Statement by Paul Ballantyne, Permanent Mission of New Zealand regarding the Activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services and Annual Report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, as delivered on 8 October 2010, on behalf of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
(as delivered)
Mr Chairman
I have the honor today to speak on behalf of the delegations of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I thank Ms Lapointe for introducing the report on the activities of the OIOS for the reporting period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010. I would also like to thank Mr David Walker, Chairman of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee for introducing the corresponding IAAC report.
At the outset I would like to extend a warm welcome to Ms Lapointe and wish her every success in her new role. CANZ attaches great importance to an effective, highly professional, and operationally independent internal oversight function in the UN. We are all aware that the effective discharge of this role is a tough balancing act given OIOS is mandated to provide support and advice to the Secretary-General, while at the same time reporting directly to the General Assembly. We have no doubt, however, that under Ms Lapointe’s leadership, the partnership between OIOS and the wider Secretariat will enter a new and more constructive phase.
Mr Chairman
CANZ was pleased with the adoption earlier this year of resolution 64/259 on accountability. In this respect, we strongly endorse the IAAC recommendation which would see the Secretariat developing a clearly defined and well documented plan and timeline for taking the necessary actions required to see this resolution’s implementation. This would help to ensure that the tangible improvements to the accountability framework of the Organisation foreseen in resolution 64/259, are realized.
Consistent with its mandate to advise the General Assembly on risk management, the IAAC has again made very helpful comments in this area. We agree fully with its recommendation that would see the Secretary-General integrate Enterprise Risk Management into the programme planning process. This would ensure that programme managers consider risks as an integral part of the planning process, and would mitigate against the possibility of ERM simply becoming an additional compliance requirement.
Mr Chairman
CANZ remains committed to continuing to engage constructively with Member States to further strengthen the governance and oversight framework of the organisation in general, and to put the expert advice of the IAAC to the best possible use. At this session we have a unique opportunity to fine tune its mandate to ensure we are obtaining maximum value from this expert body.
In this context, we note the IAAC’s recommendation that Member States consider enhancing the Committee’s responsibilities to include responsibility for reviewing management’s system of accounting for performance results. We see merit in this recommendation, and look forward to discussing this issue in more detail in the forthcoming informals consultations.
Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to again thank the IAAC for another high quality report. CANZ wishes to assure Mr Walker and the rest of the Committee of our ongoing support.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.