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TENTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Other financial and general questions

Report of the Joint Inspection Unit of the
United Nations on its activities for the
period from 1 July 1997 to 31 December 1998

1. This is the 30th report⁽¹⁾  of its kind prepared by the Joint Inspection Unit. Exceptionally, it covers 18 months of activities as opposed to reports from previous years, which covered 12 months of operations. This is because the Unit decided to revert to the January-December cycle for its annual report and programme of work. This short report is structured into seven sections, which include information on various aspects of the Unit's work. They include a list of the participating organizations; the composition of the Unit and its secretariat; a reference to the programme of work; measures to further enhance the functioning and impact of the JIU; and relations and cooperation with member States, participating organizations and other supervisory bodies.

2. The Office has noted that future annual reporting from the JIU will provide for the full coverage of the annual work programme. It also notes the idea that the Unit's leadership should be based on delegated authority from other inspectors and that the Unit has abandoned the system of regional rotation for a one-year term of office of its Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

3. The annex to the report contains a list of the nine JIU studies issued during the period under review. Most of them are of system-wide scope. Comments by the Office and those of the Administrative Committee on Coordination are submitted in a separate paper⁽²⁾  on the following system-wide reports:

• "Coordination at headquarters and field level between the United Nations agencies involved in peace-building: an assessment of possibilities" (JIU/REP/97/4);
• "The challenge of outsourcing for the United Nations system" (JIU/REP/97/5);
• "Training institutions in the United Nations system: Programmes and activities" (JIU/REP/97/6);
• "Fellowships in the United Nations system" (JIU/REP/98/1);
• "More coherence for enhanced oversight in the United Nations system" (JIU/REP/98/2).

4. As in the past, system-wide JIU reports will continue to be submitted to the Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee or to the Committee on Technical Cooperation once the comments of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) on the reports are issued.

5. Copies of the annual report of the Joint Inspection Unit on its activities are available for consultation.

Geneva, 27 October 1999.

1. General Assembly, Official Records, Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 34 (A/54/34).

2. GB.276/PFA/10/2.