Report on the Activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services

A/RES/72/18No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 134Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations and 145Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, published in 2017.

What other versions does this mandate have?

12 versions · 2013–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/237

2025A/RES/80/237Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight ServicesLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/247Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight ServicesCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/259Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight ServicesCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/241Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight ServicesCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/75/247Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight ServicesCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 topics

Auditing Internal Investigations Internal Oversight Programme Evaluation

What does this mandate say?

23 operative paragraphs

IActivities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services

Reaffirms its primary role in the consideration of and action taken on reports submitted to it;

Also reaffirms its oversight role and the role of the Fifth Committee in administrative and budgetary matters;

Further reaffirms the independence and the separate and distinct roles of the internal and external oversight mechanisms;

Recalls that the Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Secretariat shall exercise operational independence relating to the performance of its internal oversight functions, under the authority of the Secretary-General, in accordance with the relevant resolutions;

Reaffirms the operational independence of the Office, which is vital for ensuring that its internal oversight functions are carried out in a credible, factual and unbiased manner, and also reaffirms the authority of the Office to initiate, carry out and report on any action that it considers necessary to fulfil its oversight functions;

Encourages United Nations internal and external oversight bodies to further enhance the level of cooperation with one another, such as through joint work-planning sessions, without prejudice to the independence of each;

Recognizes the important roles of the oversight bodies in contributing to improvements in the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of the Organization;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to promote effective coordination and collaboration with regard to the audit, evaluation and investigation functions of the Office in order to ensure an integrated approach to its oversight function, bearing in mind the operational independence of the Office;

Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the annual reports of the Office continue to include a brief description of any impairment of its independence;

Takes note of the report of the Office;1

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all relevant resolutions pertaining to the work of the Office are brought to the attention of the relevant managers;

Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all relevant resolutions, including those of a cross-cutting nature, are brought to the attention of relevant managers and that the Office also takes those resolutions into account in the conduct of its activities;

Further requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure the full implementation of the accepted recommendations of the Office, including those relating to cost avoidance, recovery of overpayments, efficiency gains and other improvements, in a prompt and timely manner, and to provide detailed justifications in cases in which recommendations of the Office are not accepted;

Welcomes the efforts of the Office to promote the Organization’s zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption, and encourages the Office to continue to investigate and audit cases of fraud and corruption;

Notes the role of the Office as the central intake mechanism for fraud and corruption allegations in the Secretariat, and encourages the Office to consider calls to expand the reporting and recording of all forms of misconduct as part of renewed efforts to strengthen and professionalize the investigations function of the United Nations system;

Welcomes the progress made by the Office in reducing the average time taken to complete investigations and associated reports, and encourages the Office to continue to reduce the average length of time to six months;

Notes the efforts of the Office to bring clarity and transparency to the conclusions and recommendations of audits, and in this regard encourages the Office to standardize its approach, as appropriate;

Welcomes the efforts and progress made by the Office in reducing the number of vacant posts, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to make every effort to fill the remaining vacant posts, particularly in the Investigations Division and in the field, in accordance with the relevant provisions governing recruitment in the United Nations;

IIActivities of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee

Recalling its resolutions 61/275 of 29 June 2007, 64/263, section II of its resolution 66/236, section II of its resolution 67/258, section II of its resolution 68/21, section II of its resolution 69/252, section II of its resolution 70/111 and section II of its resolution 71/7,

Having considered the report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee on its activities for the period from 1 August 2016 to 31 July 2017,

Notes with appreciation the work of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee;

Reaffirms the terms of reference of the Committee, as contained in the annex to its resolution 61/275;

Endorses the observations, comments and recommendations contained in paragraphs 17, 20, 23, 27, 30, 31, 33, 39, 43, 47, 55, 58, 60, 63, 66, 74, 79, 82, 86, 92, 93, 94, 98 and 102 of the report of the Committee;2

Encourages the Committee to continue its consultations with all relevant United Nations bodies, as appropriate;

Invites the Committee to continue to examine the operational independence of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, including on budgetary matters;

IIIJoint Inspection Unit

Having considered the reports of the Joint Inspection Unit on the state of the internal audit function in the United Nations system and on donor-led assessments of the United Nations system organizations, as well as the related notes by the Secretary-General transmitting his comments and those of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination thereon,

Notes with appreciation the reports of the Joint Inspection Unit.3,4

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