EXEC CUTIVE BO OARD 132n nd session Prov visional age enda item 13.3
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Ind depend dent Ex xpert Oversig O ght Ad dvisory Com mmittee e: term ms of re eferenc ce Repor rt by the Secretariat
1. At its sixteenth meeting g in May 201 12 the Programme, Budg get and Adm ministration Committee C of f the E Executive Bo oard noted th he report of the Indepen ndent Expert Oversight A Advisory Committee,1 in n which h the Chairm man of the la atter Commi ittee indicate ed that it had d undertaken n a review of f its existing g terms s of reference against accepted a bes st practice and a external l sources of f guidance on o oversight t comm mittees and proposed p revi isions to the terms of refe ference.2 2. These revi isions would d formalize more explicitly the fu unction of t the Indepen ndent Expert t Overs sight Adviso ory Committee in review wing the Orga anization’s oversight o acti ivities (covering internal l and e external aud dit, evaluatio on and inve estigations). They also add new fu functions, fir rst, that the e Comm mittee shall provide p technical and pro ofessional ad dvice on the selection crit teria for the appointment t of th he Organizat tion’s Extern nal Auditor. The Comm mittee has valuable expe ertise to sha are with the e Progr ramme, Bud dget and Ad dministration n Committee and the Bo oard about f factors or cr riteria to be e consi idered, which h was welcomed by the l latter Comm mittee.3 At the e same time,, it is underst tood that the e Comm mittee will advise a on the e criteria of the appointm ment of the External Au uditor, rather r than on the e proce ess. Secondly y, the Comm mittee shall ad dvise the Director-Gener ral in relation n to future appointments a s of th he Director of the Offi ice of Intern nal Oversig ght Services. It should be noted th hat such an n appoi intment falls within the authority of the Dire ector-Genera al and is su ubject to WHO’s W Staff f Regu ulations and Rules. R The Secretariat S u understands that t revision as enabling g the Indepen ndent Expert t Overs sight Adviso ory Committ tee to provi de general advice a to the Director-G General on the t desirable e qualif fications and d skills of th he Director of the Offic ce of Interna al Oversight Services in the light of f evolv ving expectat tions and de emands as w well as professional requirements. T The revisions s would also o require the Comm mittee period dically to rev view and rep port on its performance p (in order to o reflect best t practi ice in oversi ight committees elsewhe ere and the principles p re ecommended d by the Join nt Inspection n Unit of the United d Nations system). 3. The terms of reference e and the pr roposed ame endments th hereto were a appended to o the second d annua al report of the Indepen ndent Expert Oversight Advisory A Co ommittee (do ocument EBPBAC16/3), , which h recommen nded their formal adoptio on by the Ex xecutive Boa ard through the Program mme, Budget t 1 2 3
Document EB131/2. E Document EBPBAC16/3. E See docume ent EB129/2, pa aragraphs 16 an nd 17.
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and Admini istration Com mmittee. Acc cordingly, thi is document formally sub bmits (see A Annex) the ex xisting terms of ref ference and proposed p amendments the ereto.
ACTION BY THE EXECUTIV E VE BOARD D 4. The B Board is invi ited to review w, and confi firm its agree ement to, the e revised term ms of referen nce of the Indepen ndent Expert Oversight Advisory A Com mmittee.
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ANNE EX INDEP PENDENT T EXPERT T OVERSIG GHT ADVI ISORY CO OMMITTE EE TERMS OF O REFER RENCE1 A AND PROP POSED AM MENDMEN NTS THERETO
PUR RPOSE OF THE COM MMITTEE E 1. As an independent ad dvisory comm mmittee estab blished by th he Executiv ve Board of f WHO, and d repor rting to the Programme, P Budget and Administrat tion Commit ttee, the purp rpose of the Independent t Expert Oversight t Advisory Committee is to advise the Progr ramme, Bud dget and Ad dministration n Comm mittee and, through t it, the t Executiv ve Board, in fulfilling their oversight t advisory re esponsibility y and, u upon request t, to advise th he Director-G General on is ssues within its mandate..
FUN NCTIONS 2. The functio ons of the Co ommittee sha all be: (a) to re eview the fi inancial state ements of WHO W and si ignificant fin nancial repo orting policy y issues, incl luding advice e on the oper rational impl lications of th he issues and d trends appa arent; (b) to ad dvise on the adequacy o of the Organ nization’s internal contro ols and risk management m t systems, and a to rev view manag gement’s ris sk assessme ent in the Organizatio on and the e comprehen nsiveness of its i ongoing r risk managem ment processes; (c) to ex xchange information with h, and review w the effectiv veness of, the e Organization’s internal l and extern nal audit fun nctions, as well as to monitor the e timely, ef ffective and appropriate e implementa ation of all audit a findings s and recomm mendations; Replace (c c) with: (c) ) to exchang ge informat tion with, an nd review t the effectiveness of, the e Organization’s internal audit, evalu uation and in nvestigation work as curr rently vested d in its Office e of Internal l Oversight Services; S its external aud dit function; and to mon nitor the time ely, effective e and approp priate implem mentation of f all audit find dings and re ecommendati ions; Insert new w sections (d) and (e) (d) to pr rovide techni ical and prof fessional adv vice on the selection s crit teria for the appointment t of the Orga anization’s External E Aud ditor; (e) to ad dvise the Dir rector-Gener ral in relatio on to future appointmen nts of the Dir rector of the e Office of In nternal Overs sight Service es;
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Document EB126/25 E and resolution r EB12 25.R1, Annex.
