International Journal of Government Auditing–January 2007
Since its adoption 2 years ago, the INTOSAI strategic plan has had a profound effect on INTOSAI. The organization has realigned itself to comport with the plan, and the plan continues to be implemented with great efficiency and broad-based support. The plan’s impact can also be seen in the agenda of the Governing Board’s annual meetings, which are now structured to reflect the plan’s four major goals: accountability and professional standards, institutional capacity building, knowledge sharing and knowledge services, and model international organization.
This was evident at the 55th annual meeting of the board held in Mexico City November 1-2, 2006. Hosted by Arturo González de Aragón, Auditor General of Mexico and
Officers of the INTOSAI Governing Board and delegates at the 55th annual board
meeting in
Mexico City in November 2006.
host of the 2007 INTOSAI Congress, the meeting featured reports by the chairs of the four goals. A summary of decisions regarding implementing the strategic plan is provided below; a full report on the meeting will be included in the next INTOSAI Circular.
Goal 4: Model International Organization
Goal 4 was discussed first on the agenda. Osama Jaffir Faquih, chair of the Finance and Administration Committee and President of the Saudi Arabian SAI, led the discussion. Mr. Faquih’s report includes the following committee recommendations on organizational issues identified in the strategic plan:
- Develop a framework that provides policy guidance for INTOSAI’s enterprisewide bodies when dealing with global donors and partners.
- Increase annual membership assessments, which have not been increased since 1983. (The board approved this recommendation, which will be presented to the full membership for adoption at the 2007 Congress.)
- Develop a global communications policy and a Web-based communication tool to facilitate communications among committees and working groups. (The board approved this recommendation.)
- Identify potential associate members of INTOSAI who meet the following criteria: governmental or nonprofit international organizations that operate globally and are involved in accountability, transparency and governance issues.
The Finance and Administration Committee will meet in Oslo in March 2007 to finalize its report and related recommendations for the 2007 Congress.
Goal 1: Accountability and Professional Standards
Goal 1 was next on the agenda. The discussion featured progress reports by Henrik Otbo, chair of the Professional Standards Committee (PSC) and Auditor General of Denmark, and several subcommittee chairs. Mr. Otbo highlighted the five areas that the committee work is focusing on:
- finalizing a common framework for all INTOSAI professional standards;
- conducting a survey on the status of INTOSAI’s standards and guidelines;
- establishing a new group, chaired by France, to develop accountability and transparency principles;
- establishing a new subcommittee on performance audit chaired by Brazil; and
- carrying out the ongoing work of the committee’s subcommittees (internal control standards, accounting and reporting, SAI independence, financial audit guidelines, compliance audit, and performance audit).
Mr. Otbo emphasized the committee’s dual approach to developing standards—that is, (1) basing INTOSAI’s work wherever possible on standards that are widely recognized among SAIs and (2) working to harmonize public sector audit internationally by recognizing, using, and building on standards issued by other standard-setting bodies to the maximum extent possible and appropriate. In addition, INTOSAI will develop complementary guidance where there is a special need and/or a pressing concern and will seek to influence international standards to address issues of particular interest to SAIs. The next meeting of the PSC Steering Committee will be in Bahrain, April 23–24, 2007, and the full PSC Committee will meet at the INTOSAI Congress in Mexico City. For more information, visit the PSC’s Web site: http://psc.rigsrevisionen.dk/.
Goal 2: Institutional Capacity Building
Ahmed El Midaoui, chair of the Capacity Building Committee (CBC) and President of the Moroccan SAI, reported on the committee’s work in support of goal 2 of the strategic plan. Dr. El-Midaoui summarized the results of the committee’s inaugural meeting in London in March 2006 (see this Journal, July 2006, pp. 4-6, for more details). He reported that the following three subcommittees established at the London meeting have been developing and implementing their work plans:
- Subcommittee 1, Promoting Increased Capacity Building Activities, chaired by the United Kingdom with Cayman Islands as vice chair;
- Subcommittee 2, Developing Advisory and Consultant Services, chaired by Peru with Kazakhstan as vice chair; and
- Subcommittee 3, Promoting Best Practices and Quality Assurance through Voluntary Peer Reviews, chaired by Germany with Bangladesh as vice chair.
Dr. El-Midaoui and CBC vice-chair David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, also reported on meetings with major donors interested in supporting INTOSAI’s capacity-building efforts, notably the World Bank.
The INTOSAI Development Initiative’s (IDI) annual report was also presented under goal 2 since IDI is a central provider of training and capacity building for INTOSAI members. Juergen Kosmo, Auditor General of Norway, reported on IDI’s activities during 2006, highlighting IDI’s capacity-building work in training, regional networks, cooperation with INTOSAI committees and working groups, information programs, and distance learning. For more information on IDI programs, see the special article on IDI’s 20th anniversary on page 20, IDI’s quarterly update on page 37, and IDI’s Web site: www.idi.no.
Goal 3: Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services
The report of goal 3 activities was led by Vijayendra Kaul, board liaison for goal 3 and Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The report includes information about the alignment of the many goal 3 entities with the strategic plan; the results of a survey on topics for best practices, benchmarking, and case studies; and potential partnerships with academic and professional institutions. Demonstrating the breadth and depth of INTOSAI’s work on the goal, the following groups also delivered reports: public debt, information technology, environmental auditing, anti-money laundering, program evaluation, audit of international institutions, and audit of disaster recovery aid.
Plans for this Journal’s new Web site were also unveiled as part of the goal 3 presentation, featuring a PowerPoint presentation by Mr. Walker, United States, that illustrated how the Journal is being transformed to take full advantage of technology and make it more useful and accessible to readers. The Journal’s new Web site will be announced in early 2007.
For more information, contact the Journal at intosaijournal@gao.gov.