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INTOSAI International Journal Of Government Auditing: 

April 2007: 
Volume 34, No. 2: 

Board of Editors: 
Josef Moser, President, Rechnungshof, Austria: 
Sheila Fraser, Auditor General, Canada: 
Faiza Kefi, First President, Cour des Comptes, Tunisia: 
David M. Walker, Comptroller General, United States of America: 
Clodosbaldo Russian Uzcategui, Comptroller General, Venezuela: 

President: Helen H. Hsing (U.S.A.): 

Editor: Donald R. Drach (U.S.A.): 

Assistant Editors: 
Linda J. Sellevaag (U.S.A.): Christopher Lyons (U.S.A.): 

Associate Editors: 
Office of the Auditor General (Canada): 
Sudha Krishnan (ASOSAI-India): 
Luseane Sikalu (PASAI-Tonga): 
CAROSAI Secretariat (St. Lucia): 
EUROSAI General Secretariat (Spain): 
Khemais Hosni (Tunisia): 
Yadira Espinoza Moreno (Venezuela): 
INTOSAI General Secretariat (Austria): 
U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S.A.): 

Administration: 
Sebrina Chase (U.S.A.): 
Paul Miller (U.S.A.): 

Members of the Governing Board of INTOSAI: 
Arpád Kovács, President, Allami Számvevöszék, Hungary, Chairman: 
Arturo González de Aragón, Auditor General, Auditoría Superior de la 
Federación, Mexico, First Vice-Chairman: 
Osama Jaffer Faquih, President, General Auditing Bureau, Saudi Arabia, 
Second Vice-Chairman: 
Josef Moser, President, Rechnungshof, Austria, Secretary General: 
Henri Bruno Bessin, Inspector General, Inspecteur Général d’Etat, 
Burkina Faso: 
Paul R.S. Allsworth, Director of Audit, Cook Islands Audit Office: 
Vijayendra Nath Kaul, Comptroller and Auditor General, India: 
Muneharu Otsuka, President, Board of Audit, Japan: 
Yun-Churl Jeon, Chairman, Board of Audit and Inspection, Korea: 
Guillermo Argüello Poessy, President, Consejo Superior de la 
Contraloría General, Nicaragua: 
Juergen Kosmo, Auditor General, Riksrevisjonen, Norway: 
Guilherme D’Oliveira Martins, President, Tribunal de Contas, Portugal: 
Albert Edwards, Director of Audit, National Audit Office, St. Kitts 
and Nevis: 
Faiza Kefi, First President, Cour des Comptes, Tunisia: 
Sir John Bourn, Comptroller and Auditor General, National Audit 
Office, United Kingdom: 
David M. Walker, Comptroller General, Government Accountability 
Office, United States of America: 
Guillermo Ramírez, President, Tribunal de Cuentas de la República, 
Uruguay: 
Clodosbaldo Russián Uzcátegui, Comptroller General, Venezuela: 

The International Journal of Government Auditing is published 
quarterly (January, April, July, October) in Arabic, English, French, 
German, and Spanish on behalf of INTOSAI (International Organization 
of Supreme Audit Institutions). The Journal, which is the official 
organ of INTOSAI, is dedicated to the advancement of government 
auditing procedures and techniques. Opinions and beliefs expressed are 
those of editors or individual contributors and do not necessarily 
reflect the views or policies of the organization. 

The editors invite submissions of articles, special reports, and news 
items, which should be sent to the editorial offices at: 

U.S. Government Accountability Office: Room 7814, 441 G Street, NW: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: 
U.S.A. 
(phone: 202-512-4707; 
fax: 202-512-4021; 
e-mail: intosaijournal@gao.gov) 

Given the Journal's use as a teaching tool, articles most likely to be 
accepted are those that deal with pragmatic aspects of public sector 
auditing. These include case studies, ideas on new audit 
methodologies, or details on audit training programs. Articles that 
deal primarily with theory would not be appropriate. 

The Journal is distributed to INTOSAI members and other interested 
parties at no cost. It is also available electronically at 
http://www.intosaijournal.org or http://wwwintosa.org and by 
contacting the Journal at spel@gao.gov. 

Articles in the Journal are indexed in the Accountants' Index 
published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 
and included in Management Contents. Selected articles are included in 
abstracts published by Anbar Management Services, Wembley, England, 
and University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. 

Contents: 

New Journal Web Site: 

Editorial: 

News in Brief: 

SAIs and Civil Society: 

CAROSAI Congress: 

Audit Profile: Ghana: 

Reports in Print: 

Inside INTOSAI: 

IDI Update: 

INTOSAI Calendar: 

[End of section] 

International Journal of Government Auditing: 
441 G Street, N.W. — Room 7814: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: 
USA: 
Telephone: 1-202-012-4707: 
Facsimile: 1-202-512-4021: 
E-mail: intosaijournal@gao.gov: 

February 22, 2007: 

Dear Colleagues: 

I am pleased to announce the launch of the new Web site for the 
International Journal of Government Auditing. This site--
www.intosaijournal.org-—is designed to make the Journal more useful to 
INTOSAI members, more accessible to our global readership, and more 
user-friendly. It offers new formatting and features, such as member 
information (past Journal articles and news for each SAI), upcoming 
events, and links to other organizations. 

This new Web site is also the foundation for an even more robust Web 
presence and an opportunity for the Journal to improve the range and 
richness of its content. As we continue to develop the Web site, look 
for more material on best practices and benchmarking studies, stronger 
technical content, and exciting opportunities, such as online 
discussion groups. 

Thank you for your continuing support of the Journal. As always, we 
are eager to accept articles, news items, and other submissions. With 
your support, we can continue to develop this Web site into a dynamic 
and interactive tool for the global auditing community. 

Sincerely yours, 

Signed by: 

David M. Walker: 
Comptroller General of the United States and Chairman, Board of Editors,
International Journal of Government Auditing: 

[End of section] 

Editorial: 
						
XIX INCOSAI: Mexico City, November 2007: 

Mr. Arturo Gonzalez de Aragon: 
Auditor General of Mexico and First Vice Chairman of the INTOSAI 
Governing Board: 

[Photograph of Mr. Arturo Gonzalez de Aragon] 

In October 2004, INTOSAI members had the pleasure of meeting in the 
beautiful city of Budapest for the 18th INCOSAI (International 
Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions). During the 53rd meeting of 
the INTOSAI Governing Board, the SAI of Mexico—honoring the commitment 
it had made—issued an official invitation for the 55th meeting of the 
Governing Board to be held in Mexico in November 2006 and for the 19th 
INCOSAI to be held in Mexico City, November 5-10, 2007. The commitment 
also includes hosting the 56th and 57th meetings of the Governing 
Board, which will take place before and after the congress. The events 
will be held in Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, the capital of the 
Aztec Empire, and today the capital of our country. 

