Meeting of Panel of External Auditors 9-10 December

The Panel of External Auditors' sixty-fourth session, chaired by Mr. Pierre Moscovici, First President of the Cour des comptes, was held from 9-10 December 2024 at the Headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.

The Panel consists of the Heads of 11 Supreme Audit Institutions who are either elected or selected to conduct the external audit of the UN Secretariat, funds and programmes and specialized agencies, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). External auditors are independent of the United Nations and conduct financial statements and performance audits.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, along with observers from Chile and the Russian Federation.

The United Nations Panel of External Auditors is a unique forum for exchanging information and methodologies to develop further and improve the value and quality of the external assurance process.

The Panel seeks to support the delivery of high-quality, standards-based assurance to ensure that reported financial information provides a transparent and accurate basis for the financial decisions made by the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and IAEA.

Further, the Panel's Technical Group also met from 4-6 December to discuss technical matters and prepare for the ensuing discussions by the Panel.

The Panel discussed several topics, including follow-up actions on the Secretary-General's response to the Panel letter and three critical issues: financial and management, climate change, and digital issues.

In a letter to the Secretary-General, the Panel recognised UN initiatives such as Greening the Blue but underscored the importance of reporting environmental sustainability data and for transparency in reporting environmental strategies. The Panel highlighted the importance of such data being validated and assured.

Further, the Panel highlighted opportunities for integrating financial reporting with programmatic and sustainability outcomes into a single annual report and for enhanced transparency by improving reporting of losses and special payments.

On digital issues, the Panel noted persistent challenges in information and communications technologies and the need for greater alignment across UN organizations to resolve governance, cybersecurity, and system migration issues. It also stressed the importance of robust controls in shared service arrangements, including assurance reports and continuous risk assessments to strengthen controls and systems. The Panel also took note of the growing role of artificial intelligence and data analytics within the UN system.

The Panel met with Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General, to exchange views on different cross-cutting topics amongst the UN system.

More details on the Panel's working are available at its website (www.un.org/en/auditors/panel/).

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