Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Forty-Third Session at New York Headquarters, 18-20 July

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations (IAAC) held its forty-third session from 18-20 July 2018 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  Presiding over the session was the Chair, Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan.  All the other members of the IAAC — Patricia X. Arriagada Villouta (Vice-Chair), Natalia A. Bocharova, Richard Quartei Quartey and Janet St. Laurent — were in attendance.

The Committee’s deliberations included meetings with, inter alia:

1. The Secretary-General, on the activities of the Committee.
2. David Kanja, Assistant Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), and senior managers regarding a wide range of matters, including: (i) the status of vacant posts; (ii) how OIOS plans to adapt to the shifting management paradigm and the evolving role of the internal audit function; (iii) update on the funding arrangements of OIOS; and (iv) strengthening of the investigation function.
3. Christian Saunders, Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services, on behalf of the Under-Secretary-General for Management, on: (i) the status of the implementation of recommendations of oversight bodies; (ii) update on the Secretary-Generals’ reform initiatives; (iii) the implementation of the anti-fraud risk register; and (iv) other matters of interest to the Committee.
4. Atefh Riazi, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer, on cybersecurity and how it is being handled within the context of the Information and Communications Technology Network of the High-Level Committee on Management.
5. The Audit Operations Committee, on issues or trends apparent in the financial statements of the Organization and the Report of the Board of Auditors.
6. Francis Kamikamica, Deputy Director, Accounts Division, on behalf of the Controller, on: (i) the status of the Secretary-General’s reform initiatives, including the implementation strategy; (ii) strengthening of the internal control system of the Organization; (iii) updates to funding the After-Service Health Insurance; (iv) the funding arrangement of OIOS; and (v) other matters of interest to the Committee.

The next (forty-fourth) session of the IAAC is scheduled for 11-14 December 2018 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

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; tel.: +1 212 963 0788.