As the members of our organization that have hosted INTOSAI's supreme 
event can testify, this responsibility—which we have freely assumed—
involves a considerable financial, logistical, technical, and 
administrative effort. It is also a great honor for the SAI of Mexico 
and constitutes a commitment to all INTOSAI members. 

The preparations required to organize this type of congress involve 
many months of hard work to carry out its planning, design, and 
operations. The results of these efforts are concentrated into a 
period of 6 days during which the host SAIs organizational skills and 
ability to respond are put to the test. Many details must be taken 
into account, many unexpected situations may arise, and many technical 
and administrative problems must be dealt with. The climate may cause 
adverse conditions that need to be resolved in situ. In all these 
circumstances, two elements are essential: foreseeing potential issues 
and having the capacity to respond to them. 

Holding a Governing Board meeting or a congress requires the 
participation of all INTOSAI members. Their collaboration on the 
various committees, subcommittees, working groups, and task forces 
gives our organization its life and purpose. The INTOSAI motto (Mutual 
Experience Benefits All) has been wisely chosen: the raison d'etre of 
this international institution to which we are proud to belong is the 
exchange of experiences and knowledge in order to strengthen the 
organization's members. 

For this reason, I invite all INTOSAI members to join in our common 
effort and contribute their experience, presence, and participation to 
enrich the formidable body of knowledge that we have decided to create 
among ourselves. Our ultimate purpose is to be able to better serve 
the societies that have entrusted us with the important task of 
auditing the use of public resources. 

It does not matter whether the members are experienced or newly 
created SAIs or SAIs undergoing a process of transformation; whether 
they are chambers, courts of audit, audit councils, or comptroller or 
audit general offices. Nor do the differences in governmental 
traditions, administrative practices, degrees of independence, and 
scope of the legal or constitutional mandate matter. Each SAI brings a 
unique contribution to this common task, for the principal wealth of 
the INTOSAI lies precisely in the diversity of its membership. It will 
be the responsibility of the Mexican SAI to provide the right 
environment for an open, respectful, free, and democratic exchange of 
ideas and contributions. 

The growing importance of online communications is a sign of the 
times. For this reason, we have tried to take maximum advantage of 
tools such as the Internet to streamline the dissemination of 
information relating to the congress. Please visit our Web site for 
the 19th INCOSAI at www.incosai2007.org.mx, where you will find up-to-
date details on the program of events, cultural and social activities, 
administrative and logistical matters, and other items of general 
interest. 

Obviously, the congress reflects a financial and administrative cost 
not only for the host SAI but also for all the delegates, who must 
devote time, work, resources, and efforts to ensure that their 
participation is effective. Consequently, we are committed to (1) 
ensuring that the technical discussions form the core of the congress 
and (2) obtaining results that will have a real impact on our auditing 
work and lead to tangible improvements in our practices to benefit the 
citizens of our respective countries. 

For this congress, the technical subjects to be covered come under the 
two broad areas into which the work of an SAI can be divided: the 
proper use of resources and the promotion of best government 
practices. The first area will be covered in theme I—management, 
accountability, and audit of public debt—which the Federal Court of 
Audit of Germany is coordinating, and the second, in theme II—
performance assessment systems based on universally accepted key 
indicators—which the U.S. Government Accountability Office is 
coordinating. 

Society has a legitimate concern about the use of resources obtained 
by public sector borrowing, and SAIs can help to allay this concern 
through their auditing duties. The work of SAIs must also propose 
parameters for objectively assessing government performance to detect 
areas of opportunity and to apply the necessary corrective measures. 
Since both subjects reflect situations common to our work, they are of 
interest to the whole INTOSAI membership. This has been confirmed by 
the widespread response we have seen in the country papers sent in by 
colleagues from around the world. 

The technical side of the congress will not be restricted to the two 
themes mentioned above: various committees, working groups, and task 
forces will report to delegates on the results of their work. We will 
also be distributing an important document on the nature of auditing 
practice and its relationship to auditing institutions. 

The congress will provide an invaluable opportunity for personal, face-
to-face contact with members of SAIs from all over the world. 
Conversations in the lobby, participation in cultural and social 
events, and private meetings between heads of SAIs can often lead to 
informal agreements, answers to questions, opportunities to define 
joint projects, and a greater awareness in general of our own concerns 
and needs as we see them through the concerns and needs of others. 
These personal interactions will reinforce relationships between 
institutions. 

The SAI of Mexico also sees this congress as an opportunity to 
introduce visitors to our country's culture, traditions, and vision 
for the future. We are proud of our past, responsible for the present, 
and focused on moving toward a better future. It is our desire that 
those who visit our capital city for the first time, as well as those 
who have been here before, take away a positive impression of our 
country. The aim of the official and cultural events organized for 
congress delegates and accompanying persons is to ensure not only good 
technical results but also a very enjoyable time in Mexico. 

Only a few months remain before our congress in November, and much is 
still to be done. Personally and on behalf of the SAI of Mexico, I 
extend a cordial invitation to all INTOSAI colleagues to attend the 
19th INCOSAI in Mexico City. We look forward to seeing you then. 

[End of section] 

New in Brief: 

Belgium: 

Court of Audit Celebrates Its 175th Anniversary: 

The Belgian Court of Audit celebrated its 175th anniversary during an 
academic session held at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on December 7, 
2006. Attendees included the King as well as the presidents of the 
legislative assemblies, the Prime Minister, and the heads of Belgium's 
highest jurisdictional bodies. 

[Photograph: The academic session marking the 175th anniversary of the 
Belgian SAI] 

The court was officially established by a decree passed by the 
National Congress on December 30, 1830, several weeks after the 
proclamation of Belgium's independence and before the Belgian 
Constitution was approved in January 1831. The court's predecessor was 
the Chambers of Accounts of the Burgundian Netherlands (dating back to
the 14th century). 

