Report on the Activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services

A/RES/74/256No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 133Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations and 144Report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, published in 2020.

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?

25 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;

Recognizes the important roles and operational independence of the oversight bodies, including the Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Secretariat, in contributing to improvements in the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of the Organization;

Recalls that the Office 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;

Stresses that the independence and objectivity of the Office are vital in ensuring that its internal oversight functions are carried out in a credible, factual and unbiased manner, and reaffirms the authority of the Office to initiate, carry out and report on any action 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;

Reaffirms that the Board of Auditors and the Joint Inspection Unit shall continue to be provided with copies of all reports produced by the Office, and requests that those reports be made available within one month of their finalization;

Takes note of the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on its activities for the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019;1

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;

Also 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;

Further 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;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure the full implementation of the accepted recommendations of the Office, including those related to accountability mechanisms, cost savings, recovery of overpayments, organizational efficiency and effectiveness 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;

Notes with concern the delays in the implementation of the recommendations of the Office, and requests the Secretary-General to implement the outstanding and critical recommendations of the Office in a timely manner;

Calls for the continued focus of the Internal Audit Division on a risk-based approach and a workplan focused on effectiveness, efficiency, governance and oversight and the investigation of potential fraud;

Welcomes the continued efforts of the Office to promote the Organization’s zero-tolerance approach to fraud, corruption, sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse, and the actions taken in this regard, including the creation of a specialized team to investigate sexual harassment complaints and the implementation of a procedure for addressing such complaints, and also welcomes the efforts made to strengthen the investigative capacity of the Office in the light of the need to improve the average time required to complete the growing number of investigations into a range of misconduct, including cases of sexual harassment;

Notes the average time taken to complete investigations, and encourages the Office to continue to reduce the average time taken to complete investigations and to report on the measures undertaken in this regard in its next report;

Encourages the Office to continue to ensure the oversight, through audits and investigations, of United Nations peacekeeping missions that are closing and to report thereon in its next report;

Recognizes the high level of risk inherent in United Nations procurement activities, and requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office with strengthening its focus on the monitoring of such activities, including on evaluating implementation and existing practice within the Organization regarding restrictions on employment after separation of staff involved in the procurement process and sanctions for violations, as well as with reporting thereon in conjunction with the related report of the Secretary-General on procurement;

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 and ensure the retention of staff, particularly in the Investigations Division, in accordance with Article 101 of the Charter of 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 65/250, 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, section II of its resolution 71/7, section II of its resolution 72/18 and section II of its resolution 73/275,

Having considered the report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee on its activities for the period from 1 August 2018 to 31 July 2019,

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 the report of the Committee;2

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

Encourages the Committee to continue its consultations with all relevant bodies in the United Nations, including on the implementation of its recommendations, as appropriate.

52nd (resumed) plenary meeting 27 December 2019