The Board of Auditors transmits to the General Assembly the audited financial statements for the previous financial period of the various accounts of the United Nations and other funds and programmes for which the Board has audit responsibility. Under the provisions of article XII of the Financial Regulations of the United Nations and the annex thereto, the Board submits reports to the Assembly on the results of its audits and issues opinions as to whether the financial statements properly reflect the recorded transactions and whether those transactions were in accordance with the Financial Regulations and legislative authority and present fairly the financial position as at the end of the financial period of each of the activities reported on. The reports of the Board are commented upon by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, which also submits a report thereon to the Assembly.

At its forty-ninth session, in 1994, the General Assembly decided that the financial period for peacekeeping operations should be from 1 July to 30 June (resolution 49/233 A, sect. I).

At its fiftieth session, under the item entitled "Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations: financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations", the General Assembly decided to amend financial regulations 2.1 and 11.4 to reflect the change in the financial period (decision 50/472).

At its fifty-ninth session, the General Assembly decided to revert to the issue of an audit in 2005 of the financial statements of the United Nations Office for Project Services for 2004 at its sixtieth session, in the context of the report of the Board of Auditors on the implementation of its recommendations relating to the biennium 2002-2003; noted with concern the late issuance of the reports of the Board of Auditors despite the timely submission of those reports to the Secretariat, and requested the Secretary-General to ensure sufficient priority in completing their editing and translation in order that they might be submitted to the General Assembly in accordance with the six-week rule; invited the Board of Auditors, in consultation with the Secretary-General and the executive heads of the funds and programmes, to categorize the Board's recommendations according to their priority for implementation; requested the Secretary-General and the executive heads of the funds and programmes of the United Nations to indicate an expected time frame for the implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors, including the office holders to be held accountable; and noted that the Secretariat had been collecting information on the experiences of audit committees within the United Nations system and other international organizations, and requested the Secretary-General to report on and provide an assessment of its findings to the Assembly at its sixtieth session (resolution 59/264 A).

At its resumed fifty-ninth session, in June 2005, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to indicate an expected time frame for the implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors as well as the priorities for their implementation, including the office holders to be held accountable, and to report to the Assembly at its sixtieth session on measures undertaken to implement those recommendations; further requested the Secretary-General to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors, including those relating to the issue of the management of rations in peacekeeping operations as a whole and the management of air operations, and the related recommendations of the Advisory Committee in a prompt and timely manner; and requested the Secretary-General, in implementing the recommendations referred to in paragraph 81 of the report of the Board of Auditors (A/59/5, vol. II, chap. II), to take into account that that related solely to the recommendations of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations as adopted by the General Assembly which had not been fully implemented to date (resolution 59/264 B).

Report of the Board of Auditors on:

For the fifty-ninth session (agenda item 106)