During the academic session, several formal speeches stressed the 
court's new competencies and the modernization of its working methods. 
In his introductory speech, Franki Vanstapel, Senior President of the 
Belgian Court of Audit, highlighted the international nature of this 
development. He stated that the intensification of contacts between 
courts of audit—both inside and outside Europe and primarily through 
international organizations such as EUROSAI and INTOSAIhas fostered 
mutual exchanges of viewpoints. He added that while changes in 
management and public accounts inside the country are worthy of full 
consideration, the international information networks and the concepts 
they have generated are also of considerable value. National 
regulations are a need, but international standardization is an 
absolute necessity. 

In his presentation, Herman De Croo, President of the House of 
Representatives, highlighted the increasing collaboration between 
members of Parliament and their auditing body (the Court of Audit is a 
collateral body of Parliament). He was pleased to note that more of 
his parliamentary colleagues were exercising their individual right of
consultation with the court and access to information in the court's 
files and stated that he would do his utmost to ensure that the court 
was used as widely as possible. 

In the closing speech, Philippe Roland, President of the court, 
discussed the international dimension of auditing methods. He pointed 
out that the Belgian SAI was taking international standards into 
account when planning its control operations and in the reporting 
process. 

Two outside speakers delivered lectures during the academic session. 
Karel Pinxten, a member of the European Court of Auditors, gave a 
speech on auditing public monies and good management from a European 
perspective and Jean-Paul Servais, Vice-Chairman of the Banking, 
Finance and Insurance Commission, discussed public governance and 
audit. 

For additional information, contact the Belgian Court of Audit: 

Fax: ++32 (2) 551 86 22. 
E-mail: International@ccrek.be. 
Web site: www.courdescomptes.be. 

Bhutan: 

Audit Act of Bhutan Enacted: 

In June 2006, the 65th National Assembly of Bhutan unanimously 
endorsed the Audit Act of Bhutan, 2006, which makes the Royal Audit 
Authority, the SAI of Bhutan, a constitutional body with full 
organizational and functional independence. The Royal Audit Authority 
also has full authority to determine and administer its organizational 
structure and budgetary and personnel requirements. 

In accordance with the act, the Royal Audit Authority can conduct 
performance, financial, propriety, compliance, and special audits as 
well as any other audits that the auditor general deems necessary. 

For additional information or a copy of the Audit Act of Bhutan, 2006, 
contact the Human Resources and International Relations Division of 
the Royal Audit Authority: 

Fax: ++975 2 32 34 91>
E-mail: tashi@bhutanauditgov.bt. 
Web site: www.bhutanauditgov.bt. 

Brazil: 

TCU Holds Environmental Auditing Course and Study Tour: 

In November 2006, the Brazilian Court of Audit (TCU) offered an 
environmental auditing course to members of OLACEFS SAIs as part of
the organization's 2006 annual regional capacity building plan. 
Participants represented the SAIs of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, 
Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, 
Mexico, and Peru. The course content, which was based on material from 
the INTOSAI Development Initiative and the Working Group on 
Environmental Auditing, focused on four main areas: water, air, waste, 
and biodiversity. Course instructors were TCU auditors Fabio Henrique 
Granja e Barros, Sildaleia Silva Costa, and Cima Helena Blumm Ferreira. 

Following the environmental auditing course, the TCU organized a study 
tour on environmental management control for auditors from the 
Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions of the Community of 
Portuguese-speaking Countries (OISC/CPLP). Auditors from Angola, Cape 
Verde, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe took part in the study 
tour, whose primary goal was to demonstrate modern environmental audit 
techniques used by the TCU. The tour was structured in three parts: 
lectures, case studies, and visits to TCU units and other public 
agencies in charge of environmental and performance audits. TCU 
auditor Luiz Henrique Lima presented the case studies. The study tour 
was carried out as part of the OISC/CPLP's cooperation activities 
program for 2005-2006. 

[Photograph: Participants from OLACEFS SAIs who took part in the 
environmental auditing course in Brazil] 

Creation of IT Audit Secretariat in the Brazilian Court of Audit: 

In recognition of the increasing importance of information technology 
(IT) auditing, the TCU created in 2006 the Information Technology 
Audit Secretariat, a special technical unit in charge of IT audits of 
external control. 

The secretariat oversees the management and use of IT resources by the 
federal public administration. Its activities include the following: 

* planning, coordinating, and carrying out oversight or evaluation 
activities through surveys, inspections, or audits; 

* identifying priority topics for IT audits in accordance with the 
TCU's strategic plan; 

* overseeing the enforcement of TCU decisions or recommendations in 
the agencies or institutions in charge of IT activities; 

* providing auditors to assist with IT audits carried out by technical 
TCU units; 

* researching and developing or disseminating methods, techniques, and 
standards for IT audit work in conjunction with the TCU Associate 
Audit Secretariat; 

* producing guidelines and other documents for entities subject to TCU 
oversight; and; 

* promoting exchanges of technical information with public sector 
agencies and institutions. 

For additional information, contact the TCU: 

Fax: ++55 (61) 3316 - 7501, -7522. 
E-mail: arint@tcu.gov.br. 
Web site: www.tcu.gov.br. 

Chile: 

Office of the Comptroller General Celebrates Its 80th Anniversary: 

In 2007, the Office of the Comptroller General of Chile is celebrating 
its 80th anniversary. The office was established by law in 1927, in 
response to the 1925 proposal of the Kemmerer Commission, with which 
the Chilean government had contracted for advice on its modernization. 
In 1943, constitutional reforms granted the office constitutional 
status and established its independence. Its organic law was 
promulgated in 1952, and its revised and systemized text was approved 
in 1964. After that date, changes were made to the office's legal and 
constitutional framework to enable it to carry out its supreme audit 
function. 

At the beginning of the 21st century, an agreement signed by the 
government of Chile, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Office
of the Comptroller General allotted $25 million for a 4-year 
modernization plan, which significantly increased the office's ability 
to carry out its work. In 2006, the office made strides toward 
implementing integrated strategic planning and a model for control,
functions, and products as well as new methodologies for developing 
special audits and investigations. 

The office has provided 80 years of uninterrupted service to the 
public and defended such essential values as respect for juridical 
principles and defense of honesty, transparency, and the public 
interest. The support and leadership of Noemi Rojas, the current 
comptroller general, and past comptrollers general have been essential 
to sustain this effort and to position the office to carry out its 
mission in the 21st century. 

