JIU Participates at the UN-RIAS 16th & RIAS 53rd Meetings  

On September 19th, the JIU participated in the UN-RIAS 16th and 53rd RIAS (Representatives of Internal Audit Services) meetings which bring together Chief Audit Executives and Deputies from UN agencies, multilateral financial institutions, and related international organizations. It serves as a platform to discuss strategic issues, exchange lessons learned and build stronger partnerships to safeguard impactful work. Due to increased interest in getting further insights from the JIU, the Unit presented preparations for the 2025 programme of work and the main findings of two ongoing reviews for the UN-RIAS community.  

The chair of the Unit, Inspector Fernandez Opazo discussed the process for preparing the programme of work, which includes initial consultations with its participating organizations and the oversight and coordinating bodies of the system, observations from Inspectors, proposals received on high-interest topics and requests from the General Assembly and governing bodies of other UN system organizations. The topics under consideration for the 2025 programme of work will be discussed and approved by the Unit in December 2024. 

JIU Vice-chair, Inspector Miranda Hita presented the initial findings of the ongoing “Review of Donor-led assessments of UN system organizations and other oversight-related requests from donors in the context of funding agreements and the UN Single Audit Principle.” Likewise, Inspector Goitsemang shared key insights of the ongoing “Review of the implementation of the principle of mutual recognition within the United Nations system,” with topics including the need for effective system-wide coordination, internal guidelines and sustainable trust amongst entities.