JIU single-entity Management and Administration Reviews

Among the core functions of the Joint Inspection Unit is the review of management and administration policies and practices across the United Nations system. While many JIU reports take a system-wide perspective, Management and Administration Reviews focus on individual participating organizations, providing an independent, comprehensive assessment of how they are governed and managed.

This function is firmly rooted in Article 5 of the JIU Statute, which authorizes the Unit to conduct inspections and evaluations aimed at improving management and methods and achieving greater coordination between organizations. Management and Administration Reviews operationalize this mandate by examining, in depth, the internal arrangements that underpin institutional performance.

What do Management and Administration Reviews examine?

Management and Administration Reviews typically study a broad range of institutional areas.

For example:

• The Management and Administration Review of the United Nations Environment Programme (JIU/REP/2025/1) examined governance structures, strategic planning frameworks, financial management, oversight arrangements and organizational processes to provide an independent assessment aimed at strengthening institutional effectiveness.
• The Management and Administration Review of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (JIU/REP/2023/5) examined governance, internal controls, HR frameworks and results-based management.
• The Management and Administration Review of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (JIU/REP/2019/7) provided an independent institutional baseline that later informed governance reforms, including the establishment of the Independent External Oversight Advisory Committee of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The objective of Management and Administration Reviews is not to duplicate internal oversight work. Rather, Inspectors aim to provide an independent and holistic assessment of organizational arrangements and processes, regulatory frameworks and related practices concerning the management and administration of the organization examined, with a view to enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in support of its mandate delivery and strategic objectives.

Considerations regarding organizational performance in the normative or operational areas are not the primary focus of such reviews, but they may be included to the extent necessary to review related management and administrative processes.

A methodology that gives voice to the organization

Management and Administration Reviews are conducted collaboratively and follow a structured and evidence-based methodology that ensures input from various stakeholders by combining:

• document and regulatory framework analysis;
• interviews with senior leadership and governing body representatives;
• benchmarking across comparable organizations;
• consultation with internal oversight bodies; and
• anonymous staff surveys, ensuring that workforce perspectives inform the analysis.

The inclusion of staff surveys is a distinctive feature of Management and Administration Reviews. It allows the JIU to assess not only formal structures but also institutional culture, communication flows and operational realities. Draft findings are shared with management for factual validation, and final reports are submitted to governing bodies for consideration.

Formal recommendations are reported on by executive management and monitored through the JIU’s Recommendation Tracking System. Informal recommendations offer additional suggestions to stimulate operational improvements and are often reported by management upon request of Member States.

Recognized value across the system

Management and Administration Reviews have consistently been acknowledged by executive heads and governing bodies as useful tools for institutional strengthening:

• In 2014, following the release of the Review of management and administration in WIPO (JIU/REP/2014/2), the WIPO Programme and Budget Committee welcomed the JIU’s practice of conducting Management and Administration Reviews. Of the accepted recommendations, 87 per cent were implemented.
• In 2016, the Secretary-General of the ITU accepted the formal and informal recommendations contained in JIU/REP/2016/1, noting that they would contribute to continuous improvement of ITU’s administrative and management processes and reported back to the ITU Council on all recommendations in its following sessions.
• In 2017, the UNIDO Industrial Development Board expressed appreciation for the Review of management and administration in UNIDO (JIU/REP/2017/1; IDB.45/Dec.10), recognizing its contribution to institutional reform efforts.

These examples illustrate how Management and Administration Reviews can serve as catalysts for change, particularly during periods of leadership transition or governance reform.

Management and Administration Reviews since 2004

Since 2004, the JIU has issued a steady series of single-organization Management and Administration Reviews covering a wide range of entities across the UN system. These reports have examined organizations such as ICAO, IMO, UNHCR, UPU, WIPO and WMO in the mid-2000s, followed by reviews of UNODC, UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO), UNESCO and WFP in the years that followed. The effort continued through the 2010s with, among others, IAEA, ITU, UNAIDS, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNOPS, WHO and WIPO, and a renewed focus on select specialized agencies. More recently, reviews have addressed ECLAC, FAO, UN‑Habitat, UNFPA, UN‑Women and WMO, with UNEP having been reviewed in 2025 and UNESCO in 2026.

Of these organizations, most were subject to one Management and Administration Review, while a smaller number underwent two reviews, including ICAO, UNESCO, UPU, WIPO and WMO. While the JIU Strategic Framework foresees periodic analysis of the management and administration of all participating organizations, the greater frequency of reviews for certain organizations reflects a range of factors including proposals from participating organizations themselves, requests from their governing bodies and results of validation exercises conducted by the JIU.

Learning beyond the individual organization

United Nations organizations have developed increasingly robust internal oversight frameworks over the years, most of which have their own internal audit and evaluation functions. Management and Administration Reviews complement these mechanisms by offering an external, independent and comparative perspective to support governing bodies in fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities.

While Management and Administration Reviews focus on a single entity, their findings often inform system-wide learning. Lessons identified in one review may:

• feed into subsequent system-wide reports;
• serve as benchmarks for other participating organizations; and
• strengthen comparative institutional knowledge within the JIU.

By building this cumulative knowledge base, Management and Administration Reviews contribute directly to one of the JIU’s central missions: to identify and disseminate good practices across the United Nations system.

« In an era marked by financial constraints, reform agendas and rising expectations for transparency, Management and Administration Reviews remain a vital instrument for strengthening governance, improving administrative effectiveness and reinforcing institutional trust. Through Management and Administration Reviews, the JIU continues to deliver on its founding mandate: improving management and methods while promoting greater coherence across the United Nations system. » - Inspector Mohanad Al-Musawi, Vice Chair of the JIU for the year 2026

Management and Administration Reviews performed by the JIU between 2004-2026