Recommendation raised by Italian court of Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the report Status as reported by ITU Management Status on actions taken by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Auditors Rec. 5 2012 Employee benefits: Repatriation grants However, this difference in key assumptions [between CPA and AON Hewitt] has not a significant impact on the final calculation, in particular the lower discount rate utilized by CPA has an effect of being more prudential in the final value, nevertheless, we recommend Management to use similar key assumptions in all actuarial studies made where circumstances are comparable, in particular regarding the discount rate used. I take note of this recommendation and will instruct FRMD to ensure the harmonization of the chosen key assumptions in the actuarial studies when relevant in 2013. This recommendation has been taken into account for the actuarial reports related to year-end 2013. The key assumptions have been compared to ensure the use of similar assumptions when the circumstances are comparable and consistency when the conditions (especially the time period to be considered) are different. Closed Recommendation raised by Italian court of Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the report Status as reported by ITU Management Status on actions taken by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Auditors
Rec. 7 2012 Principle of mutuality between ITU and ILO is not respected […] ILO will not accept the “principle of mutuality” as defined by our predecessors, and therefore, we recommend Management to consider alternatives to the SHIF, inside or outside the UN system. Since the beginning of 2013, ITU is in the process of studying alternatives to the SHIF. ITU has transferred its insurance plan from the Staff Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) to Breda on 1st May 2014. Closed Recommendation raised by Italian of Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the report Status as reported by ITU Management Status on actions taken by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Auditors
Recommendation raised by Italian court of Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the report Status as reported by ITU Management Status on actions taken by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Auditors Rec. 10 2012 Digitalisation of personnel dossiers Although our analysis of the correspondence of the data inserted in the IT System with personnel dossiers did not revealed any issue, we recommend the Management to start to evaluate the cost-effectiveness to digitalise personnel dossiers, not only in order to prevent that an accidental event might bring to loose fundamental data, but also to allow a direct interface of personnel dossiers with SAP HR. I take note of this recommendation and inform you that HRMD is exploring this possibility. The Detailed Blueprint (DBBP) of the e-Staff Personal File (digital filing) System has been established on 19 April 2013. This DBBP comprises the HRAD (E&B Service) business process and mapping of the structure of the staff member (hard) personal file. The system is linked to the The prototype has been finalized taking into account the recent updated SharePoint version (2013). A testing phase is currently The Personal File system should be operational in the first quarter of 2014. In progress We take note of the recent implementation. Recommendation raised by Italian court of Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the report Status as reported by ITU Management Status on actions taken by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Auditors
Rec. 1 2010 reiterated in 2011 I recommend that ITU makes the necessary corrections in regard to valuation of inventories and adapts its IT system accordingly, in order to ensure correct valuation of inventories in line with IPSAS. A draft policy for the valuation of inventories was submitted to the External Auditor’s colleague in November 2011. This policy determined rules for the valuation of inventories of publications with depreciation calculated linearly. We will conduct a study of the costs of publications that will include staff costs so as to demonstrate our approach and have it validated by the new External Auditors in 2012. Inventories valuation policies are in the process to be reviewed by our new External Auditors. Inventories valuation policies have been defined and the changes to be integrated into the publication management system (DPS) have been defined and implemented as of 1 May 2014 and guidelines have been issued to The first weeks of DPS data is in the process of being analyzed and the valuation methodology tested. Closed Report Recommendation raised By Swiss Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the Swiss report Status as reported by ITU Management related to Swiss Auditors’ report Comments received from ITU Management related to previous Italian Court of Auditors’ Report Status on actions by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Audit