[Photograph: Noemi Rojas, Comptroller General of Chile, is leading the 
modernization of the Chilean SAI] 

For additional information, contact the Office of the Comptroller 
General: 

Fax: ++56 (2) 870 13 94, 671 81 01. 
E-mail: relacionesinternacionales@contraloria.cl. 
Web site: www.contralona.cl. 

Denmark: 

Peer Review of the National Audit Office: 

During 2006, the National Audit Office of Denmark (NAOD) underwent a 
peer review of its performance and financial audits. The peer review 
focused on whether the audits carried out by the NAOD are effective, 
in accordance with established international standards, and in keeping 
with the practice of professional supreme audit institutions (SAI). 

The Office of the Auditor General of Norway was the lead reviewer for 
the peer review team, and Kristin Amundsen was the team leader. Other 
members of the team were from the SAIs of Canada, Poland, and Sweden. 

The final peer review report was presented to the NAOD staff in 
September 2006. The report's overall assessment was that: 

* the NAOD's internal audit guidelines comply with international 
standards, and its work is consistent with those guidelines; 

* the NAOD meets high standards of transparency and invites external 
reviewers to examine its products; and; 

* the NAOD's strategic planning process should take the interests of 
the Danish public into consideration to guide the selection of 
subjects for performance audit. 

An English version of the report can be downloaded from the NAOD Web 
site. 

For additional information, contact the NAOD: 

Fax: ++45 33 11 04 15, 14 38 28. 
E-mail: rigsrevisionen@figsrevisionen.dk. 
Web site: www.figsrevisionen.dk. 

Eritrea: 

Auditor General Wins International Award: 

In 2006, Berhane Habtemariam, the Eritrean Auditor General, received 
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Achievement
Award for his outstanding contribution to the accounting and finance 
profession. ACCA is a global professional accountancy body that 
promotes the highest ethical and governance standards and work in the 
public interest. The ACCA Achievement Awards were presented for the 
first time in 2006 and are to be awarded annually to regional 
recipients in Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia 
(including Asia Pacific and South Asia), and Europe. For the initial 
awards, there were eight recipients around the world; Mr. Habtemariam 
was the only recipient from Africa. 

[Photograph: Berhane Habtemariam (left) receives ACCA award] 

Mr. Berhane was recognized for his contributions to building a 
transparent and corruption-free country over the past 15 years and for 
his efforts to meet the challenge of effectively starting
the accounting and finance profession in a nation that has recently 
emerged from war. He was commended for his commitment to advancing the 
cause of ethics and professionalism. He helped to create the 
conditions needed to enable the Eritrean accounting and auditing 
profession to conform to international standards. As Auditor General 
of Eritrea, he adopted a successful strategy for producing qualified 
professionals by focusing on training and professional development. 

For additional information, contact the Office of the Auditor General 
of Eritrea: 

Fax: ++291 (1) 15 02 52. 
E-mail: oag er@gemelcorn.er. 

European Court of Auditors: 

New Bulgarian and Romanian Members Join the Court: 

On January 1, 2007, Bulgaria and Romania acceded to the European Union 
(EU), increasing the number of EU member states to 27. On the same 
date, the Council of the European Union, after consultation with the 
European Parliament, confirmed the appointments of Nadezhda Sandolova 
(Bulgaria) and Ispir Ovidiu (Romania) as members of the European Court 
of Auditors (ECA) for renewable terms of 6 years. 

On February 5, 2007, the two new ECA members were formally sworn in by 
the Court of Justice of the European Communities, in accordance with 
the EU Treaties. 

The ECA's new organization chart is available at 
www.eca.eu.inVeca/organisation/eca_organisation_organigramme_en.htm. 

[Photograph: Newly appointed ECA members Ispir Ovidiu (left) and 
Nadezdha Sandolova (right) with ECA president Hubert Weber (center)] 

Reports and Opinions for 2006: 

On October 24, 2006, the ECA published its fiscal year 2005 annual 
report, its 29th annual report. The ECA reported that the commission 
had made considerable progress in introducing its new accrual 
accounting system but that weak internal controls persisted for the 
majority of EU expenditures—at both the member state and the 
commission levels—as did a high incidence of errors in the underlying 
transactions. 

The court concluded that the 2005 consolidated accounts of the EU 
general budget (whose total payments equaled 104.8 billion euros, or 
135.1 billion U.S. dollars) presented fairly, in all material 
respects, the financial position of the European Communities as of 
December 31, 2005, and the results of the year; however, this opinion 
was qualified mainly due to misstatements in the balance sheet and 
inconsistent applications of cut-off procedures. 

In addition to its annual report, the ECA issued 10 special reports 
and 8 opinions in 2006. All ECA annual reports, special reports, and 
opinions are available at www.eca.europa_eu/index_en.htm. 

Meeting of the Contact Committee of the Heads of EU SAIs: 

The Contact Committee brings together the heads of the SAIs of the EU 
Member States and the ECA with the goal of enhancing cooperation to 
improve external audits and accountability in the EU. At its December 
11-12, 2006, meeting in Warsaw, Poland, the committee discussed ways 
in which EU SAIs can contribute to the improvement of accountability 
for EU expenditures. 

Further details on the work of the Contact Committee may be found at 
www.contactcommittee.eu. 

For additional information, contact the ECA: 

Fax: ++(352) 4398 46430. 
E-mail: euraud@eca.eu.int. 
Web site: www.eca.eu.int. 

Finland: 

New Auditor General Elected: 

The Finnish Parliament has elected Tuomas Poysti as Auditor General of 
the State Audit Office. His term runs from January 1, 2007, to 
December 31, 2012. Previously, he served as the Government Controller-
General, the highest adviser on issues of governance and 
accountability and the highest officer for risk management, internal 
control, and evaluation in the executive branch of government. 

[Photograph: Tuomas Poysti] 

Dr. Poysti has extensive experience in government corporate and 
financial management and in the development of legislative policy. He 
has special knowledge of government budgeting reform, accountability, 
and the design and use of fiscal policy rules. 

Dr. Poysti has written several academic and professional publications
concerning information security and information technology governance, 
financial control and internal audit, budgeting, state aids, 
information law, law and informatics, and European administrative law.
Dr. Poysti was born in 1970 and graduated from the University of 
Lapland in 1995. He obtained his doctor of law degree in 1999 and has 
served as docent of administrative law at the University of Helsinki 
since 2001. 

