Organization matters

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, observed today:

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its forty-first session from 21 to 23 February at the United Nations Office at Nairobi.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan.

At least 71 United Nations and associated personnel — 53 peacekeepers and 18 civilians, including 2 police personnel and 15 contractors — were killed in malicious attacks in the line of duty during 2017, according to the Standing Committee for the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service of the United Nations Staff Union.

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its fortieth session from 12-15 December 2017 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The session was presided over by the Chair, Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan.  All the other members of the IAAC, namely J. Christopher Mihm (Vice-Chair), Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta, Natalia A. Bocharova, and Richard Quartei Quartey, were in attendance.

The fifty‑eighth meeting of the Panel of External Auditors, chaired by Mussa Juma Assad, Controller and Auditor General of the United Republic of Tanzania, was held on 30 November and 1 December at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome.  The Panel consists of Auditors General of 11 Supreme Audit Institutions who are either elected or selected to conduct the external audit of the United Nations Secretariat, funds and programmes and specialized agencies.  This also includes two observers who remain on the Panel, for a period of three years after they rotate off the Panel.  The meeting was attended by Auditors General or their representatives from the United Republic of Tanzania, France, India, Germany, Italy, Ghana, Philippines, Switzerland, Indonesia, Canada and United Kingdom.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the staff ceremony to mark United Nations Day:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the UN Secretary-General awards ceremony, in New York today:

The text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at a reception for United Nations Day in Bangui, Central African Republic, today, is not available in English.  For the French text, please see www.un.org/press/fr/2017/sgsm18762.doc.htm.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Sudhir Rajkumar of India as Representative of the Secretary‑General for the investment of the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

Despite the increasingly complex security environment and an unprecedented rise in direct attacks against the United Nations, the number of its civilian personnel* casualties has fallen, Secretary‑General António Guterres reports.