CAG Shashi Kant Sharma elected to UN Board of Auditors
SHASHI Kant Sharma, the Comptroller & Auditor General of India has been elected as Member of the United Nations Board of Auditors for a six year term. The election was held on 1st November at UN Headquarters in New York. India defeated Philippines with a convincing margin. Out of the 186 votes cast, India got 124 votes against 62 for Philippines. As a result of Friday's victory, India will replace China beginning 1st July, 2014 as China will be completing its term in June 2014.
CAG of India will now get access for audit of the UN organizations, the prominent one being the UN Headquarters itself. He, along with other two members of the board will also be responsible for audit of UN bodies like UN Peacekeeping Operations, UN Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), UN Women and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The General Assembly appoints three members to the Board of Auditors, each of whom must be the Auditor-General (or officer holding the equivalent title) of a Member State. The members of the Board have joint responsibility for the audits. The present members of the Board of Auditors are: Mr. Amyas Morse, CAG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Term expires 30 June 2016); Mr. Ludovick Utouh, CAG of United Republic of Tanzania (Term expires 30 June 2018) and Mr. Liu Jiayi, Auditor-General of the National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China (Term expires 30 June 2014)
Sharma, a 1976 batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre took over as the CAG of India in May 2013.