International Journal of Government Auditing – October 2009
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This month, INTOSAI is entering into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the donor community that will open channels to fund projects aimed at enhancing the capacity of SAIs in developing countries. We expect this to be of great relevance to the implementation of INTOSAI’s strategic plan.
Consistent with its motto, Mutual Experience Benefits All, capacity building has been a major priority of INTOSAI since its creation in 1953. While all SAIs are engaged in strengthening their organizations through capacity building and continuous learning, INTOSAI has a long tradition of focusing on the needs of emerging and developing countries. Through its regional working groups, goal committees, and other bodies, INTOSAI engages in and supports a number of programs that develop the capacity of member SAIs globally, regionally, and locally.
In our organization, capacity building focuses on institutional strengthening of SAIs and the governmental audit function as part of promoting good governance. Capacity-building projects normally adopt a broad institutional approach tailored to the needs and priorities of partner SAIs. The cooperation can, therefore, include a wide range of activities related to such areas as independence (including the mandate and statutory basis of SAIs); the development of financial, compliance, performance, and IT auditing; internal and external communication; administrative and organizational activities; and the development of information technology. Training in new auditing standards and methodologies can also be part of capacity-building projects.
While many capacity-building efforts are being carried out within the INTOSAI community, work to upgrade the skills, competence, and capabilities of INTOSAI members needs to be intensified. Quality improvement in government audit is a huge task where all available forces are needed. The INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) works on a multilateral basis in cooperation with the training infrastructure in each of INTOSAI’s seven regions. INTOSAI’s capacity building through the goal committees focuses on implementing the strategic plan and uses a one-on-one approach with member SAIs. That is to say, one SAI assists another SAI in any of the areas concerned with running a public audit organization. This approach is most often described in a partnership agreement. IDI and INTOSAI complement each other’s work and coordinate their efforts.
Capacity building is one of INTOSAI’s four strategic goals. Goal 2 lays down several strategies or activities to build the capabilities and professional capacities of SAIs through training, technical assistance, and other development activities. The INTOSAI Capacity Building Committee (CBC), chaired by the Morocco Court of Audit, has established arrangements and structures comprising the necessary subcommittees to address the strategic plan and its related efforts under this goal. Speaking of Morocco, I don’t believe I previously mentioned here that I participated in the goal 2 Steering Committee meeting in Morocco in October last year. It was my first visit to the country, and it was such a pleasant experience meeting many nice people and experiencing the atmosphere of the country. I remember standing on a rooftop in Rabat at night, surrounded by the glimmering stars above—it was unforgettable. I was sorry that I didn’t have the opportunity to visit Casablanca during that visit. Ever since I saw the classic World War II film Casablanca, I have wanted to visit that place.
CBC’s first subcommittee, tasked with promoting increased capacity-building activities among INTOSAI members and chaired by the United Kingdom’s National Audit Office, developed Building Capacity in Supreme Audit Institutions: A Guide. The guide, published in November 2007, focuses on strengthening professional audit capacity, organizational capacity, and capacity to deal with the external environment. It has been distributed to all INTOSAI members, the donor community, and others. The guide is available in INTOSAI’s official languages and is also being translated into Russian. It provides assistance to those SAIs planning to share expertise with other SAIs in developing skills, knowledge, structures, and ways of working. Furthermore, it outlines how to make an organization effective by building on existing strengths and addressing gaps and weaknesses.
CBC’s second subcommittee, chaired by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Peru, was established to develop advisory and consultant services, including a database of experts. A Web site has been established (www.contraloria.gob.pe/cbcsubcommittee2/index.asp) to host the database of experts together with capacity-building activities, such as opportunities and requests for internships and guidelines for joint audit.
CBC’s third subcommittee, which is chaired by Germany’s Bundesrechnungshof, has been tasked with promoting best practices and quality assurance through voluntary peer reviews.
Recognizing the need for better coordination of international capacity-building projects, INTOSAI has defined a strategy to collect and disseminate information on the capacity-building projects undertaken by SAIs. The Swedish National Audit Office, on behalf of CBC’s first subcommittee, collected information from SAIs and developed a database of capacity-building projects that lists organizations that act as technical partners to SAIs in developing and emerging countries. The directory of capacity-building projects, with appropriate links to the capacity-building guide, is available at www.cbcdirectory.org/default.aspx and its overall aim is to share information from past, current, and prospective capacity-building work to benefit all interested parties and ensure that there is no unintended duplication of effort. The directory is updated every year.
In my opinion, the directory can provide important basic information when either planning or financing new capacity-building activities. Since both INTOSAI and donors share the responsibility for better coordinating capacity-building efforts, the directory can help not only SAIs involved in capacity-building projects but also donors who assess those projects. With the expertise within our organization for building capabilities and professional capacities of SAIs, together with all the good guidance material already developed, I feel confident that we will achieve our goal of promoting strong, independent, and high-quality audit organizations.
The MOU between INTOSAI and the donor community should promote a coordinated approach to strengthening the audit capacity in SAIs. INTOSAI will be able to align the proposed strategies in its draft strategic plan for 2011–2016 with the MOU and it will set the stage for more detailed partnership agreements to be developed later. These agreements will strengthen SAI capacities on national and regional levels and will focus on developing strategic and action plans for SAIs.
In the January issue of the Journal, I will write about the strategic plan in general, after receiving comments from INTOSAI members, and discussions related to strategic planning at the donor task force and Governing Board meetings.
Please feel free to contact me at astrup@rechnungshof.gv.at if you have comments or would like to give feedback on issues related to implementing INTOSAI’s strategic plan.