text: reached theirdestination indesired auantities andconditions andtofacilitate thesubmission ofinsurance claims, shouldtheneedarise. 47.Ourreviewofpurchases involving $57,493,017 invaluedisclosed thatsome500 outof880purchase ordersestablished forgoodsshipped tovarious fieldoffices werenotcovered byreceiving reports andthatfollow-up action ontheirsubmission wasalsoinadeauate. 48.Inviewofthesignificant valueofpurchases madeforthefieldoffices and thehighincidence oflossesreported, westressed theurgency forstrengthening theinternal control andmonitoring system onsuchpurchases toensurethatprompt andeffective actionistakpnincasesoflossorotherdiscrepancies. 49.TheAdministration notedtheobservation andrecommendation andstatedthat thesystemcurrently usedbytheProcurement Section totracktheprogress ofgoods purchased totheirfinaldestination wasintheprocess ofbeingupgraded. Project activities Deficiencies inmanagement ofproject activities 50.Weexamined project activities bothatGeneva andatselected fieldoffices. ActiontakenbytheAdministration onrecommendations contained inprevious reports oftheBoardresulted insignificant improvement ininternal management control procedures. Nevertheless, wenotedanumberofinternal control weaknesses as mentioned inthefollowing summary: Ca)Accounting records maintained byoperating partners weregenerally inadeauate orunsatisfactorily recordedJ conseauently, fundsreleased byUNHCR couldnotbeproperly andeffectively accounted forJ Cb)Adeauate control procedures werenotestablished forthepayment of allowances torefugeesJ Cc)Statistical dataonrefugees werenotsystematically established andno periodic reconciliation wasmadebetween refugee population against receipt of entitlementsJ (d)Internal control procedures anddocumentation forsupplies andproperty itemswereinadeauate, reSUlting inreported incidence oflossesofsuchitems. -7- •51.Additionally, wealsonoteddelaysinthesigning ofproject agreements andin thepayment ofUNHCRcontributions, whichresulted inthereduction ofthe scheduled periodofproject execution andadversely affected thefullattainment of project objectives. 52.TheBoardmaderecommendations fortherectification ofthesedeficiencies to enhance further themanagement ofproject activities. 53.TheAdministration informed theBoardthatthepointsraisedbytheBoardwere undertheconstant reviewoftheUNHCRAuditCommittee andthatitwasthe responsibility ofeachbranchofficetoensurethatoperatinq partners maintained satisfactory accounting records andtoensurethataqreements weresigned ontime. However, improvements tothesystems inplacewerebeingmadeonacontinuous basis,asrecognized inthisreport. Casesoffraudorpresumptive fraud 54.TheInternal AuditDivision oftheUnitedNations alsocarried outauditsof project activities atselected fieldoffices andnotedinparticular asignificant caseofpresumptive fraud. 55.ThereportoftheInternal AuditDivision indicated thatanimplementing agencypurchased tents,beds,blankets andbedsheets through fourfictitious companies andatmark-ups ofasmuchas300percent.Furthermore, inmostcases theauantities purchased wereconsiderably morethanthenumberofrefugees and therewereSUbstantial differences between theauantities paidforandthose actually received. 56.TheInternal AuditDivision estimated thelossresulting fromthese transactions atapproximately $400,000 andreauested theAdministration totake immediate stepstorecover theoverpayment fromtheimplementing agencyconcerned. 57.TheBoardwasinformed bytheAdministration thatthecaseinaue3tion was underinvestigation andlegalproceedings hadbeeninitiated. UNHCRwasobliged to awaitthejudgement beforethetruelosscouldbeevaluated andnecessary action couldproceed. Meanwhile, measures werebeingimplemented toavoidrecurrence of suchasituation. Write-off oflossesorde2iciencies 58.Inaccordance withrule10.6oftheUNHCRFinancial Rules,theBoardwas informed of11casesofamounts written offranging from$120to$29,240 during 1984. Thetwolargest amounts of$29,240 and$6,076 wereunrecoverable unspent balances duefromtwoimplementing agencies. -8-5 r i 6 a sfcomments onmatters dealtwithinthe1983report 59.TheAdministration tookremedial action onmostmatters dealtwithinour
analysis: The text appears to be an audit report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and discusses issues related to procurement, project management, and internal controls. The report highlights deficiencies in the management of project activities, including accounting records, payment of allowances to refugees, and internal control procedures for supplies and property. The report also mentions a case of presumptive fraud and the write-off of losses or deficiencies.