United Nations Board of Auditors

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Welcome

Welcome to our newly designed website that is maintained by the United Nations Department of Public Information. We hope that you find it both informative and user-friendly.

Like any other organization, the accounts and management operations of the United Nations and its Funds and Programmes are required to be audited and reported on periodically by independent external auditors. It was for this purpose that the General Assembly in 1946 established the United Nations Board of Auditors, comprising the Heads of three Supreme Audit Institutions operating in a collegial manner.

With more than 60 years of experience, the Board has been providing independent assurance to Member States and other stakeholders in relation to the proper use of the organisation’s resources as well as their economic, efficient and effective use. It also plays a significant role in assisting the Organisation to improve its operations and its internal control activities. The Board’s findings and recommendations are taken seriously, and the status of its recommendations is closely monitored to ensure timely and effective implementation. In this way, the Board contributes significantly to the fulfillment of the Charter of the United Nations.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Executive Secretary of the Board if you need any clarifications or additional information not provided in this website. We also welcome any comments or suggestions you may wish to make.

Swatantra Anand Goolsarran
Executive Secretary
United Nations Boards of Auditors

Six decades ago, the General Assembly established the United Nations Board of Auditors. Throughout this time, heads of audit institutions from around the world, have provided professional and independent external audit service to the United Nations and its Funds and Programmes.

Transparency and accountability are important in every organisation. Public organisations, face even greater commitments to ensure that they discharge their mandates and spend their funds in the proper manner. Our Board holds an enviable and great responsibility, being the external independent auditors of the United Nations, and is tasked with delivering reports on the finances and management of operations to Member States and ultimately to the taxpayers and citizens of the world.   

We achieve our goals, through a unique cooperation among the heads of three supreme audit institutions, each of which enjoy great recognition among our stakeholders. Our newest member of the Board, Mr. Liu Jiayi, heads the formidable Chinese National Audit Office, which is one of the oldest and biggest supreme audit institutions in the world. Our third member of the Board, is Mr. Philippe Seguin who is the head of the Court of Accounts of France, which recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, joined the Board eight years ago, and during this period has chaired the Board from 2007 to 2008.  South Africa too has extensive experience in the Board, having assumed this role for nine years. This is the second time that South Africa is fulfilling the position as the chair of the Board.

The Board presents over thirty reports every two years. These reports contain recommendations on a wide range of issues which have played a critical role in the management agenda of the United Nations. The Board has been instrumental in dealing with matters as diverse as procurement, air operations, human resources management and information technology, to name a few. The Board's work has received praise and acknowledgement from Member States, the General Assembly, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), and our auditees. We achieve this through a rigorous approach to professional standards and quality, and offering reports that are not only accurate and independent, but also critical and balanced. This website provides helpful insight into our workings, and links to our reports. I am confident that it will play an important role, in publicising the work of the Board, and provide further transparency about the accountability and oversight mechanisms at work in the United Nations.

Terence Nombembe
Auditor-General of the Republic of South Africa and Chairman, United Nations Board of Auditors