Seventy-ninth session
Agenda item 155
Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations
Proposed budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services under the support account for
peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026
Report of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee
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Summary |
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The present report contains the comments, advice and recommendations of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee on the proposed budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. The Committee＊s observations, conclusions and recommendations about the support account budget of OIOS continue to be guided by the Office＊s evolving approach to linking its risk assessment and coverage to the current and emerging risks facing the Organization. The Committee also recognizes that OIOS is going through a series of external quality assessments that will culminate in a holistic review of the Office. The Committee＊s position on the adequacy of resources of OIOS will take into consideration the outcome of those reviews. |
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The Committee endorses the OIOS budget proposal under the support account for peacekeeping operations. |
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I. Introduction
1. The Independent Audit Advisory Committee presents herein its comments, advice and recommendations to the General Assembly, through the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, on the budget of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. The report is submitted in accordance with paragraphs 2 (c) and (d) of the Committee＊s terms of reference (General Assembly resolution , annex).
2. The Committee has a responsibility to examine the workplan of OIOS, taking into account the workplans of the other oversight bodies, and to advise the General Assembly thereon; to review the budget proposal of the Office, taking into account its workplan; and to make recommendations to the Assembly through the Advisory Committee. The Committee undertook its review of the OIOS work-planning process and the proposed budget for OIOS under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 during its sixty-eighth and sixty-ninth sessions, held from 3 to 6 December 2024 and 17 to 19 February 2025, respectively.
3. The Committee appreciates the efforts of the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget and OIOS in providing the Committee with the relevant documents for consideration. OIOS also provided supplementary information in response to various questions from the Committee.
II. Background
4. For the 2025/26 period, the workplan of OIOS is based on its evolving approach to assessing risk, on the basis of recommendations from the external reviews and the Committee＊s emphasis on the need to evaluate the coverage of risks as a planning and performance measure for OIOS. Based on this evolving approach, OIOS plans to undertake 55 internal audit assignments and 6 inspection and evaluation assignments, and expects to complete 205 investigation cases as described in the respective sections below. The resource requirements for the three divisions for the support account include $16,713,800 for the Internal Audit Division, $2,672,400 for the Inspection and Evaluation Division and $14,146,700 for the Investigations Division.
5. The proposed financial and human resources for OIOS for the support account for peacekeeping operations for the 2025/26 period, as compared with the 2024/25 period, are provided in the table below.
Table
Financial and human resources
(Thousands of United States dollars)
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Financial resources |
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Posts and positions |
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Approved |
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Proposed |
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Variance |
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Approved |
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Proposed |
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Variance |
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2024/25 |
2025/26 |
Approved 2024/25 budget vs. proposed 2025/26 budget |
(Percentage) |
Percentage of total budget |
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
2024/25 budget vs. approved 2025/26 |
(Percentage) |
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Internal Audit Division |
15 396.00 |
16 713.80 |
1 317.80 |
8.6 |
48.6 |
69 |
69 |
每 |
每 |
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Inspection and Evaluation Division |
2 459.00 |
2 672.40 |
213.40 |
8.7 |
7.8 |
11 |
11 |
每 |
每 |
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Investigations Division |
12 597.80 |
14 146.70 |
1 548.90 |
12.3 |
41.2 |
64 |
65 |
1 |
1.6 |
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Executive Office |
752.60 |
833.80 |
81.20 |
10.8 |
2.4 |
4 |
4 |
每 |
每 |
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Total |
31 205.40 |
34 366.70 |
3 161.30 |
10.1 |
100 |
148 |
149 |
1 |
0.7 |
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Note: Budget figures provided by the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget, Field Operations Finance Division.
6. As shown in the table above, the proposed OIOS budget under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 is estimated at $34,366,700, which represents an increase of $3,161,300, or 10.1 per cent, above the previous year＊s approved budget of $31,205,400.
III. Comments of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee
A. Internal Audit Division
7. In its previous reports, the Committee made a number of recommendations relating to the work of OIOS in general and the Internal Audit Division work-planning and budgeting process in particular. The Committee notes that OIOS continues to make an effort to implement most of these recommendations. The Committee also notes that the Division continues to employ residual risk as the basis for its workplan. At $16,713,800 (or 48.6 per cent) of the total approved OIOS budget under the support account, the Division remains the largest of the three divisions of the OIOS budget under the support account.
