 ACTIVITY REPORT
January 1 to March 31, 1998
I. Audit Reports
1. The Trade Unit and the Foreign Trade Information System (SICE) were
audited in January 1998 as programmed in the Inspector General =s work plan for this
year. The Trade Unit was created in 1995 by Executive Order 95-4; SICE, which began
operations in 1983, while maintaining the autonomy of its administrative unit, functions
under the Trade Unit in substantive matters according to that Executive Order.
Consequently, both audits are contained in report SG/OIG/AUDIT-01/98.
The review covered the period from 1 January 1996 to 31 October 1997,
during which the Trade Unit and SICE expended $4.2 million and did a great deal of work
towards the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process. The audit showed that both the
Trade Unit and SICE are fulfilling their objectives in a satisfactory manner and that
their achievements to date have been generally impressive. The Trade Unit has prepared
between 40 and 50 complex studies in support of mandates of 8 of the 12 working groups
created by the Member States to further the FTAA process. SICE, for its part, has
marked-up all published studies and other material and posted them on the Internet. Both
SICE and the FTAA have their own Web sites on the Internet. The records show a strong
upward trend in the number of access operations ( Ahits@) to the SICE Web
site, from a monthly total of slightly more than 8,000 in 1995 to a current monthly
estimate of 200,000. Although this unit of measurement may not be a totally accurate
indicator and does not define the use being made of the information, our conclusion is
that there is considerable demand for SICE information.
If the services of the Trade Unit and SICE are found to be necessary
until the FTAA process is concluded in 2005 -- and this depends on political decisions to
be taken shortly --manpower requirements, employment mechanisms and goals of their
activities will have to be reconciled for the upcoming seven years. The audit report
contains recommendations in this regard. All 13 recommendations in the report were
approved by the Secretary General; the one concerning the transfer of two staff members to
the budget areas for which they render services to allow the filling of the two positions
by SICE-related personnel had been implemented as of the date of this quarterly report.
2. As part of the Inspector General =s audit plan for 1998,
an evaluation of the Inter-Sectoral Unit for Tourism was performed at Headquarters
covering the period June 1996 to December 1997. The examination indicated that the period
under audit was primarily a period of transition in the Unit, which was created on 28 June
1996 by Executive Order 96-7 as the principal entity within the General Secretariat
responsible for tourism and its development in the OAS Member States.
The audit showed that the Tourism Unit complied with OAS rules and
procedures in processing financial transactions, with the exception of some performance
contracts (CPRs) that were issued without following those procedures. In the report -- SG/OIG/AUDIT-02/98
-- the need for an adequate information center is pointed out, as well as for an improved
Web site on the Internet, a centralized filing system and better communications within the
Unit. Improvement was noted in communications between the Unit and CIDI.
The audit report also addresses the need to attract external funding
and promote effective partnerships with the private sector, both of which are included in
the new economic development strategy adopted by the Member States. In our opinion, the
Unit =s
ability to attract external financing was hampered in the period under review by
insufficient technical skills, lack of proper facilities, and by failure to prepare
systematic plans and to execute more effective follow-up action. The audit, issued on 30
March 1998, contains 14 recommendations for improving the staff skills and physical
facilities currently available to the Unit, the preparation of systematic plans of
activities and, in general, for enhancement of the OAS image in order to demonstrate OAS
expertise in the field of tourism. Because the recommendations were presented to the
Secretary General immediately before issuing this quarterly report, they were under his
review at this writing.
II. Investigation
In the course of a field audit conducted in 1997, the auditor detected
a situation which warranted a thorough examination of the rent subsidy accorded to certain
staff members serving away from Headquarters. Therefore, the Inspector General decided to
carry out an investigation covering the 15 staff members who were receiving this benefit
at 31 December 1997.
Eleven staff members were found to be in full compliance with the
regulations that govern the rent subsidy benefit. Questions arose in the investigation
regarding the other four. The matter was turned over to the Director of the Department of
Human Resources for action on the recommendations contained in the report. The Director of
Human Resources took very prompt action to correct the anomalies detected by the auditor
in the investigation.
III. Inspection
In March, the Inspector General carried out in person an inspection of
the APrograma
de Cooperación Técnica para la Consolidación de la Paz y la Reinserción en Nicaragua@ (Technical
Cooperation Program for the Consolidation of Peace and Reinsertion [of former combatants
into civilian life] in Nicaragua). His report to the Secretary General was in preparation
at this writing, and will therefore be summarized in the Activity Report of the Office of
the Inspector General for the second quarter of 1998.