For additional information, contact the State Audit Office: 

Fax: ++358 (9) 432 5820, 432 5818. 
E-mail: fuomas.poysti@vtv.fi. 
Web site: www.vtv.fi. 

France: 

Report on Audit of Tsunami Aid Issued: 

On January 3, 2007, the French Court of Accounts published its report
on French aid in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami disaster. The 
report was issued in two volumes. The first presents findings on the 
intervention of the French government and the ways in which 32 French
nongovernmental organizations (NGO) managed funds raised from the 
public (about 300 million euros); the second volume contains 
observations on each NGO. The report highlights lessons learned and 
makes recommendations for ways in which both the government and NGOs 
can improve the delivery of disaster-related assistance in the future. 
It also notes that a significant amount of available funding (more 
than half) had not been used as of December 31, 2005, raising 
questions about whether fund-raising efforts should have been halted 
or whether some of the funding should be redirected. 

The complete report in French, as well as a summary in English, is 
available on the court's Web site under Les rapports/organismes 
faisant appel A la generosite publique. 

For additional information, contact the Court of Accounts: 

Fax ++33 1 42 98 96 02. 
E-mail: presidence@ccomptes.fr. 
Web site: www.ccomptes.fr. 

Kenya: 

New Controller and Auditor-General Appointed: 

In July 2006, Priscilla Njeri Komora was appointed the new Controller 
and Auditor-General of Kenya, succeeding Evan Nelson Mwai, who
retired. She is committed to sustaining ongoing reform initiatives in 
the Kenya National Audit Office and improving its relationship with 
Parliament. She is also looking forward to working with the INTOSAI 
community. 

[Photograph: Priscilla Njeri Komora] 

Prior to her appointment, Mrs. Komora had served as Deputy Auditor-
General since 1996. She holds a bachelor of arts (honors) degree and 
has attended numerous local and international seminars and training 
programs in public sector accounting and auditing, governance, 
accountability, and related fields. 

For additional information, contact the Kenya National Audit Office: 

Fax: ++254 (2) 33 08 29. 
E-mail: cag@kenyaweb.com. 

Malta: 

Annual Audit Report on the 2005 Public Accounts: 

Joseph Galea, the Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO), 
submitted his annual audit report to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives in December 2006. The report covers audits carried out 
during the second part of 2006 for the financial year ending December 
31, 2005, and also refers to other audits published in the midyear 
audit report that was tabled in the House in July 2006. 

The report cited a number of areas of concern, including significant 
arrears in revenues, of which only a small percentage was collectible;
weak internal controls over the payroll transactions of the education 
office of Gozo, the second largest island in the Malta archipelago; 
weaknesses in the Social Security Department's computerized system 
leading to problems in reconciliation; and issues related to the 
reassessments of beneficiaries receiving disability pensions. 

In a special report on key issues emerging from the implementation of 
e-government, the NAO discussed the need for senior management in
ministries and public entities to give more attention to the: 

* leadership and ownership of e-government initiatives and projects, 

* development of strategies to encourage the public to interact 
electronically, 

* use of technology-enabled change to transform back-office processes 
and structures, and, 

* establishment of management information systems and monitoring 
processes to periodically review and improve the type and level of 
services offered online. 

The NAO carried out a preliminary survey that focused on the 
Occupational Health and Safety Authority's work related to the 
construction industry. Although the authority sought to raise 
occupational health and safety awareness and enforce relevant 
regulations within all economic sectors, including the construction 
industry, its lack of human resources made it a reactive rather than 
proactive institution. 

Report on the 2006 Work and Activities of the NAO: 

The Auditor General also presented to the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives the annual report on the work and activities of the
NAO for 2006. In addition to general information on the NAO, its 
organization, and its relationship with standing parliamentary 
committees, the report highlights developments relating to information 
technology, staff recruitment and mobility, qualifications, and 
training activities. It also describes the NAO's relations with SAIs 
and other organizations and local and overseas events activities that 
enhance the professional competencies of its employees. 

These will be the last annual reports that Mr. Galea will submit, as 
his second and final term as auditor general will be completed in July 
2007. 

For additional information, contact the NAO: 
Fax: ++356 21 22 07 08. 
E-mail: joseph.g.galea@gov.mt. 
Web site: www.nao.gov.mt. 

Nepal: 

Annual Report Submitted: 

In December 2006, the Auditor General of Nepal, Gehendra Nath 
Adhikary, submitted the 43rd annual report for the 2004-2005 fiscal 
year to the Prime Minister. The report was subsequently tabled in the 
Parliament. The annual report consists of five volumes: government 
offices, performance audit, corporate bodies, local government, and 
charts of account. 

Retirement of Auditor General: 

Gehendra Nath Adhikary completed his tenure as Auditor General of 
Nepal and retired on January 1, 2007. He was appointed in August 2003 
on the recommendation of the constitutional council in accordance with 
provisions of the constitution. Mr. Adhikary submitted three annual 
reports during his term of office. 

For additional information, contact the Office of the Auditor General 
of Nepal: 

Fax: ++977 (1) 426 27 98. 
E-mail: oagnep@ntc.net.np. 
Web site: www.oagnepal.gov.np. 

Netherlands: 

European Union Trend Report Issued: 

In February 2007, the Netherlands Court of Audit published its EU
Trend Report 2007, the fifth edition of an annual report in which the
court describes developments in the financial management of the 
European Union (EU). The report focuses on the monitoring and control 
of the expenditure of EU funds in both the Netherlands and the EU as a 
whole and contains three significant findings. 

First, the report concludes that the Netherlands has taken an
important step toward improving its accountability for EU funds. In
2007, the Netherlands will submit its first "member state declaration" 
on agricultural funds to the European Commission and the Dutch 
Parliament. Starting in 2008, the declaration will also relate to 
structural funds (to finance regional and social measures) and the 
Netherlands' own resources. In it, the government will account for the 
expenditure of funds received from the EU and the remittance of funds 
to the EU. At the request of the Dutch government, the Court of Audit 
will express an opinion on the annual declarations. By preparing a 
member state declaration, the Netherlands is in the vanguard of 
improving financial accountability so that EU citizens know whether or 
not their money is being spent correctly. At present, Denmark and the 
United Kingdom are the only other member states who will issue a 
comparable declaration. 

