text: ranged from$22,710 to$39,240. Inthisconnection, wealsoobserved delaysinthe signing ofspecial service agreements contrary totheprovisions ofST/AI/295 and ST/AI/296. -5-I7.During1984,UNICEF hadanadministrative instruction thatallowed astandardofairtravel accommodation forflights ofsixhoursorlonger, contrary tothenine-hour ruleallowed inST/AI/249/Rev.2. Ourexamination alsodisclosed thatUNICEFreimbursed thecostofhotelaccommodations exceeding 50percentofthedailysubsistence allowance setperiodically bytheInternational CivilServiceCommission. 8.Theintegration ofsupplyoperations atCopenhagen hasbeencompleted, exceptfortheconstruction ofabulkarea. Wenotedtheprovision of18short-term postsinboth1984and1985,asituation thatmadeitdifficult todetermine whether theplannedstaffreduction wasattained. Ourexamination disclosed inadeauate recordsandphysical controls overinventories, deficiencies inthestocktaking undertakeninMay1984andafailure toeffectcompatibility between thesystems ofaccountscoding, grouping andclassification inuseatCopenhagen andinNewYork. 9.Ourevaluation ofproperty controls disclosed inadeauacies suchasitemsnotincluded intheinventory list,equipment without numbers, failure toshowtheequipment duringourphysical verification andothercasesofnon-compliance withexisting instructions. 10.OurauditoftheGreeting CardOperation disclosed breakdowns inaccountingcontrols overinventories, whichincluded unreconciled differences ingeneral andsubsidiary ledgerbalances, abnormal andnegative balances, andthefailure toreconcile internal withexternal records. Ourreviewalsorevealed twoaccountingpolicies, oneoninventories andanother onaccounts payable, whichwerenotapplied properly. Weaknesses inelectronic data-processing controls werealsonoted,suchasthoserelating tofileaccess, back-up procedures anddocumentationupdate. Inconnection withourauditoftheGreeting CardOperation, weobservedthattheuseofdifferent reporting periods bytheGreeting CardOperation andUNICEFiscreating problems thatmustberesolved. Budgetary control Delayed allotment revision 11.On18December 1984UNICEFissuedrevised allotment advices for1984thatweretransmitted tooffices through amemodated21December 1984.PriortotheDecember release ofallotment advices, thereweretwoearlier revisions, oneinFebruary andanother atmid-year. Sinceoffices werecontrolling expenditures onthebasisoftheJuneallotments, thelastrevision cameintoolateintheyear,sothatoffices couldnolongermeaningfully control expenditures withintherevised ceiling. Forsomeoffices whoseallotments werereduced inDecember theresulting over-expenditures thatwebrought totheirattention wereexplained assomething thatcouldnothavebeenavoided. 12.Werecommended thatthebudgetary control systembereviewed, particularlywithregardtotheobjective, timing anddatasourceofallotment revisions. Ourconcern inthisregardisnotonlywiththecosts,intermsofstafftime,computertime,supplies andtransmission thatanorganization-wide allotment revisionentails andtheconfusion itcreates inoffices awayfromheadauarters solatein theyear,butalsoprimarily withtheimprovement ofthesystem. -6-lard :ept ,ostS the ords ken ts ot th lng ere n :er13.TheAdministration explained thatthereV1Slons wereintended toreflect more current andaccurate estimates bytakingintoaccount re-forecasted expenditures approved bytheBudget Review Committee, updated exchange ratesandrevised formats. Wereiterate ourrecommendation because thefactspointtoaslow reaction onthepartofheadauarters. Budgetary performance 14.SincetheUNICEFbudgetapproved bytheExecutive Boardcovers abiennium, withnobreakdown byyear,andsincethecurrent budgetisforthebiennium 1984-1985, wedidnotdeemitcritical forthisyeartoevaluate theorganization's financial performance inrelation toitsapproved budget. Besides, essential revisions inbudgetestimates forthesecondyearofthebiennium, inthelightof actualresults duringthefirstyear,havealready beensubmitted toandapproved bytheExecutive Boardin1985. 15.Fortheyear1984,wetherefore reviewed thebudgetary performance ofthe different offices vis-A-vis theinternally approved budgets. Asawhole,the organization didnotincurover-expenditures inanyofthethreemajorexpenditure categories in1984,basedontheamountinternally allocated to1984outofthe totalbudgetforthebiennium. International staffcosts 16.Underexisting bUdgetary control procedures, international staffcostsare administered andcontrolled centrally through globalaccounts, although estimates
analysis: The text appears to be a report on an audit of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its financial management practices. The report highlights various issues related to budgeting, accounting, and procurement, which suggests that it is focused on the administrative and financial aspects of the organization. The text does not mention specific development projects or programs, which suggests that it is not directly related to economic development, natural resources, or environmental issues.