Sixtieth session Agenda item 130 Joint Inspection Unit Procedures for the appointment of inspectors of the Joint Inspection Unit Note by the President of the General Assembly I. Introduction 1. The General Assembly, in paragraph 9 of its resolution 59/267, entitled “Reports of the Joint Inspection Unit”, invited the President of the Assembly to review the procedures followed by the Assembly for the appointment of inspectors, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of the application of article 3, paragraph 2, of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit, bearing in mind the procedures followed for the selection of members of other expert bodies and to report to the Assembly at the first part of its resumed sixtieth session for its decision, as appropriate. II. Selection process for inspectors 2. In accordance with the provisions of article 3 of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit, the President of the General Assembly: “1. … shall consult with Member States to draw up, with due regard to the principle of equitable geographical distribution and of reasonable rotation, a list of countries which would be requested to propose candidates who meet the qualifications mentioned in article 2, paragraph 1, above. “2. … through appropriate consultations, including consultations with the President of the Economic and Social Council and with the Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, shall review the qualifications of the proposed candidates. After further consultations, if necessary, with the States concerned, the President of the General Assembly will submit the list of candidates to the Assembly for appointment.” 3. In practical terms, the implementation of the above provisions is a two-step process that begins two years prior to inspectors taking up their mandate. In the first year, the President of the General Assembly draws up, in conformity with article 3, paragraph 1, of the statute, a list of countries that would be requested to propose candidates. The consultations envisaged in paragraph 2 of article 3 and the appointment of new inspectors take place in the following year. 4. The process of selecting inspectors has long been an issue of concern for Member States, for the Unit and for many of its participating organizations. In its report on the in-depth review of its statute and working methods, the Unit stresses that “in the political context of appointments made by the General Assembly, the complex process foreseen in the statute … cannot always guarantee the prevalence of technical over political considerations. Once a regional group has agreed on the country that is to be requested to propose candidates, who are supposed to meet the established qualifications, there is no real possibility for any of the participants in the process to question the credentials of the proposed candidates. By the same token, where there is no agreement within a regional group on the country to be selected, the Assembly has to resort to a vote, the results of which might be more dependent on the support candidate countries can muster rather than on the qualifications of their potential nominees for the post of Inspector”. The participating organizations see the present process of selecting inspectors as “an eminently political one, in which specialized agencies have a rather perfunctory role”. III. Qualifications of the candidates 5. The statute, in article 2, paragraph 1, provides that the Inspectors should be “chosen from among members of national supervision or inspection bodies, or from among persons of similar competence on the basis of their experience in national or international administrative and financial matters, including management questions”. 6. The General Assembly has reiterated, in a number of resolutions, the importance of applying the highest standards in selecting candidates for appointment as inspectors (see resolutions 42/218 and 43/221). In its resolution 59/267, the Assembly, once again stressed the importance of ensuring that the candidates have experience in at least one of the fields illustrated as follows: oversight, audit, inspection, investigation, evaluation, finance, project evaluation, programme evaluation, human resources management, management, public administration, monitoring and/or programme performance, as well as knowledge of the United Nations and its role in international relations. 7. It may be recalled that the General Assembly, in paragraph 8 of its resolution 59/267, invited the President of the Assembly to ensure the full implementation of the procedures and mechanisms for reviewing the qualifications of proposed candidates, as outlined in article 3, paragraph 2 of the statute, including through joint consultations with the President of the Economic and Social Council and the Chairman of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, (formerly known as the Administrative Committee on Coordination), as well as drawing, as appropriate, on relevant expertise from expert and intergovernmental bodies concerned with budgetary and human resources matters and on consultations with the States concerned, after which the President of the Assembly is to submit the list of such candidates to the Assembly for appointment. 8. Member States have the primary responsibility in this process. In its resolution 42/218, the General Assembly stressed the need for Member States to apply the highest standards in selecting candidates for appointment as Inspectors and in paragraph 6 of its recent resolution 59/267 the Assembly urged Member States requested to propose candidates for membership in the Unit to strictly adhere to the qualifications and experience outlined in article 2, paragraph 1 of the statute. 9. The regional groups have an important role in ensuring that, during the consultation process on candidatures, those countries interested in proposing candidates to the Joint Inspection Unit present candidates who fully meet the required qualifications. 10. The President of the General Assembly has the overall central responsibility for evaluating the candidates for the Joint Inspection Unit in conformity with article 3, paragraph 2, of the statute and the relevant resolutions of the Assembly. IV. Proposed procedures for appointment of inspectors 11. In order to enhance the efficiency of the procedures for the appointment of inspectors, as requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 59/267, the selection process should be simplified. As a means of assisting the President of the General Assembly to discharge his/her responsibility, the following process, similar to those followed by other intergovernmental expert bodies, may be considered: (a) January: The President of the General Assembly informs the Chairmen of the regional groups of the post(s) of inspectors becoming vacant at the end of the calendar year and invites the Member States of the relevant regions to submit the names of countries and their proposed candidate(s) for the post(s); (b) March: After consultation with the members of the group, the Chairmen of the regional groups simultaneously submit to the President of the General Assembly the names of the countries and the candidate(s) for the vacant post(s). The simultaneous presentation of the names of the countries and of the candidate(s) increases the transparency of the process and facilitates the process of the evaluation of the candidate(s); (c) April to July: The President of the General Assembly proceeds with the consultation process outlined in article 3, paragraph 2, of the statute of the Joint Inspection Unit and in the relevant resolutions of the Assembly, in particular paragraph 8 of Assembly resolution 59/267, and reviews the qualifications of the proposed candidate(s) to ensure that they meet the necessary requirements. A period of four months is allotted for consultations to allow for a thorough evaluation of the candidate(s) by all those involved in the review process, including the participating agencies; (d) August to September: After completing the consultations, the President of the General Assembly submits the names of all qualified candidate(s) to the Assembly for appointment. The new inspectors would begin their term on 1 January of the following year. V. Recommendation 12. The General Assembly may wish to take note of the present report by the President of the General Assembly and approve the procedures for the selection and appointment of inspectors of the Joint Inspection Unit outlined herein. A/58/343/Add.1, para. 6. Ibid., para. 5. __________________ __________________  \* MERGEFORMAT 4 \* MERGEFORMAT 3 United Nations A/60/659 General Assembly Distr.: General 26 January 2006 Original: English 06-22475 S (E) 210206 *0622475* A/60/659 A/60/659