The United Nations has both internal and external accountability and oversight mechanisms. For 1996-97, OIOS had oversight authority over $7 billion. While our examination of the U.N. resolution creating OIOS, the Secretary General’s Bulletin establishing OIOS, and OIOS’ operating procedures showed that OIOS is in a position to be operationally independent, we could not test whether OIOS exercised its authority and implemented its procedures in an independent manner because OIOS would not provide us access to certain audit and investigation reports and its working papers. Availability of OIOS Reports

An area of concern is how OIOS has implemented its reporting mechanism. Its mandate states that OIOS “shall submit to the Secretary General reports that provide insight into the effective utilization and management of resources and the protection of assets” and that “all such reports are made available to the General Assembly as submitted by the Office.” The USG for Internal Oversight Services determines which reports are provided to the Secretary General, and we noted that OIOS has provided seven of eight inspection reports to the Secretary General and the General Assembly and that all six in-depth evaluation reports it has done were provided to the Committee for Programme and Coordination—a committee of the General Assembly. Since the establishment of OIOS, its regular U.N. budget has increased by 55 percent and its authorized positions have increased by 18.However, this did not happen without some difficulty. The Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit and the Central Evaluation Unit do not have comparable manuals. According to OIOS officials, the units’ staff are responsible for tracking corrective actions managers take in response to recommendations and for determining when they have fully implemented recommendations. Conclusions and Observations

OIOS has established itself as the internal oversight mechanism for the U.N. Secretary General. It is in position to be operationally independent, has overcome certain start-up problems, and has developed policies and procedures for much of its work. To this end, we discussed with the USG for Internal Oversight Services several ways to enhance OIOS’ future operations. To determine whether OIOS has the necessary resources to carry out its mission, we reviewed the overall U.N. budget, budget and staffing documents for the Office for Inspections and Investigations and OIOS, and OIOS annual reports. To determine whether OIOS had written policies and procedures in place for conducting its work, following up on its recommendations, and providing confidentiality to informants and protecting whistleblowers from possible reprisal, we reviewed the audit and investigations manuals and other written guidance made available to us. However, as previously noted, we were not provided access to OIOS working papers or other records and files related to specific audits, investigations, or inspections. It meets twice yearly for about  3 weeks each time and is serviced by a secretariat in New York. OIOS Organization and Unit Functions, Budget, and Staffing

OIOS consists of four operational units—the Audit and Management Consulting Division, the Investigations Section, the Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit, and the Central Evaluation Unit. It also has an office of the Under Secretary General (USG) for Internal Oversight Services.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the operations of the United Nations (U.N.) Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), focusing on whether OIOS: (1) is operationally independent; (2) has the necessary resources to carry out its mission; and (3) has written policies and procedures in place for conducting its work, following up on its recommendations, and providing confidentiality to informants and protecting whistleblowers from possible reprisal. GAO noted that its lack of direct audit authority resulted in certain limitations and restricted its ability to fully address the review objectives.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) OIOS is the internal oversight mechanism for the U.N. Secretary General; (2) although OIOS had some start-up and early operational problems, many of these seem to have been resolved; (3) this was difficult to do in an organizational environment that operated without effective internal oversight mechanisms for almost half a century; (4) in less than 3 years, OIOS has assimilated four preexisting, internal oversight units from the Office for Inspections and Investigations and, for the first time, hired professional investigators and provided other resources for an investigations unit in the United Nations; (5) OIOS' mandate, the Secretary General's Bulletin establishing OIOS, and OIOS' implementing procedures provide the framework for an operationally independent, internal oversight mechanism for the U.N. Secretariat; (6) however, without access to all its audit, inspection, and investigation reports, working papers, and other records and files related to OIOS work, GAO could not test whether OIOS exercised its authority and implemented its procedures in an independent manner; (7) one issue that may affect the appearance of OIOS' independence involves how it has implemented its reporting mechanism; (8) OIOS has provided only 39 of its 162 various reports to the Secretary General and the General Assembly or its committees; (9) initial concerns about inadequate budget and staff levels have been addressed; (10) since its establishment, OIOS' regular U.N. budget has increased from $12 million to $18.6 million (proposed for 1998-99), and its authorized positions have increased by 18, to a total of 123; (11) OIOS' audit division and the Investigations Section have developed written auditing and investigative policies and procedures; (12) however, the Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit and the Central Evaluation Unit do not have comparable manuals; (13) each OIOS unit tracks its recommendations and is responsible for determining when they should be closed out; (14) in its 1995 and 1996 annual reports, the Under Secretary General (USG) for Internal Oversight Services estimated OIOS had identified $35.5 million in potential recoveries and realized $19.8 million in savings and recoveries; (15) OIOS' Investigations Section has established procedures and developed guidance, which it has publicized throughout the United Nations, for ensuring informants' confidentiality and protecting whistleblowers from reprisal; and (16) in discussions with the USG for Internal Oversight Services, GAO suggested several ways to enhance OIOS' future operations.