Second, the report concluded that there had been little if any 
improvement in the insight into and regularity of the expenditure of 
EU funds at the EU level in 2005. The European Court of Auditors was 
again unable to issue a positive Statement of Assurance on the 2005 
financial year. At the budget heading level, there was no specific 
insight into the regularity of the appropriation and expenditure of EU 
funds. A limited improvement in European financial management can be 
seen at the level of the European Commission. The annual activity 
reports of the commission's directorates-general provided slightly 
more insight into their activities than in previous years, but they 
still provided limited information on, for example, inspections in the 
member states. The EU's accountability chain has been improved by the 
commission's inclusion of a declaration in the synthesis report. 
However, the true significance of the declaration is limited because 
many reservations were made in 2005. 

Third, the report concludes that the Netherlands has sufficient 
information on the expenditure of European agricultural and structural 
funds. In general, the systems work reasonably well, but there was 
still no complete insight into the regularity of expenditure on EU 
programs in 2005. The Netherlands' response to irregularities in the 
implementation of structural fund programs also poses financial risks, 
particularly for programs financed from the European Regional 
Development Fund (ERDF). 

Furthermore, little information is available on the effectiveness of 
EU policy in the Netherlands. The way in which ministers account to 
the House of Representatives on the results of EU policy in the 
Netherlands is relatively diffuse and incomplete: reports are often 
late and concentrate on expenditures rather than on policy outputs. 

For additional information, contact the Netherlands Court of Audit: 

Fax: ++31 (70) 34 24 - 411. 
E-mail: internationalaffairs@rekenkamer.nl. 
Web site: www.rekenkamer.nl. 

Panama: 

76th Anniversary of Comptroller General's Office: 

In December 2006, the Office of the Comptroller General of Panama 
celebrated its 76th anniversary. The anniversary came at a time when 
the office was and still is undergoing many changes as a result of 
implementing its strategic plan. The plan has the following seven 
strategic goals: modify the focus of the office's work by broadening 
and improving opportunities for audit, inspection, and control; 
simplify administrative processes and standardize government 
accounting; develop and sustain the administration and training of 
human resources; strengthen the technological infrastructure to 
support audit work; strengthen the national statistical system; 
develop regulations for the Court of Accounts; and improve the working 
environment. 

Dr. Dani Kuzniecky, the Comptroller General of Panama and Executive 
Secretary of OLACEFS, and his working team appeared before various 
communications media to give an account of the office's work and
explain new initiatives undertaken during his administration that 
relate to transparency and compliance with laws and regulations in the 
receipt and use of public funds. 

The office is currently undertaking the challenge of auditing the 
Panamanian government's investment in the widening of the Panama 
Canal. The office has designed a system that will allow it to develop 
its audit work by examining audit reports that the project 
administrator, the Panama Canal Authority, is required to submit to 
ensure its compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

In addition, the office is decentralizing its audit work by 
establishing regional offices with multidisciplinary human resources. 
These offices will be responsible for meeting the needs of entities by 
promoting improved internal control systems and processes that will 
enable institutions to be more efficient in carrying out the tasks 
that have been assigned to them. 

For additional information, contact the Office of the Comptroller 
General of Panama: 

Fax: ++507 510-4399. 
E-mail: centrodeintormacion@contraloria.gob.pa. 
Web site: www.contraloria.gob.pa. 

Puerto Rico: 

Initiatives to Improve Public Administration and Prevent Corruption
In 2006, the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico developed a 
program, called Initiatives to Improve Public Administration and 
Prevent Corruption, to encourage legislators to strengthen internal 
controls in their offices and promote higher administrative standards 
in the legislative branch. The program identifies 12 elements or 
criteria, most of which were included to correct or avoid findings 
included in previous audit reports. 

The criteria cover the following areas: budget control, strategic 
planning, personnel administration, professional service contracts, 
regulation of office use, property control, documentation for the use 
of a government car or the car allowance, documents and file control, 
information technology, ethics culture and values, receiving and 
investigation of complaints (hotlines), and human resource regulation. 

During February 2007, auditors visited the legislators' offices to 
rate them on the criteria. The office plans to issue a report on its 
findings and present a certificate of compliance to those scoring 80 
or more points (out of a maximum of 100). 

In 1998, the office began a similar annual review program to encourage 
city governments to establish criteria to improve public 
administration. The program has contributed to many improvements, 
perhaps the most significant being that for the first time,
all city governments submitted financial statements within 6 months of 
the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2006. In 1997, only one city 
government submitted its financial statements on time, while others 
were several years behind. 

For additional information, contact the Office of the Comptroller of 
Puerto Rico: 

Fax: ++1 (787) 751-6768. 
E-mail: ocpr@ocprgov.pr. 
Web site: www.ocprgov.pr. 

Qatar: 

State Audit Bureau Implements Strategic Plan: 

The strategic plan of the State Audit Bureau of Qatar (SAB) for 2005-
2010 has four main strategic goals: upgrade audit practices, optimize 
the use of audit resources, enhance the use of information technology, 
and increase international cooperation. To implement the plan, the SAB 
undertook the following major initiatives during the past year. 

* An international audit firm from the United Kingdom was engaged, and 
specialized performance audits of government petrochemical companies 
and road and drainage projects are under way. 

* Audit management software (named Teammate) was used successfully in 
a pilot audit, and there are plans to extend the software to other 
audits. 

* Regular training programs in Audit Command Language (ACL) were held. 

* The SAB entered into training arrangements with one of the big four 
audit firms in Qatar; auditors are also sent on specialized 
international training programs. 

* The SAB joined the INTOSAI IT Audit Committee. 

* Financial and administrative procedures are being reviewed with a 
view to attaining ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 
certification and creating a paper-less work environment. 

For additional information, contact the SAB: 

Fax: ++974 441 21 02, 437 0561. 
E-mail: mail@sab.gov.qa. 

Saudi Arabia: 

Training and International Activities: 

Osama Jafar Faquih, the President of the General Auditing Bureau of
Saudi Arabia (GAB), participated in a scientific convention, entitled 
The Effect of Privatization on Public Services, held in December 2006. 
At the meeting, the GAB presented a research paper on its role in the 
privatization of the communication sector in the Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia. Also during December 2006, the GAB organized a training 
program on audits of privatization for employees of the Gulf 
Cooperation Council SAIs. 

