EU Statement Programme and Budget Committee - Vienna

Agenda Item 3 of the provisional agenda, Interim report of the External Auditor, financial performance report and programme performance report for the biennium 2002-2003

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and the acceding countries. The countries associated with the EU - Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey associate themselves with this statement.

The EU welcomes the interim report of the external auditor as requested by the IDB in its twenty-sixth session in Resolution IDB/DC2 and takes note of the findings and recommendations of the report. We believe that the interim report is a very useful initiative. The EU looks forward to the first full audit report, including the areas that the External Auditor has identified in his work programme.

The EU also welcomes Annex A of the External auditor's report which provides a clear outline of the progress towards implementing the recommendations of the former External Auditor. The EU looks forward to seeing the final version of the Annex in the final report of the External Auditor. We take note that the Secretariat has taken up most of the recommendations contained in the Auditor's report as per Doc. PBC.19/6. The EU would welcome further and regular information on the stipulated implementation of these recommendations and stresses the importance of their implementation within the scarce available resources of UNIDO. The EU especially looks forward to seeing the report on the ongoing implementation of the recommendation concerning improved management processes being implemented in the New York and Geneva offices.

The EU notes that the recommendation by the former external auditor on the recruitment of UNIDO staff as consultants and on the evaluation of projects under the Montreal Protocol was not accepted by the Secretariat. The EU would particularly welcome further information on the reasons for these decisions.

The EU notes that the External Auditor proposes to analyse UNIDO's financial statements with a view to providing suggested improvements to the format. The EU welcomes this, and hopes that member States will be given the opportunity to provide an input into this analysis.

The EU agrees with the External Auditor's comments on the importance of strategic planning. It therefore, welcomes the suggestion that results-based management should be a priority. However, results-based management can only work if indicators are carefully chosen and well defined. The EU will refer on this topic under agenda items 5 and 7.

The EU takes note of the findings and recommendations of the review carried out by the External Auditor and the concerns raised pertaining to the internal audit function and urges the Secretariat to bring these concerns to the attention of the Comptroller General to be appointed under the newly established programme B.4.

The EU takes note of the recommendations of the external Auditor regarding the development of a structured approach of a fraud prevention strategy and supports the suggestion that the appointment of the Comptroller General may be the opportune time to embark on such an approach. The EU therefore, supports the External Auditors decision to bring this issue to the attention of the Comptroller General and looks forward to the Comptroller General's response in due course. It may be that this is an area where UNIDO can help to develop best practice amongst UN agencies.

In respect of this Agenda item, financial and programme performance report 2002 - 2003, the EU also looks forward to the report on UNIDO's activities currently being drafted by the UN Joint Inspection Unit, due to become available soon to members of the UN system.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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• EU Statement Programme and Budget Committee - Vienna (23/4/2003)
• EU Statement Programme and Budget Committee - Vienna (23/4/2003)