Workplan implementation
8. The Committee was informed that 47 assignments (73 per cent of the original plan) had been delivered for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. In other words, 64 assignments had been planned on a full incumbency assumption, of which 47 assignments had been completed.
9. The Committee was informed that, during the 2024/25 period, 28 out of 53 planned assignments had been completed by 31 December 2024. OIOS further noted that the Division expected to complete an additional 23 assignments by 30 June 2025.
10. As the programme budget is based on full incumbency, if a significant vacancy rate exists, there is a probability of delays in the achievement of the target. Therefore, the Committee urges OIOS to analyse and report the consequences in case any of the planned assignments are not completed in a timely manner.
Risk-based workplan
11. In paragraph 26 of its report on the budget of OIOS under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 (), the Committee recommended that the Internal Audit Division adopt more robust audit workplans that were based on residual risk. The Committee was informed that the workplan for 2025/26 continued to be based on the high-level enterprise risk management categories contained in the Secretariat＊s risk register. As part of the 2025/26 risk-based planning exercise, OIOS indicated that the Division revalidated its assurance strategy through Secretariat- and entity-level risk assessments and analysis. According to OIOS, the assurance strategy continued to be based on covering high risks over a three-year period and medium risks over a five-year horizon. Taking into account assignments completed over the prior two years, the Division noted that it had identified assignments over the coming three years to ensure that the above assurance strategy was implemented.
12. OIOS is in the process of implementing recommendations from its Internal Audit Division external assessment that it establish a systematic approach to demonstrating assurance coverage across significant Secretariat risk categories and improve documentation of the linkage and contribution of individual assignments to providing assurance over identified risks.
13. The Committee will review implementation by OIOS of the recommendations from the external assessment with an emphasis on the achievement of its risk-based workplan objectives.
Assignment/resource trend analysis
14. As shown in the figure, OIOS indicated that the Internal Audit Division planned to undertake a slightly higher number of assignments (55 audit assignments) related to peacekeeping operations for the 2025/26 period compared with 53 during the 2024/25 period. According to OIOS, the top areas of focus will include: (a) procurement and contract management; (b) mission drawdown and transition; (c) property and facilities management; (d) programme performance management; (e) human resources management; and (f) safety and security.
15. The number of proposed posts and positions in the 2025/26 period, compared with the previous period, remains unchanged at 69.
Figure
Internal Audit Division Assignment/human resources trends
Source: Based on data provided by OIOS.
16. The Committee notes that, over the years, in response to various factors, especially the closure of some peacekeeping missions, the number of posts and assignments in the Internal Audit Division under the support account has declined accordingly.
17. As the peacekeeping footprint changes, the Committee plans to continue to examine the trends and relationship between the resources, risk coverage and the number of assignments in the future.
Capacity gap and budget proposal for the 2025/26 period
18. As part of the budget proposal, the Committee requested that OIOS provide a risk-based capacity gap analysis as the basis for the resource requirements. In that regard, the Committee was informed that, for the 2025/26 budget, OIOS did not expect a gap between required and available resources. Rather, the Internal Audit Division indicated that the Division was proposing the redeployment of two posts from Nairobi to Mogadishu to provide better backstopping services to the United Nations Support Office in Somalia.
19. The Committee will continue to follow up on implementation by OIOS of the recommendations of the external assessment that might provide additional perspective on the Internal Audit Division＊s operations and resource needs. At this time, the Committee endorses the resource requirements as shown in the table above and in paragraph 6.
B. Inspection and Evaluation Division
Workplan implementation
20. In paragraph 24 of its report on the budget of OIOS under the support account for peacekeeping operations for the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 (), the Committee recommended that, in order for the Inspection and Evaluation Division to ensure its continued relevance to decision makers, it should, inter alia, finalize its reports in a timely manner. During the deliberations, the Committee was informed that, out of the six assignments planned for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, two assignments had been delivered in the 2023/24 period, and the remaining four had been completed during the 2024 calendar year.
