International Journal of Auditing - January 2006
INTOSAI STRATEGIC PLAN
BUILDING ON THE PAST, CREATING THE FUTURE
INTOSAI continues to make significant and timely progress in implementing its strategic plan. Events and activities that have occurred since the October 2005 issue of this Journal are summarized below. In addition, INTOSAI’s new organization chart (see p. 6) illustrates how the strategic plan is shaping INTOSAI’s structure and operations.
The strategic plan was prominently featured at the annual meeting of the INTOSAI Governing Board in Vienna on November 10-11, 2005 (see “Inside INTOSAI,” p. 23, for additional information on the meeting). The board’s agenda was structured to reflect the plan’s four goals. The board discussed and acted on issues the Finance and Administration Committee identified at its July 2005 meeting, including the following:
Selection of Director(s) of Strategic Planning: Selecting a person to fill the newly created position of director of strategic planning, which was established under the strategic plan, was a major agenda item at the November Governing Board meeting. The director of strategic planning will be responsible for supporting the Board as it provides continued leadership and organizational focus on strategic plan implementation. Specifically, the director of strategic planning will help to ensure that the elements of the strategic plan are integrated by coordinating with the chairman of the Governing Board, the General Secretariat, chairs of the goal committees, goal liaisons, regional secretariats, IDI, and this Journal.
As a result of the Secretary General’s call for candidates from member SAIs worldwide and in consultation with the Finance and Administration Committee, the names of two candidates were presented to the board for review and selection. After much discussion, the board decided to select both candidates to serve sequential terms: Dr. Klaus-Henning Busse of Germany will serve as director of strategic planning through the 2007 INTOSAI Congress in Mexico , and Ms. Kirsten Astrup of Norway will succeed Dr. Busse and serve in that role following the 2007 Congress.
Dr. Busse is a member of the German SAI (Bundesrechnungshof ) , holds a doctorate in law, and is qualified to hold judicial office in Germany . He has worked for the German SAI since 1980 and has participated in many international professional events. Dr. Busse is known to the INTOSAI community through papers he has given at international conferences (e.g., the 8 th Tokyo International Audit Forum 2004 and the World Ethics and Transparency Forum, Kuala Lumpur 2005) and through his work as an auditor of development aid projects around the world. Fur the rmore, Dr. Busse has been actively involved in training events in Europe, Africa, and Asia . He is the author of numerous publications on Germany ’s system of government auditing and has also written a manual on the audit of public works for China’s National Audit Office.
Ms. Astrup has worked in the Office of the Auditor General (Riksrevisjonen) of Norway since 1986, and the Norwegian Parliament appointed her Director General in 1995. She served on the NATO Board of Auditors in Brussels from 2002 through January 2006. Ms. Astrup has extensive experience in the field of international audit cooperation and attended the 2001 and 2004 INTOSAI congresses in Seoul and Budapest , respectively. She represented the Norwegian SAI on INTOSAI’s Working Group on the Audit of Privatization for several years and has been a member of the international board of the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) since 2000. Ms. Astrup received her education at the University of Oslo , where she graduated with a degree in law.
By unanimously approving both candidates, the board provided for continuity in this important position and expressed the hope that Ms. Astrup would be able to “support Dr. Busse occasionally during his term and thus make available to INTOSAI her broad international experience.”
Figure 1: INTOSAI’s New Organizational Chart 
Source: INTOSAI
Goal 1, Professional Standards Committee: The Governing Board adopted the committee’s terms of reference. Chaired by Denmark and with Portugal serving as goal liaison, the committee held its inaugural meeting in Oslo in September 2005 (see October 2005 Journal) and is well on its way to implementing its work plan. Chairman Henrik Otbo, Auditor General of Denmark , expressed his vision for the committee in the October 2005 editorial of this Journal.
For more information, including a copy of the terms of reference, contact: SAI/ Denmark at yvan.pedersen@rigsrevisionen.dk and SAI/Portugal at geral@tcontas.pt.
Goal 2, Capacity Building Committee: The Governing Board adopted the committee’s terms of reference. Committee chair Dr. Ahmed El-Midaoui, President of the Court of Audit of Morocco and goal liaison David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, held extensive top-level consultations with major international and bilateral donors in Washington, D.C., in October 2005. The committee’s first meeting will be held in London March 13-14, 2006.
For more information, including a copy of the terms of reference, contact: SAI/ Morocco at ccomptes@courdescomptes.ma.
Goal 3, Knowledge Sharing: Goal 3 is a collection of a variety of knowledge-sharing vehicles, including task forces, working groups, and this Journal. The SAI of India serves as the board’s goal liaison and has been actively developing concept papers for an INTOSAI-wide communication policy and a web-based collaboration tool. In addition, the goal liaison is surveying relevant bodies to assess needs and determine how best to share knowledge and best practices globally.
For more information, contact: SAI/India at cag@cag.gov.in.
Goal 4, Finance and Administration Committee: With this committee’s fourth meeting to be held February 21-22, 2006 , committee members are busy drafting a variety of documents for review and deliberation. Under the chairmanship of Osama Faqeeh, President of the General Auditing Bureau of Saudi Arabia, and the vice-chairmanship of David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, the committee’s agenda in Riyadh will include the issue of potential associate INTOSAI members, strategies for approaching donors to support INTOSAI programs, and further analysis of INTOSAI’s financial condition with a special emphasis on revenue enhancements.
For more information, contact SAI/Saudi Arabia at ajlan33@yahoo.com and SAI/USA at spel@gao.gov.