In collaboration with the SAI of India, the GAB organized four 
training programs at its headquarters in Riyadh. The programs 
addressed performance and IT auditing, audit quality management 
systems, and risk management in audit planning. 

For additional information, contact the GAB: 

Fax: ++966 (1) 403 20 57. 
E-mail: gab@gab.gov.sa. 
Web site: www.gab.gov.sa. 

United Arab Emirates: 

Gulf Cooperation Council Meeting for Regional SAIs: 

The State Audit Institution of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted 
the fifth meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the heads of
regional SAIs in September 2006. The meeting provided an excellent 
opportunity to promote the sharing of knowledge and experience to 
improve auditing practice in the region. 

The meeting approved the first-ever auditing standards for GCC SAIs. 
The standards were prepared by a technical committee of senior SAI 
staff. Participants also discussed strategies for promoting 
cooperation among GCC SAIs in auditing the environment, money 
laundering, and international institutions. The discussion was based 
on papers presented by the SAIs of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE. 
The paper on auditing international institutions, prepared by the SAI 
of the UAE, was based on the best practice principles approved at the 
18th INCOSAI in Budapest in 2004. The discussion focused on 
implementing these principles within the GCC context. 

For additional information, contact the State Audit Institution of the 
UAE: 

Fax: ++971 (2) 644 86 88. 
E-mail: saivae@emirates.net.ae. 
Web site: www.saivae.gov.ae. 

United States: 

New Revision of Government Auditing Standards Issued: 

In January 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
released a new revision of Government Auditing Standards, also known 
as the Yellow Book. The January 2007 edition, which supersedes the 
2003 version, contains the final 2007 revisions to the standards, 
except for the quality control and peer review sections in chapter 3, 
which GAO is exposing for comment. The 2007 Yellow Book will be 
published in final form once those sections are finalized. Until then, 
electronic versions of the January 2007 Yellow Book revision and the 
draft sections on quality assurance and peer review are available on 
GAO's Web site at www.gao.gov/govaud/ybk01.htm. 

The Yellow Book standards apply to GAO as well as to governmental and 
other auditors conducting audits of entities receiving federal funds. 
Many states and local governments and other entities, in the United 
States and abroad, have voluntarily adopted these standards as well. 

The 2007 revision contains fundamental changes that reinforce the 
principles of transparency and accountability. Specifically, the 
changes: 

* heighten the emphasis on ethical principles as the foundation, 
discipline, and structure behind the implementation of the standards 
and describe five key ethical principles that should guide the work of 
those who audit government programs and operations; 

* clarify and streamline the discussion of the impact of nonaudit 
services (professional services other than audit services) and their 
effect on auditor independence; 

* update financial auditing standards based on recent developments in 
financial auditing and internal control; 

* increase transparency surrounding restatements and significant 
concerns, uncertainties, or other unusual events that could have a 
significant impact on the financial condition or operations of a 
government entity or program; 

* enhance performance auditing standards that elaborate on the overall 
framework for high-quality performance auditing, including the concept 
of reasonable assurance and its relationship to audit risk and the 
levels of evidence used to support audit findings and conclusions; 

* clarify the standards through standardized language to define the 
auditor's level of responsibility and distinguish between auditor 
requirements and additional guidance; and; 

* reinforce the key role of auditing in maintaining accountability and 
providing information for making improvements in government operations. 

The January 2007 revision is the fifth since the standards were first 
issued in 1972. GAO developed the standards with the assistance of the
Comptroller General's Advisory Council on Government Auditing 
Standards, which comprises experts in financial and performance 
auditing drawn from all levels of government, private enterprise, 
public accounting, and academia. The standards were also subject to a 
60-day period of public comment. 

Fiscal Stewardship Report Issued: 

In February 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a
new publication, entitled Fiscal Stewardship: A Critical Challenge 
Facing Our Nation, designed to assist both the Congress and the 
nation's citizens in understanding and evaluating the federal 
government's current financial condition and longterm fiscal outlook. 
In a brief and understandable format, the document highlights 
financial challenges, such as the federal government's unified budget 
deficit of $248 billion, and discusses the growth in structural 
deficits due to rising health care costs and demographic trends. The
publication concludes that addressing the United States' large, 
growing, and structural fiscal imbalance will require a multipronged 
approach, including: 

* increasing transparency in financial and budget reporting and in 
budget and legislative processes to highlight long-term fiscal 
challenges; 

* reinstituting and strengthening budget controls for both spending 
and tax policies to deal with near-term and longer term deficits; 

* strengthening oversight of programs and activities, including
creating approaches to better facilitate the discussion of integrated 
solutions to crosscutting issues; and; 

* reengineering and reprioritizing the federal government's existing 
programs, policies, and activities to address 21st century challenges 
and capitalize on related opportunities. 

For additional information, contact the U.S. GAO: 

Fax: ++(202) 512-4021. 
E-mail: spel@gao.gov. 
Web site: www.gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Expanding Collaboration between SAIs and Civil Society: 

By Vivek Ramkumar, International Budget Project, Center on Budget and 
Policy Priorities, Washington, D.C. 

[Editor's note: The author is developing a comprehensive guide to 
methods that civil society organizations can use to monitor government
expenditures and accounts. He is also leading an effort to support the 
development of cooperative relationships between national audit 
institutions and civil society organizations to expand opportunities
for public participation in audit processes. Ramkumar previously 
worked with the MKSS, an organization that pioneered the Right to 
Information movement in India.] 

Some donor and civil society institutions[Footnote 1] have suggested 
that government accountability can be strengthened through increased 
collaboration between SAIs and civil society. To date, most civil 
society activity has focused on examining the budget's passage through 
the legislature and subsequent implementation rather than the auditing 
process and SAIs. However, civil society organizations around the 
globe are undertaking important activities that focus on government 
audit systems, and initial efforts have produced encouraging results 
in some countries. 

This article presents brief overviews of innovative civil society and 
SAI practices adopted in six countries—India, Mexico, South Korea, 
Argentina, South Africa, and the Philippines. The overviews are 
followed by an analysis of opportunities for increasing collaboration 
between civil society organizations and national public audit 
institutions, as well as the challenges that these working 
relationships will generate. Finally, the article discusses steps that 
could be taken to mitigate these challenges. 

Civil Society Experiences in Auditing: 

Civil society groups in the six countries surveyed are using a variety 
of innovative methods to involve citizens in the auditing and 
assessment of public expenditures. 

