The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) regularly conducts audit reviews which result in the preparation of an Audit Report containing their findings and recommendations.

Draft reports are normally circulated to the different offices involved for review and comments, prior to finalization. Each office, namely the country office, the subregional and/or regional office, and OSD, is responsible initially to provide feedback and comments primarily on the recommendations addressed directly to them, and subsequently to implement the recommendations and periodically report on their status.

Auditors, in writing their reports, differentiate between recommendations that are country or region specific (and therefore should be addressed to the concerned FAOR and/or Regional Office) and those that are of a policy nature or cannot be implemented by a single Regional or Country Office and, therefore, should be addressed to the Deputy Director-General/Operations, who will be assisted by OSD in their implementation.

The Regional Office, upon receipt of draft OIG reports, takes the lead in preparing comments in consultation with all concerned, including OSD. The Regional Office coordinates the follow-up on the recommendations and reports, as required, on the status of the implementation of the recommendations. In view of its coordinating role, OSD should be copied on all substantive messages dealing with Audit matters.

OIG reports on Regional Offices are addressed to the DDG/Operations, following the principle that such reports should be addressed – for accountability purposes – to the level above the unit audited.