Financial Statements - International Planned Parenthood Federation

IPPF Financial Statements 2009 7
Risk management
While no system of internal control
can provide absolute assurance against
material misstatement or loss, the
IPPF risk management system has
been developed to provide reasonable
assurance to the Governing Council
that there are proper procedures
in place and that they are operating
effectively.
The key elements of the system
of internal control are:
• Delegation: there is a clear
organizational structure with lines
of authority and responsibility
for control together with procedures
for reporting decisions, actions
and issues;
• Reporting: the Governing Council
approves and reviews the annual
work programme budget and
income predictions and monitors
actual and forecast income and
expenditure on a regular basis;
• Risk management: there are
processes in place for identifying,
evaluating and managing significant
risks faced by IPPF. Each Regional
Office and the Central Office
prepare individual risk maps. These
risks are classified according to type
(governance, strategic, operational,
financial, compliance and external/
reputational). From these the
‘top 10 organizational risks are
identified’ with an assessment
of the impact and likelihood of the
risk occurring. Also identified are
actions required to manage that
risk and the person who will be
responsible to undertake this. These
are reviewed annually by the Audit
Committee and the Governing
Council who believe that all the
major risks to which IPPF is exposed
have been identified and reviewed
and that systems have been
established to mitigate those risks;
• Internal audit: the internal
audit function, which has been
outsourced to Ernst and Young,
assesses risks and reviews controls
within IPPF; and
• Review: the Audit Committee is
comprised of four members elected
by Governing Council from a list of
persons who are volunteer members
of a member organization but
who are not members of Governing
Council, as well as the President and
Treasurer. The Committee oversees
the adequacy of the system of
internal control, and ensures IPPF
compliance with relevant statutory
and other financial regulations
and advises the Governing Council
of any relevant matters.
IPPF’s 10 Principles of Membership make us stronger,
more effective and more able to respond to the
needs of the people we serve, particularly the poor,
marginalized and under served.