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Annex A
Renu umber sectio ons (d) and (e) ( to becom me (f) and (g) (f) to advise on o the approp priateness an nd effectiven ness of accou unting polici cies and disclosure practi ices and to assess a change es and risks i in those polic cies; (g) to provide, on request, advice a to the e Director-Ge eneral on the e matters und der points (a) ) to (f) above e; Inser rt new sectio on (h) (h) to review and a report pe eriodically o on its own pe erformance according a to o best profess sional pract tice in oversi ight committees and as p per the princi iples recomm mended by th he Joint Inspection Unit of the United d Nations sys stem; and Renu umber to prepare an annual report (i) r on its activities, conclusions, c recommenda dations and, where w neces ssary, interim m reports, for f submiss ion to the Programme, , Budget an nd Administ tration Comm mittee of th he Executive e Board by the Chairm man of the In ndependent Expert Ove ersight Advisory Commi ittee.
COMPOS SITION 3. The c composition of the Comm mittee and th he qualificatio ons of its me embers shall be as follow ws: (a) The Comm mittee shall comprise c five e members of o integrity and objectiv vity and who o have prove en experience in senior positions in th he areas cove ered by these e terms of ref ference. (b) Following consultation ns with Mem mber States, the Director r-General sha hall propose to the Execu utive Board candidates for member rship of the Committee. . Members o of the Comm mittee shall be appointe ed by the Ex xecutive Boa ard. No two o members shall be natio onals of the same State. (c) Members shall s provide their service es free.
(d) Members must ey shall serv m be independent. The ve in their pe ersonal capac city and cann not be represented by an n alternate at ttendee. They y shall neithe er seek nor accept a instruc ctions in reg gard to their performance e on the Co ommittee fro om any gove ernment or other author rity external to or within WHO. All l members will w be require ed to sign a declaration d of o interest and nd a confiden ntiality agree ement in acco ordance with h WHO pract tice in this re espect. (e) Members shall collectively posse ess relevant professiona al, financial,, manageria al and organ nizational qu ualifications and recent senior-level l experience in accounti ing, auditing g, risk mana agement, int ternal contro ols, financia al reporting, , and other relevant an nd administ trative matte ers. (f) s have an a understan nding of and d, if possible, relevant experience in i the Members shall inspe ection, invest tigative proce esses, monito oring and ev valuation.
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(g) Mem mbers should d have or ac cquire rapidl ly a good understanding u g of WHO’s s objectives, , governance e structure and accou untability, the t relevant t regulation ns and rule es, and its s organizatio onal culture and a control e environment. . (h) Com mmittee mem mbership sho ould have a balanced re epresentation n of public and private e sector expe erience. (i) At least one me ember shall be selected d on the bas sis of his or r her qualif fications and d experience as a senior oversight pr rofessional or senior financial manag ger in the Un nited Nations s system or in i another int ternational o organization. (j) In th he selection process, du ue regard sha all be given to geograph hical represe entation and d gender bala ance. In order to retain t the most equ uitable geographical repr resentation, membership p should be rotated r amon ng the WHO regions to th he extent pos ssible.
TER RM OF OFF FICE 4. The term of o office shal ll be four ye ears, non-renewable, exce ept that the t term of offic ce for two of f the in nitial members shall be two years, renewable once o only fo or four years rs. The Chai irman of the e Comm mittee shall be selected by b its memb bers. He or she s shall serv ve in this cap apacity for a term of two o years s.
ADM MINISTRA ATIVE ARR RANGEME ENTS 5. The follow wing arrangem ments shall a apply: (a) Mem mbers of the Committee n not resident in the Canton of Geneva a or neighbou uring France e shall be en ntitled to the reimbursem ment of travel expenses in n accordance e with WHO O procedures s applying to o members of f the Executi ive Board. (b) (c) The Committee shall s meet at t least twice per p year. The quorum for meetings m of t the Committ tee shall be th hree member ers.
(d) Exce ept as provid ded for in its s terms of re eference, the Committee shall, mutat tis mutandis, , be guided by b the Rules of Procedur re of the Exe ecutive Board d concerning g the conduct t of business s and the ad doption of decisions. d T The Commit ttee may pro opose amen ndments to its i terms of f reference for f consider ration by th he Executive e Board, thr rough the P Programme, Budget and d Administra ation Commi ittee. (e) The Committee may m decide a at any time to o obtain inde ependent cou unsel or outsi ide expertise e if necessary y and shall have h full acce ess to all WH HO files and archives, wh hich shall be e treated on a confidentia al basis. (f) The WHO Secretariat will pr rovide secretariat support t to the Comm mittee.
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