Audit reveals UN Pension Fund's vulnerability to payments for deceased beneficiaries

An audit of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) conducted by the AuditaONU team identified significant weaknesses in the process for suspending payments to deceased beneficiaries. The audit found that roughly 20% of deceased beneficiaries continued to receive payments for at least two months after their death, and in 3.4% of cases, payments continued for over a year. This was largely due to late notifications from survivors.

The Fund's regulations establish that beneficiaries must provide requested documents and authorize the recovery of improper payments. However, the main "proof-of-life" mechanism, the annual certificate of entitlement, can take up to 17 months to stop payments when a death is not reported.

The UN Board of Auditors found that the Fund's excessive reliance on this certificate contributes to delays in detecting deaths and highlighted the need to strengthen controls, such as:

• Increasing the frequency of life status verifications;

• Using civil registry death records in countries with reliable systems; and

• Expanding the use of the Digital Certificate of Entitlement, a biometric verification system that reached 53% of eligible beneficiaries in 2024.

With over 12,000 beneficiaries in the United States alone, and thousands more in countries with well-stablished civil death registration systems like France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, the auditors suggested that a pilot program to cross-reference data could significantly improve detection.

While the Fund has made progress in recovering undue payments and gradually adopting digital solutions, the Board emphasized that the risk of post-mortem payments persists and requires more frequent life status verification. The Fund accepted the recommendation.

General information on the UNJSPF

• Scope: serves employees of the United Nations and affiliated organizations in more than 190 countries.

• Beneficiaries: over 80,000 retirees and pensioners worldwide.

• Financial resources: net assets exceeding US$ 91 billion (2024).

• Global relevance: one of the largest multilateral pension funds in the world, essential for the financial security of retired employees and pensioners across the globe.