Oversight Advisory Committee

UNESCO’s Oversight Advisory Committee (OAC) is comprised of external independent members and advises the Director-General in fulfilling her oversight responsibilities and it reports annually to the Executive Board. Members are appointed for two-year terms and possess expertise in auditing, risk management and control, with one member being an expert in evaluation.

The selection process for the current membership included public solicitation of candidates in Le Monde and the Economist as well as notification of all Permanent Delegations to UNESCO of the application process.

Selection criteria centered on the relevant expertise of candidates, with gender and geographical balance among the membership given priority consideration. Recognizing that the OAC is comprised of four members, geographical balance is also managed and maintained through subsequent appointments as terms of incumbents come to an end and new members are appointed. 

The four OAC members with expertise in auditing, risk management, control and evaluation are:

Mr Kwame AKUFFO-AKOTO

Mr Akuffo-Akoto is a Chartered Certified Accountant (UK) and Chartered Accountant (Ghana) and has over 28 years of experience in all aspects of finance, accounting, treasury and banking, auditing and administration. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ms Elizabeth J. FOLSOM

Ms Folsom is a Certified Public Accountant with over 20 years of specialization in auditing operations, administration, finance, accounting, treasury, human resources systems development, and information technology functions. Formerly, the Auditor General at the Inter-American Development Bank (2003-2006) and Senior Vice President and Director of Internal Audit at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C.

Mr Mitchell C. PETRIE

Mr Petrie is a Chartered Accountant and partner with KPMG in Brisbane, Australia. He has over 20 years of experience in providing both external and internal audit services to public and private sector organizations and holds a number of Board positions including Independent Member of the Audit Committee of the Brisbane City Council and the Chair of the Audit Committee of King’s College, University of Queensland. Australia.

Ms Claudine VOYADZIS

Ms Voyadzis has spent some 20 years working in the evaluation field. After working in the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank in Washington, she joined the Council of Europe Development Bank in Paris as technical adviser for project appraisal and monitoring. Subsequently she was appointed to set up the Ex Post Evaluation Department and remained for six years as Director of the Department. Claudine Voyadzis works now as an independent consultant, leads evaluations for multilateral organizations and consulting firms, and is a Board Member of the European Evaluation Society.