21. For the 2024/25 period, the Committee was informed that five of the six reviews had been in progress as of the end of 2024 and that the sixth assignment would begin in 2025.
22. The Committee notes that the timely completion of assignments improves accountability for delivering results for the entities concerned.
Capacity gap analysis and budget proposal
23. For 2025/26, OIOS indicated that the workplan had been calculated by focusing on substantive mission results-based budgeting components and cross-cutting themes. In that respect, OIOS noted that, with the closure of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, the Inspection and Evaluation Division had identified 36 evaluable topics: 20 results-based budgeting components across nine missions and 16 cross-cutting themes.
24. The Committee was informed that coverage of the universe of the 36 topics over an eight-year cycle required approximately 4.5 evaluations per year. Assuming an average evaluation duration of 12 months with two evaluators assigned per evaluation, that would result in an annual requirement of nine staff members.
25. The Committee was provided with a list of six assignments to be delivered in the 2025/26 period, which will be evaluated under additional new evaluation modalities that will be introduced.
26. Under the above assumptions, OIOS indicated that, since the current staffing for the Inspection and Evaluation Division support account budget was at nine staff (excluding two posts which perform supporting/managerial functions), it anticipated that there would be no capacity gap.
27. The Committee notes the decision by OIOS to address the Inspection and Evaluation Division＊s workplan within the available resources. The Committee endorses the resource requirements for the Division, which involve no additional post resources, as shown in the table and paragraph 6 above.
C. Investigations Division
28. In reviewing the support account budget for the Investigations Division, the Committee continued to be mindful of the Secretary-General＊s reform initiative, which, inter alia, calls for increased accountability. The Committee also focused on growth in the number of investigations, vacancy rates and the time that the Division was taking to complete the various investigations. The Committee also continues to be cognizant of the OIOS position that the workforce plan/capacity analysis, and resource analysis for the Division, were based on the entire investigation portfolio rather than the funding source.
Capacity gap and workplan implementation
29. According to OIOS, the priorities for the Investigations Division for 2025 will include: (a) implementation of external quality assessment recommendations; (b) strengthening of the timeliness and quality of protection against retaliation investigations; (c) focusing on the handling of complaints of racial discrimination; and (d) further development of data analytics tools to inform trend analysis, workload distribution and the efficient use of resources.
30. The Committee was further informed that implementation of the Investigations Division workplan continued to be considered in the context of trends in caseload, ageing and completion time. The Division noted that the number of open investigations had far outpaced growth in resources. OIOS noted that the 580 cases registered in 2024 represented a 72 per cent increase from the 337 open investigations reported in 2022.
31. The Committee was further informed that a comprehensive capacity gap analysis had been finalized in 2023, based on historic investigation predication data, current open caseload data, divisional resourcing and known situational factors. Following that analysis, OIOS had requested 10 additional posts in the 2025 regular budget to strengthen investigative capacity (including protection against retaliation) and intake of complaints.
32. In the light of the above approved additional posts, OIOS indicated that it did not anticipate a significant capacity gap for the 2025/26 period except for one Investigations Assistant (GS-6) for Nairobi. According to OIOS, the Nairobi Investigations Office was the second largest investigations team, comprising a total of 16 investigator positions, including P-5 Section Chiefs, yet it currently had no Investigations Assistant. The lack of dedicated investigative support drained resources from investigators and had a negative impact on investigation completion timelines.
33. Having reviewed the workplan of the Investigations Division, the Committee endorses the resource levels as presented by OIOS and shown in the table and in paragraph 6 above. The Committee still considers that a comprehensive approach towards addressing the increasing load of complaints and cases is relevant.
IV. Conclusion
34. The members of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee submit the present report containing their comments and recommendations for consideration by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and the General Assembly.
(Signed) Anton Kosyanenko
Chair, Independent Audit Advisory Committee
(Signed) Suresh Raj Sharma
Vice-Chair, Independent Audit Advisory Committee
(Signed) Dorothy Bradley
Member, Independent Audit Advisory Committee
Member, Independent Audit Advisory Committee
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