WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION FIFTY-NINTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Provisional agenda item 16.2 A59/33 22 May 2006
Report of the Internal Auditor and comments thereon made on behalf of the Executive Board Fourth report of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board to the Fifty-ninth World Health Assembly 1. The fourth meeting of the Programme, Budget and Administration committee was held in Geneva on 19 May 2006 under the chairmanship of Ms J. Halton (Australia).1 2. The Committee reviewed the report of the Internal Auditor, with its summary of the work completed during the year 2005.2 3. Noting that an assessment of risk guides the work of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the Committee asked whether there was an Organization-wide methodology for risk assessment. The Committee expressed the need for the Secretariat to implement a risk-management policy for the enterprise and welcomed the review planned by the Office in this area. 4. The importance of the global management system project and the associated risks were also discussed and the committee requested that the Office should continue to work in this area. The committee expressed concerns about lack of progress in implementing audit recommendations in the Regional Office for Africa and requested a further report on this. 5. The Committee enquired about the feasibility of placing auditors in regional offices but agreed that such a policy could give rise to a loss of auditors’ independence. In order to strengthen implementation of audit recommendations, however, the Committee suggested that internal oversight matters should be considered at meetings of regional committees. 6. In expressing a need for greater information, yet noting that oversight reports are internal working documents, the Committee requested that, in future, the report of the Internal Auditor should be more detailed and provide information on risk.
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For list of participants, see document A59/29, Annex. Document A59/32.
A59/33
7. Recognizing the importance of follow-up to internal oversight reports, the Committee requested the Secretariat to report back to the Executive Board on actions taken to implement recommendations. 8. The Committee encouraged the Office to maintain its current direction and to continue to provide information on audit results.
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