joint Inspection Unit on:  (i) the salient features of the Unit’s annual report for 2023, and the programme of work for 2024; (ii) cooperation among oversight bodies; and (iii) the status of the acceptance and implementation rates of the Unit’s recommendations and other matters of interest of the Committee.
• The Audit Operations Committee of the Board of Auditors, on:  (i) the issues and trends from its most recent external audit engagements; (ii) efforts to increase cooperation among oversight bodies; and (iii) on the state of the oversight function.
• Kim Xuan Nguyen, Acting Director, Ethics Office, on the annual report of the Ethics Office and other matters of interest to the Committee.

The next (sixty-eighth) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 3 to 6 December.  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 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.