United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services

The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is an independent office in the United Nations Secretariat whose mandate is to "assist the Secretary-General in fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities in respect of the resources and staff of the Organization."[1] Specifically, activities include internal audit, investigation, monitoring, evaluation, inspection, reporting and support services to the United Nations Secretariat.[2]

Office of Internal Oversight Services
United Nations Headquarters, New York City
AbbreviationOIOS
Formation1994
Legal statusActive
Head
Under-Secretary-General
Heidi Mendoza
Parent organization
United Nations Secretariat
Subsidiaries
  • Inspection & Evaluation Division
  • Internal Audit Division
  • Investigations Division
Websiteoios.un.org

Its intended and mandated function is similar to many national government audit organisations, like the Government Accountability Office in the United States. It reports not only to the General Assembly, but also to the Secretary-General.

The current head of the OIOS, Under-Secretary-General Heidi Mendoza of Republic of the Philippines, was appointed as Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services for a five-year term starting on 11 November 2015, succeeding Carman Lapointe of Canada.[3]

The office was established in 1994 at the insistence of the United States that the UN take steps to curb waste and corruption, although there are some doubts concerning its effectiveness.[4] Its first head was Under-Secretary-General Karl Theodor Paschke.

Role and function

According to its website:

The Office submits reports to the Secretary-General that provide insight into the effective utilization of the resources of the Organization and the protection of its assets and also makes these reports available to the General Assembly. OIOS adds value by providing world-wide audit, investigation, inspection, programme monitoring, evaluation and consulting services to the United Nations Secretariat and a wide range of United Nations operational funds, programmes and tribunals. OIOS sees itself as an agent of change, committed to help client departments and offices bring about responsible administration of resources and a culture of accountability, transparency, results-orientation and risk awareness.

Under-Secretaries-General
#PortraitUnder-Secretary-GeneralDates in officeNationality
1

Karl Theodor Paschke1 January 1994 – 31 December 1999 Germany
2Dileep Nair24 April 2000 – 23 April 2005 Singapore
3Inga-Britt Ahlenius15 July 2005 – 14 July 2010 Sweden
4Carman Lapointe14 September 2010 – 6 October 2015 Canada
5Heidi Mendoza15 November 2015[5] - Incumbent Philippines

References
  1. "Review of the implementation of General Assembly resolutions 48/218 B, 54/244 and 59/272" (PDF). undocs.org. UN. 5 May 2010. p. 1. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  2. "Activities and functions of OIOS". un.org. UN. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  3. "Secretary-General welcomes approval of his nominee, Carman L. Lapointe (Canada), as Under-Secretary-General for Internal OversightServices". un.org. UN. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  4. Lynch, Colum (26 August 2016). "The U.N.'s Investigation Wars". Foreign Policy. Graham Holdings Company. Retrieved 18 March 2018. But the exchange with Malcorra exposed roiling turmoil at the core of a long-beleaguered U.N. department responsible for preventing fraud and waste in an organization that spends billions of dollars each year and conducts peacekeeping missions in fragile countries around the world.
  5. Calleja, Niña P. (15 October 2015). "UN General Assembly OKs Heidi Mendoza's appointment". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
United Nations Procurement Task Force: Interim Report on a Concerned UN Staff Member (PTF-R011-06), 19 Dec 2006 January 12, 2009
United Nations Procurement Task Force: Report on Cogim SPA and Corimec Italiana SPA (PTF-R008-07), 28 Jun 2007 January 12, 2009
United Nations Procurement Task Force: Final Report on a Concerned UN Staff Member and UNOPS Procurement (PTF-R012-07), 15 Aug 2007 January 12, 2009


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