Geneva hosted last 26-27 January the 17th meeting of the ITU Council working group on Financial Regulation (FINREGS).
The group was informed that the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) have been successfully implemented and began to be used in the ITU on 1 January 2010.
Highlights among the agenda points include the discussion over creation of an audit committee. The Internal Auditing director from the World Intellectual Property Organisation and head of the working group on audit committees from the Representatives of Internal Audit Services within the UN System (RIAS), Nick Treen, gave a presentation on some points which the RIAS deems essential when creating audit committees, namely that they be composed of from three to five independent and experienced experts.
The working group agreed that an audit committee should be set up to evaluate the efficiency of the ITU’s internal management, among other aspects. To that end, a correspondence group was established which should work out in greater detail the group’s composition and terms of reference. It was noted that creating this committee would result in the need to review the terms of reference of FINREGS and also the working group on management and budget.
Agreement was also reached that it would be useful to create a new category of members with lower contribution levels for teaching and research institutions, and also for sector members from developing countries.
Plans call for the group to meet again before the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, provisionally in June.
