Permanent Mission of India
Geneva
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
14th Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance (SCPF)
Statement of India
Mr. Chairperson,
1. At the outset, my delegation wishes to commend you for successfully steering the proceedings of the meeting of the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance.
2.The Standing Committee meeting takes place at an important phase of global migration discourse, in numerous platforms both within the UN and outside. It is also significant that IOM itself is undergoing structural transformation with the establishment of new Internal Audit and Oversight Advisory body, ethics structure, as well as alignment of its financing systems with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Mr. Chairperson,
3.My delegation wishes to commend the sagacious leadership of Director General Ambassador Swing and his very capable team, both at headquarters and in Missions abroad, for embarking on action-oriented plans and programmes. We thank the Director General for his concise presentation earlier today. We are impressed with his three ‘C’s approach, and we look forward to hearing more on implementation of it.
4.As we are now in SCPF setting, we wish to limit our comments, on budget and financial aspects of the organization.
- We note with satisfaction that the transition to the newly aligned scales of assessment to that of UN system, with the approved annual increase till 2016, is proceeding smoothly. We wish to inform that India has made its revised contribution for the current year, as determined during the last Council meeting.
- We are also pleased to note, on the recommendations of the External Auditor, the IOM has already established the Audit and Oversight Advisory Committee. We look forward to their observations and recommendations at our next meeting of SCPF, if it is not too early to expect a report from the Advisory Committee.
- We also note that IOM Development Fund has provided support to 70 Member States, also the recommendations of the IOM Office of the Inspector General, following a Process Audit by it, are under implementation.
5.With mounting challenges on numerous fronts, on matters relating to international migration, we note that IOM has responded effectively, and also made its contribution tangible. Even on the normative framework, IOM’s role found reflection and recognition in the global discourse on the subject. As the IOM paces itself in addressing international migration challenges, we are confident that its core mandate of ensuring humane, orderly and safe migration, would continue to be at the forefront of its activities. We also would like to see a balanced treatment of various service/support activities, under the six pillars identified by the IOM Council.
Mr. Chairperson,
6.We thank Mr. Bruce Reed, Director, IOM, for his perceptive and detailed financial report on the organization. We wish to thank the External Auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, represented by Ms. Amandeep Chhata, for giving a detailed account of their observations and recommendations, following theaudit of financial statements, performance audit of the treasury, as well as audit of IOM country offices.
7.We are happy to note that IOM is in the process of active and progressive implementation of External Auditor’s recommendations, made last year. It is also re-assuring that the External Auditor has given an ‘unclassified audit opinion’ on IOM’s financial statement for the financial year ending December 2013, and that they present fairly in all material aspects.
8.Wealso note that the organization need to pay close attention to the increasing reported cases of fraud/presumptive fraud between 2012 and 2013, greater control over banking relationships maintained by country offices, perceptional challenges on the oversight role of regional offices vis-a-vis the country offices in the region, procedures for hiring consultants, etc, as brought out in External Auditor’s Report.
9.We are confident that the observations of External Auditor would continue to be implemented at a steady pace, as some of them have additional financial implications for the Organization. Mr. Bruce Reed, Director, has already indicated in his presentation earlier about the progress made so far in implementation of some of the recommendations of the External Auditor, as well as financial and challenges in fully implementing them.
10. We once again thank the External Auditor for their observations and recommendations, which we believe, are in the best interest of the Organization, as well as the members of the Council.
I thank you Mr. Chairperson.
******
