JIU Participating Organizations

The Unit operates with respect to the legislative organs and the secretariats of those specialized agencies and other international organizations, within the United Nations system, that have accepted its Statute. These entities are often referred to as the JIU participating organizations (PO). JIU has a total of 28 participating organizations that play a crucial role in how the Unit functions. Participating organizations support JIU both financially with regard to a cost-sharing arrangement and practically in that participating organizations contribute to the oversight work of JIU in a cooperative partnership.

Every year, each participating organization has the opportunity to express its priorities by proposing and rating the relevance of topics envisaged for future reviews to be included in the JIU Programme of Work.

Once the topics have been selected, outreach continues in the phase of project planning. Sharing draft Terms of Reference with the organizations ensures common understanding of the scope, the intended impact and the methodology of the project. In the next stages of the evaluation, the positive working relationship is maintained between JIU and the organizations (e.g., facilitating the completion of questionnaires and surveys, arranging face-to-face interviews and regular interactions with Inspectors and their project teams).

In the analysis and reporting phase, JIU prepares a draft report that is submitted to the participating organizations for comments. JIU considers and incorporates the comments where appropriate and may request clarifications, making clear that all inputs from organizations are taken into due consideration.

Focal points: Much more than contact persons

The continuous exchange of information described above relies on the effective work of the focal point, a person working in each PO to facilitate cooperation between the organization and the JIU. Focal points are often members either of the management, oversight or the external relations offices of their respective organization. Focal points provide support at various stages of the evaluation process, from preparation to follow-up. Focal Points:

• Facilitate data collection and contribute to planning on-site missions by helping to identify relevant internal stakeholders;
• Collect and transmit comments on draft reports;
• Take steps to ensure due consideration of reports by the executive heads and governing bodies of their institution;
• Gather relevant information on the acceptance, implementation and impact of recommendations and share it with the JIU for follow-up.

Given the critical importance of focal points in ensuring effective interaction with the POs, the JIU established periodic meetings as an additional channel to facilitate communication. The Unit organizes Focal Points Meetings on a regular basis that provide an opportunity for the JIU to strengthen its relationships with the United Nations system organizations.