Rec. 2 2008 Rec. 3 2009 Transactions carried out manually outside the SAP environment are sources of error and dysfunction and generate additional tasks which may not be reflected in the job descriptions of the staff concerned. These tasks, conducted without any real backup, lead to delays. I once again invite ITU to move as quickly as possible to integrate the BCS project management tool into the SAP software. Accordingly, I invite ITU: – To make a decision on possibly incorporating into the Grant Management (GM) module all projects that are not operationally and financially closed, to enable correct calculation and distribution of interest on investments in connection with projects. – To define the main technical cooperation processes and assign corresponding responsibilities. – To implement the necessary training measures for efficient use of the new SAP environment in the technical cooperation area. The two recommendations 1/2008 and 2/2009 are closely linked. In 2011 the Financial Resources Management Department, the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) and the Information Services Department conducted a study into whether it would be necessary to introduce a second accounting system in USD, with the support of consultants. This study concluded that training in the GM module should be stepped up, so as to make maximum use of the specificities of this module. Some progress has been made as regards the administrative management of projects. All projects on which there has been no action for several years have been closed and any remaining funds placed in a suspense account (for the reimbursement of donors, use in other projects, etc.). Donors are contacted to decide the subsequent use of these funds. As regards the SAP GM system, a study or gap analysis was conducted in 2011 in order to determine the development requirements that would allow for the optimal and adapted use of the system. SAP Grant Management (GM) was implemented by ITU in January 2010 for the financial management of technical cooperation projects. The related financial processes have been reviewed in 2011 and are in the process of being optimized and the users retrained. SAP Grants Management (GM) was implemented by ITU in January 2010 for the financial management of technical cooperation projects. The related financial processes have been reviewed in 2011 and are in the process of being optimized and the users retrained. This process is still under progress due to budgetary constraints. Ongoing
Report Recommendation raised By Swiss Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the Swiss report Status as reported by ITU Management related to Swiss Auditors’ report Comments received from ITU Management related to previous Italian of Auditors’ Report Status on actions by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Audit IT 2011 Rec. 4 Inadequate management of task separation (SAP SRM) I recommend that ITU's business managers identify sensitive access rights and possible task-separation conflicts, so that the IS teams can subsequently identify particularly risky access rights at the technical level and adjust the corresponding SAP profiles. The Enterprise Resource Planning Division has already redefined, as a first step, the roles of existing SAP users. It agrees with the External Auditor that an SAP solution for the management of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) would be useful for the management of access rights and for addressing conflicts and risks associated with the separation of tasks. The IS Department will be submitting to the ICT Committee a proposal for investment in GRC software and services. We were informed that the cost of a software application for the management of “governance, risk and compliance” (GRC) can go up to 500’000 CHF. We are also aware that strict and accurate procedures in the Access Authorization process implemented in April of 2012, manually operated (i.e. with decisions double-checked on paper) is intended to obtain good results in separation of tasks. Our opinion is that this recommendation, since the Management chose to work around it for economic reasons, has not been completely implemented. In our view Management should consider again the use of a software if its cost will lower in the future. IS submitted a proposal to the ICT Committee to fund the procurement of GRC software and the implementation services. The fund request was not accepted. A new SAP Access Authorizations process has been put in place (since April 2012) that should mitigate access risks. This process is available for review by the external auditors in to consider this recommendation as implemented. Implemented Follow- up of suggestions in our previous report
Court of Auditors Sugg. 2 2012 Implementation of IPSAS 28, 29 and 30 Management assured us about its involvement in the implementation of IPSAS 28, 29 and 30 and we will follow-up the issue. Therefore, we suggest Management to eventually reconsider the classification of “Investments” in non-current assets, and to assess whether the investments will be held to maturity or not. I take note of this suggestion and confirm that this will be taken into account during the implementation of IPSAS 28, 29 and 30 in 2013. IPSAS 28, 29, 30 have been implemented with minimal impact regarding the recognition and valuation of the financial instruments, due to the nature of ITU financial instruments, which were already recognized and value accordingly to the standard implemented and the options included in these standards. The financial operating reporting disclosures have been amended to produce IPSAS 30 compliant information. Implemented Suggestion presented by Italian court of Auditors Comments received from Secretary-General at the time of the issuance of the report Status as reported by ITU Management Status on actions taken by Management as evaluated by Italian Court of Auditors