IV. Other activities
Two auditors participated in a two-day seminar organized by the
Institute of Internal Auditors on security issues related to the Oracle information
system, within the ongoing training program in the Office of the Inspector General.
A home page on the Internet/Intranet for the Office of the Inspector
General is in the process of being designed and implemented. The home page will contain
general information about OIG and its mandate, and also reports that have been circulated
as official Permanent Council documents. The creation of a new data base for internal use
by OIG, containing reports and recommendations issued by the Inspector General, which will
facilitate follow-up action on implementation of recommendations, is also in process.
31 March 1998
ACTIVITY REPORT
April 1 to June 30, 1998
I. Audit Reports
1. As part of the 1998 work plan, the Office of the Inspector
General conducted an audit of the contracts between the General Secretariat and Walton
Thomas International, together with an evaluation of the concept of outsourcing, as it is
used in the General Secretariat.
The audit (SG/OIG/AUDIT-03/98) covered the period from January
1, 1996, to February 15, 1998. It examined 49 contracts and amendments, obligations for
which amounted to approximately $688,000 and expenses to slightly over $400,000. The
general conclusions of the audit are that Walton Thomas International may be useful in
implementing the outsourcing system (i.e., contracting services from companies outside the
General Secretariat, instead of the General Secretariat’s hiring staff directly), as
long as situations arise where there is too much work or a need for short-term and
temporary staffing. However, the outsourcing mechanism should not be used to fill
long-term positions or when there is an ongoing need for that type of position.
2. Following the inspection conducted personally by the Inspector
General, which is summarized later on in this quarterly report, he decided to have a
follow-up audit of the Technical Cooperation Program for the Consolidation of Peace and
Reinsertion in Nicaragua (PCT), which began its activities in October 1997. That audit
covered administrative, budgetary, and financial aspects of the program, thus
complementing the aforementioned inspection. In order to maximize budgetary resources, the
auditor was instructed, inasmuch as possible, to review the mine-clearing program under
way in Nicaragua, which had not yet been audited, and the Office of the General
Secretariat in that country, which had not been audited since 1992.
The audit of the PCT covered the period from October 1, 1997, to April
24, 1998. The audit of the mine-clearing program covered the period from January 1, 1998,
to April 24, 1998, due to the absence of the administrative coordinator of the program;
and that of the Office of the General Secretariat in Nicaragua covered the period January
1, 1997, to April 24, 1998.
This audit (SG/OIG/AUDIT-04/98) concluded that the staff members
and contract personnel working in the Technical Cooperation Program for the Consolidation
of Peace and Reinsertion in Nicaragua, as well as in the Office of the General Secretariat
in that member state, were performing their functions with due respect for the General
Secretariat’s rules and regulations, and that the shortcomings detected in the audit
were mainly due to a lack of training.
Since this report was issued only on June 24, 1998, the 15
recommendations contained therein are being considered by the Secretary General as of the
date of this quarterly report.
3. On the same date, June 30, 1998, the Inspector General is presenting
the Secretary General with the results of audit SG/OIG/AUDIT-05/98 on the
mine-clearing program that the General Secretariat is executing in Central America under
the supervision of the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy. At the time this quarterly
report was drafted, the final version of the audit report was not ready. Consequently,
more detailed information thereon will be provided in the next quarterly report.
II. Inspection
In view of the scope and importance of the Technical Cooperation
Program for the Consolidation of Peace and Reinsertion in Nicaragua, the Inspector General
included an inspection of the program in the 1998 work plan. The Inspector General
personally conducted that inspection in March 1998.
The inspection found that this high-priority program was starting out
with good prospects of reaching the proposed objectives with regard to promoting the human
rights networks, strengthening the state at the mayoral level, and caring for civilian
victims of land mines who have nowhere to turn. The program is confronting early
difficulties with the component on strengthening the judiciary, although it has the
support of the Supreme Court, with which the General Secretariat of the OAS has signed a
technical cooperation agreement. This program is based on a philosophy consistent with the
level of progress made in strengthening peace and democracy in Nicaragua, which consists
in placing in the hands of national authorities, at the local and central level, the
execution of the program’s activities.
The Secretary General approved the four recommendations in the
Inspection Report on the Technical Cooperation Program for the Consolidation of Peace and
Reinsertion in Nicaragua (SG/OIG/INSP-01/98).
III. Other Activities
Representatives of the Office of the Inspector General and the
Inspector General himself continued participating in General Secretariat committees and
working groups on matters of particular interest to their office.
30 June 1998
Guillermo A. Belt
Inspector General
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