Independent Audit Advisory Committee Holds Seventy-Fifth Session, 22-24 July

The Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations held its seventy-fifth session from 22 to 24 July at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The session was chaired by Suresh R. Sharma. All Committee members attended the session, including Vice-Chair Jeanette Franzel, Eric O. Osae, Sylvia P. Mendoza Elguea and Denis Strizheusov, who participated virtually.

During the session, the Committee reviewed the activities of various oversight bodies and management entities and deliberated on the preparation of its annual report covering the period from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026.

The Committee also met with the Secretary-General to brief him on the activities of the Committee.

In addition, the Committee held meetings with:

• The Joint Inspection Unit on various themes including:
  • Key aspects of the Unit's 2026 annual report;
  • Collaboration among UN oversight bodies;
  • Implementation of its recommendations and its new recommendation tracking system.
• The Audit Operations Committee of the Board of Auditors on:
  • The findings and recommendations of its most recent report;
  • The status of implementation of the Board's recommendations and other relevant matters;
  • Trends in financial condition and various financial reporting matters;
  • Steps being taken in coordinating with the various oversight bodies.
• Fatoumata Ndiaye, Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, and other senior managers, on a range of matters, including:
  • The 2026 programme of work implementation;
  • The approach to covering risk in an environment of constrained resources;
  • The implementation of recommendations and recently implemented technology tools.
• Chandramouli Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, speaking on behalf of the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Management, Strategy, Policy and Compliance and in his own capacity, on:
  • The activities under UN80 initiatives, as well as implementation of recommendations in the most recent reports of the oversight bodies;
  • The status of enterprise risk management, the financial situation and risks of the Organization.
• Juraj Strasser, Director of the Ethics Office on the activities of the Ethics Office, including discussion of its annual report covering the period from July 2024 to June 2025.
• The Committee held a panel discussion on the "Life Cycle of Complaints" with the Investigation Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the UN Ombudsman, the UN Ethics Office and the Administrative Law Division of the Office of Human Resources on:
  • The roles and responsibilities of each organization in the complaint process/life cycle;
  • Opportunities for coordination, as appropriate, based on each entity's mandate;
  • Actions that could help resolve issues that might otherwise become formal complaints.

The next (seventy-sixth) session of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee is scheduled to take place from 8 to 11 December 2026 at the United Nations Logistics Hub in Brindisi, Italy.

For further information on the work of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee, please see the Committee's website at: www.un.org/ga/iaac or contact the Committee's Executive Secretary, Moses Bamuwamye, at e-mail: [email protected]; tel.: +1 212 963 0788.