DIO management
The Secretary General has decided to adopt interim measures to ensure that effective oversight services are maintained pending the recruitment of a new Director of Internal Oversight, considering the unique nature of the Directorate of Internal Oversight in terms of its independence and structure (Internal audit, Evaluation, and Investigation Divisions) enshrined in the Charter of the Directorate of Internal Oversight and other elements of the Organisation’s legal framework.
With effect from 1 January 2023 and until the date on which a new Director takes up their duties, responsibilities for ensuring that the purpose and mission of the DIO and its three divisions, as well as the functions of the Director, are fulfilled as per the provisions of the DIO Charter are assigned to the three Heads of Division according to their functional areas of activities, namely:
- Aygen Becquart - Head of Evaluation Division - for matters relating to the evaluation function, including the responsibilities of the Director set out in the Evaluation Policy;
- Elena Koudriavtseva - Head of Internal Audit Division - for matters relating to the internal audit function, including to exercise the role of Chief Audit Executive.
- Petya Pesheva-Manolova - Head of Investigation Division - for matters relating to the work of the investigation function, including to exercise the responsibilities entrusted to the Director under the DIO Charter in respect of deciding whether, or not, to open preliminary assessments or investigations and issue reports and recommendations and under any other provisions within the Organisation’s legal framework relating to the authority of the Director of the DIO in respect of investigations.
All other transversal responsibilities relating to the functioning of the DIO, will be managed collectively.
Ms. Elena Koudriavtseva
Head of Internal Audit Division
Elena Koudriavtseva joined the Council of Europe in 2002 at the department for internal audit and also worked in the European Court of Human Rights in a position related to finance, accounting and risk management.
As head of the internal audit division she is responsible for the development and implementation of the Internal Audit programme and for the management of a team of auditors.
She has a Master’s degree in Economics and Finances obtained in both Russian and French Universities. She also obtained professional qualifications: Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner and the Accreditation in Quality Assessment/Validation. Prior to the Council of Europe, she worked in accounting, financial and project management structures of private companies in Russia.
Ms. Aygen Becquart
Head of Evaluation Division
Aygen Becquart joined the Council of Europe in 1996 at the department for local and regional democracy and spent most of her career in different management positions related to organisational strategic development, as well as reform on programming and evaluation.
In 2010, Ms Becquart was closely involved in the creation of the DIO through the merger of audit and evaluation functions and in establishing the initial evaluation processes, procedures and guidelines.
Aygen Becquart has a Management degree from the Middle-East Technical University, Turkey and a Master's degree in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics, UK as well as an LLM in Human Rights Law from the University of London.