SIXT TY-FIFTH WORLD W HEA ALTH ASS SEMBLY Prov visional age enda item 17.2
A65/48 8 21 1 May 2012 2
Rep port of t the Int ternal Audito A or Fifth report r of f the Prog gramme, Budget and Adm ministrati ion Co ommittee e of the E Executive e Board to the Six xty-fifth World d Health h Assembly
1. The sixtee enth meeting g of the Pr rogramme, Budget B and Administra ation Comm mittee of the e Execu utive Board was held in Geneva G on 1 16–18 May 2012 2 under th he chairmans ship of Dr M.A.O. M Saíde e (Moz zambique).1 2. mittee review wed the repor rt of the Inte ernal Auditor2 and expre essed appreciation of the e The Comm work k performed, the clarity of o the summa aries of the individual i au udit reports, a as well as th he usefulness s of the e annexes to the report. The T Committ tee noted tha at new ways of o working h had resulted in efficiency y and c cost savings s. The Comm mittee also recognized the initial efforts e under r way to str rengthen the e resou urces of the Office O of Inte ernal Oversi ight Services s and concurr red that the f function requ uired further r streng gthening to increase i audi it coverage, in the contex xt of the incr reasing respo onsibilities of o that Office e under r the Directo or-General’s reform agend da. 3. The Comm mittee noted the Internal l Auditor’s findings on the main op perational ri isks and the e recur rring nature of the weak knesses iden ntified in int ternal contro ols during it ts routine au udit work in n count try offices. The T Committ tee requested d the Secretar riat to take action in resp ponse to the unacceptable u e level of lack of co ompliance with w rules and d procedures, , notably regarding the pr rocurement of o goods and d racting for se ervices. It wa as also recog gnized that many m of the country-leve el issues iden ntified in the e contr repor rt could be addressed a thr rough increa ased clarifica ation and enf forcement of f responsibil lities for key y positi ions in WHO O Offices in countries. c 4. The Comm mittee expres ssed their gr rave concern n at the gene eral lack of a culture of f compliance e with WHO rules and procedu ures, and urge ed the Secret tariat to stren ngthen intern nal controls in i relation to o travel l, personal ac ccounts, and d leave and ab bsence throu ugh enhancin ng the Interna al Control Fr ramework as s well as reinforcing account tability. The e latter cou uld be supported throug gh the use of training g progr rammes, chec cklists, etc., as currently being proposed in some of the region nal offices. 5. The Comm mittee convey yed appreciat ation for the reporting and monitoring g of the follo ow-up to the e recom mmendations s in the Int ternal Audit tor’s reports s. However, while noti ing the repo orted recent t progr ress, it expre essed strong concern that t despite Me ember States’ repeated co omments wit th respect to o
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For the list of o participants, see document A A65/44, Annex x. Document A65/33. A
A65/48
slow implem mentation ra ates, sufficie ent action ha ad not yet been b taken. The T Commit ittee reminde ed the Secretariat of the need to ensure the e timely imp plementation n of the recom mmendation ns and empha asized the importa ance to expe edite the imp plementation n of long ou utstanding matters. m A Co ommittee me ember specifically requested the t Secretari iat to analys se all “open n items” mor re than two years old and a to provide bot th a response to Membe er States on the specific barriers imp peding imple ementation, and a specific tim meline indicat ting when tho ose items wo ould be clear red. 6. The C Committee indicated i tha at it would w welcome consideration by b the Secre etariat of wa ays to provide eas sier access for Membe er States to o internal audit reports in order t to facilitate their f WHO Offi understandi ing of the un nderlying issu ues, notably those report ts for integra ated audits of ices in countries, te erritories and d areas.
RECOMM MENDATIO ON TO TH HE HEALT TH ASSEM MBLY 7. The C Committee re ecommended d, on behalf of the Execu utive Board, that the Heal alth Assembly y note the report of the Internal Auditor.
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