Accountability and Compliance in EURO - presentation delivered by Imre Hollo, Director, Administration and Finance, on 14 September 2015 at the 65th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (Vilnius, Lithuania, 14–17 September 2015)

1. Accountability and
Compliance in EURO
Imre Hollo
Director, Administration and Finance

2. Effective controls are in place
• IOS audited 7 country offices (Turkey, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Republic of Moldova
and Montenegro) in the past 3 years and found that the management and control processes were all
satisfactory or partially satisfactory
• 78% of the tested controls were operating effectively in the Regional Office (IOS assessment end 2014)
• External auditors assessed the Regional Office twice and several country offices: Albania, Estonia and
Ukraine (2011), Kyrgyzstan and Turkey (2013).
• All 2011 recommendations are closed and only 6 recommendations from 2013 pending
• No long-outstanding open audit recommendations in EURO
• A Management Group was established to go into the details of various management reports and identify
follow-up actions
• SCRC is regularly informed of financial situation through extensive oversight reports
• Review of audit recommendations by the RC

3. Issues Identified Actions
No competitive selection for
procurement of services
 pre-checks and post-checks by the
Compliance Team introduced
No externalization of back-up files.  procedures developed
 implementation in progress
Internet connectivity problems  systematic review
 advise on status and improvements
Key systemic issues identified during past audits

4. Key systemic issues identified during past audits
Issues Identified Actions
Anomalies in the recruitment of project
personnel in country offices
 guidelines developed
 clearance by the Regional Office
introduced
Management of fixed assets  new guidelines developed
 comprehensive check performed

5. Most recent audit – DAF division, IOS
• Objective: assessment of effectiveness of the governance, risk management and control processes of
DAF – Jan 2013 to May 2015
• Overall controls implemented by EURO to mitigate key risks were deemed to be satisfactory
• Issues highlighted:
– Full implementation in GSM of the Delegation of Authority from RD is pending
– Post-checks of the completeness and adequacy of deliverables to be introduced
– Enhancement of the control of overlapping or fragmented contracts needed
– Adherence to criteria for bid evaluations to be strengthened
– Creation of Compliance function in 2011 significantly improved the assurances, reporting line
and coordination with the Global Service Center. HQ and/or other regional compliance units
needs to be strengthen to have a harmonized approach

6. Good practices to share with other
Regional Offices
• Monthly reports for the Executive Management Committee on
achievement of results, budgeting, resources, salary financing situation,
award management and compliance
• Communication structure with focal points in each technical unit and
country office. Regular meetings on finance, compliance and procurement
issues – positive impact as a systemic feedback channel

7. Investigation Case
• IOS investigation revealed a misconduct by a Head of Country Office:
– use of WHO vehicle for personal use, together with close family
– inappropriate delegation of authority to a unauthorized non-staff
member
• Appropriate disciplinary measures were taken

8. New initiatives to further strengthen the controls
• Link performance appraisals with compliance targets
• Roll-out the new responsibility matrix for COs and ROs
• Strengthen administrative capacity in countries
• Expand compliance checks to non-staff contracts
• Work closely with CRE in HQ on implementing a risk register
• Increase transparency through publishing tenders on internet as part of
the implementation of the new procurement strategy of WHO

9. Thank you