The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) was created on an experimental basis under General Assembly resolution 2150 (XXI) of 4 November 1966. On 1 January 1978, the statute of the Unit, as adopted by the Assembly in its resolution 31/192 of 22 December 1976, took effect. By this action, the Unit became a subsidiary organ of the legislative bodies of the organizations within the United Nations system which have accepted the statute of the Unit. Those organizations, hereinafter referred to as the participating organizations, are listed in chapter II of the present report. The main purpose of the Unit is to enhance the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations system.
According to its statute, the Unit shall, inter alia, satisfy itself that the activities undertaken by the participating organizations are carried out in the most economical manner and that optimum use is made of resources available for carrying out their activities. The Unit is composed of 11 Inspectors having experience in national or international administrative and financial matters, including management questions, and are appointed by the General Assembly on the basis of equitable geographical distribution. They serve in their personal capacity for a term of five years, renewable once.
Inspectors have the broadest powers of investigation in all matters having a bearing on the efficiency of services and proper use of resources and may make on-the-spot inquiries and investigations. They are also mandated to inspect and evaluate the activities of the participating organizations and make recommendations aimed at improving management and methods and at achieving greater coordination among those organizations.
At its forty-eighth session, the General Assembly, in the preamble of resolution 48/221 of 23 December 1993, reaffirmed-the statute of the Unit, as the only independent system-wide inspection, evaluation and investigation body.
The Unit prepares reports, notes and confidential letters addressed to one or more organizations and/or of interest to the United Nations system as a whole. In addition, the Unit submits an annual report, covering its main activities during the year, to the General Assembly and to the legislative organs of the participating organizations.
The present report is the twenty-seventh of its kind prepared by the Unit since its establishment.
