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General Assembly approves chiefs for development and internal oversight

General Assembly approves chiefs for development and internal oversight

Kemal Dervis
The United Nations General Assembly today approved a Turkish economist as the next Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and a Swedish auditor as the new Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, both recommended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The United Nations General Assembly today approved a Turkish economist as the next Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and a Swedish auditor as the new Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, both recommended by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Kemal Dervis was confirmed for a four-year term as the new UNDP Administrator starting 15 August. He is a former World Bank executive who was responsible for developing new poverty reduction strategies. He will also chair the UN Development Group (UNDG), which coordinates the international assistance and reconstruction work of the UN agencies.

"I relish the opportunity to work for an organization which has always stood at the front lines of the battle against poverty and has been a leader in fighting for the right of all people to live with freedom and dignity," he said after his unanimous confirmation.

The new head of the Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), with a five-year non-renewable contract, will be Inga-Britt Ahlenius, now the Auditor-General of Kosovo and previously the Auditor-General of Sweden.

Ms. Ahlenius was also a member of the Committee of Independent Experts established by the European Parliament with a mandate to examine the ways in which the 20-member Commission detected and dealt with fraud, mismanagement and nepotism. Its report in 1999 led to the resignation of the entire Commission and its later reform.

OIOS submits reports to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly on protecting the organizations' assets. It also does worldwide audits of UN operations and provides consulting services to UN funds, programmes and tribunals.