The focus is on the oversight systems of the United Nations Organization/Secretariat; the first component consists of the so-called external oversight mechanisms and the second component is made up of the internal oversight system.

EXTERNAL OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS

EOM1:
The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (established in 1946): the Committee consists of sixteen members chosen by the United Nations General Assembly on the basis of geographical representation, personal qualifications and expertise. The Committee is known as the legislative financial 'watchdog'; it provides advice to the General Assembly. The Committee examines the proposed program budget, administrative and budgetary matters in general including those pertaining o peacekeeping operations and extra-budgetary questions including activities funded by voluntary contributions. The Committee meets throughout the year.

EOM2:
The Board of Auditors (established in 1946) consists of three auditors general of member states. It performs external audit functions for the United Nations and for the separately administered funds (e.g UNICEF) and programs (e.g UNDP).

EOM3:
The Panel of External Auditors (established in 1959): consists of auditors from the member states of the United Nations. Its purpose is to promote appropriate accounting and auditing practices in the United Nations system

EOM4:
The Committee for Programme and Coordination (established in 1962): the Committee is a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly and as such is responsible for overseeing planning, programming and coordination. It plays a substantive role and is known as the legislative programmatic 'watchdog'.

EOM5:
The Joint Inspection Unit (established in 1968): the Unit consists of eleven inspectors from different members states selected by the United Nations General Assembly on the basis of their personal competence and qualifications; they serve in a personal capacity and do not represent the member states they come from. They conduct inspections, evaluations and investigations on matters bearing on the efficiency of the services provided and the proper use of funds. The Unit has responsibility spanning the United Nations system. It submits its reports to the General Assembly.

INTERNAL OVERSIGHT

IO1 Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS):
Until recently there were several units undertaking the internal oversight functions, separately. A study undertaken by the JIU a few years ago pointed out the weaknesses of the internal oversight system and its components. At the same time, the Members States that are the major contributors to the budget of the United Nations Secretariat expressed serious concern about lapses in internal oversight at a time when the activities of the organizations and their complexities had increased significantly. As a result of these two sets of concerns, the General Assembly of the United Nations (the main legislative body with responsibility for management, budgetary and oversight matters) approved the establishment in 1994 of a strengthened system of internal oversight known as the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and, for so doing, it looked at and drew from the experience of several countries on internal oversight, including Europe, the U.S.A., and so on. The head of the OIOS is often referred to as the UN-IG; he is in fact a super-IG as used in the US system and perhaps more. The head of OIOS is elected by the General Assembly upon the advice of the UN Secretary-General, i.e the Chief Executive of the UN Secretariat, for a one-term period of five years.

OIOS has four main components located at the United Nations headquarters performing the core internal oversight functions, complementing each other into a 'tight' oversight web; in addition, it has units located at the United Nations offices in Geneva and Nairobi as well as resident auditors in several large United Nations operations in various countries (often referred to as the field). The four components are (a) the Audit and Management Consulting Division (b) the Central Evaluation Unit (c) the Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit and (d) the Investigations Section.

The Audit and Management Consulting Division: this is the largest of the four components and it undertakes internal audit of all programs and operations under the responsibility of the Secretary-General; it aims in particular at promoting compliance with policies, regulations, rules and procedures; the safeguarding of assets; the economical, efficient and effective use of resources (value for money); and the accomplishment of established objectives of the programs and operations. In addition, it undertakes management audit and consulting.

The Central Evaluation on the one hand undertakes in-depth evaluation of programmes at the request of the Committee for Programme and Coordination and thus helps the CPC in performing its programmatic oversight function; in this context, evaluation is defined as studies to determine as systematically and objectively as possible the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of programmes in relation to their objectives to enable the Secretariat and member states to make informed decisions about the continuation of the activities of these programmes; on the other hand, the CEU assists programme managers to undertake the self-evaluation of programmes under their responsibility.

The Central Monitoring and Inspection Unit on the one hand provides supports to programme managers in monitoring the activities and performance of their programmes and for so doing to develop performance indicators as appropriate and collects information for the preparation of the report of the Secretary-General on programme performance for submission to the legislative bodies including the Committee for Programme and Coordination and the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly; on the other hand, the component undertakes inspections defined as studies aimed at analyzing programme and management performance problems with a view to finding solutions to such problems. Recent efforts have been geared to linking and streamlining the self-evaluation and monitoring exercises.

The Investigation Section looks into allegations of violations of regulations, rules and administrative issuances in general with a view to making recommendations on appropriate disciplinary or judiciary actions as needed.

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