In India, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)-—a peasant and 
workers' union—-uses public hearing forums to conduct social audits of 
local government expenditures in village communities. During these 
social audits, local communities check accounting and other records of 
public works programs executed in their areas and identify instances 
of fraudulent documentation, including accounts purporting to record 
the construction of works that have not been created (ghost works), 
fraudulent billing for project activities, and falsified labor rolls. 

In South Africa, the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM)-—a 
research and advocacy organization—-works closely with the Eastern 
Cape Provincial legislature to track government agency responses to 
instances of financial misconduct and corruption identified in the 
auditor general's reports. PSAM highlighted the large number of audit 
disclaimers issued by a provincial audit agency-—which was unable to 
access financial information during its audit—-and led a public 
campaign that resulted in strengthening financial management practices 
within provincial government agencies. 

In the Philippines, a participatory audit was successfully conducted 
as a joint undertaking of the national Commission on Audit and a 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) called the Concerned Citizens of 
Abra for Good Government (CCAGG). CCAGG specializes in monitoring 
infrastructure projects within its province and uses local monitors 
(volunteers drawn from the area) to verify that road construction 
projects are executed according to contract norms. 

In Mexico, Fundar-—a research and advocacy organization-—obtained 
hundreds of pages of accounting records from the Ministry of Health 
using the national freedom of information law and identified large-
scale corruption in a contract awarded to a private agency for an 
HIV/AIDS prevention program. An official investigation conducted by 
the SAI corroborated Fundar's findings. Pressure brought to bear by 
the Fundar-led campaign resulted in government proceedings to recover 
misappropriated funds and changes in the policies governing the 
management of discretionary funds, including the HIV/AIDS prevention 
program. 

In South Korea, the Concerned Citizens for Economic Justice (CCEJ)-—
the oldest NGO in the country working on economic rights issues-—
routinely uses the national citizen audit request system to request 
government audit investigations of public projects plagued with 
corruption or resulting in wasted resources. In one case, the 
organization's dogged pursuance of a case led to action against 
corrupt officials even after the agency had been cleared by the audit. 
In another case, changes were made in procurement policies in part as 
a result of the organization's advocacy campaign that demanded a limit 
on the issuance of no-bid contracts by the government. 

In Argentina, the Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACID—a 
human rights organization—successfully filed a lawsuit to obtain the 
minutes of the hearings of the congressional commission responsible 
for reviewing the SAIs public audits and initiating action based on 
audit recommendations. ACIJ used these records to highlight the 
commission's lack of action in requiring corrective actions to respond 
to audit recommendations. 

SAI Experiences in Participatory Audits: 

Some SAIs and governments have initiated innovative processes to 
include the public in the conduct of audits. 

In South Korea, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BM) introduced the 
national citizen audit request system under the Anti-Corruption Act of 
2001 to allow citizens to request special audits from the BAI on 
public agencies suspected of corruption or legal irregularities. 
[Footnote 2] Applications are made under this system to a Citizens 
Audit Request Screening Committee, comprising citizens and audit 
officials who screen requests to identify frivolous complaints and 
decide which requests merit a full audit. Further, some local 
governments have decided to address complaints and grievances filed by 
citizens by appointing citizen auditors. These auditors, who are not 
public officials, review petitions for a certain period and, if 
necessary, conduct audits and notify the petitioners of the results. 

In 2002, the national Commission on Audit (COA) of the Philippines 
entered into a partnership with several NGOs, including CCAGG, to 
conduct participatory audits, in particular performance audits, to 
determine whether government programs/projects had achieved 
anticipated results. Audit teams included members from COA and NGOs. 
In another instance, COA is cooperating with another NGO, Procurement 
Watch, Inc., by providing access to procurement documents of agencies 
that it is auditing to test a tool that measures corruption in 
procurement processes. 

In India, inspired by the MKSS social audit process, the Andhra 
Pradesh state government is leading a social audit campaign together 
with a consortium of NGOs. All over the state, local communities 
receive information on the use of funds under the National Rural 
Employment Guarantee Scheme, and social audit forums are organized to 
discuss the veracity of expenditures incurred under this scheme. The 
state government acts on findings from social audits to improve the 
functioning of the scheme. 

Lessons Drawn from SAI Collaboration with Civil Society: 

There is a wide spectrum of collaboration between civil society groups 
and auditors. In some cases, civil society organizations conduct 
independent audits. Organizations like the MKSS in India have 
developed innovative social auditing processes that are independent of 
formal government audit processes. In fact, many of the public 
programs covered by MKSS social audits had previously been audited by 
government auditors who did not report any of the misappropriation of 
funds that the MKSS later uncovered. Similarly, in Mexico, Fundar 
found problems with an HIV/AIDS prevention program when it conducted 
an independent investigation of the program accounts-—an independent 
government audit later corroborated these findings. 

In other cases, civil society organizations use audit findings of 
government auditors to hold government agencies accountable. 
Organizations like PSAM in South Africa and ACIJ in Argentina 
publicize findings from government audit reports—or the follow-up 
actions taken by the legislative committee responsible for overseeing 
government audits—to demand action from agencies. 

In still other instances, civil society organizations collaborate 
closely with auditors. In the Philippines, CCAGG was a member of a 
government team undertaking performance audits of the public highways 
agency. Procurement Watch, Inc., measures procurement irregularities 
by accessing public agency documents possessed by government auditors 
at the same time as formal government audits of these agencies. CCEJ
in South Korea actively uses the citizen audit request system to 
request special audits of government projects for which it has 
identified financial irregularities. 

In some countries, auditors are increasingly receptive to citizen 
participation in their audit processes. The experiences of South Korea—
including the development of the national citizen audit request 
system, the appointment of citizen auditors by local governments, and 
the implementation of the advance audit notice system—represent some 
of the most progressive policies in the public audit process to foster 
citizen participation. Similarly, the participatory audit experience 
in the Philippines represents a unique model for future potential 
civil society participation in government audits. Finally, the 
collaboration between the Andhra Pradesh state government in India and 
the MKSS in conducting social audits to monitor programs under the 
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme underscores the diffusion 
of participatory audit innovations among government entities at the 
state level in that country. 

However, auditors and civil society groups both have concerns about 
the nature of collaborative practices. For example, SAIs generally 
have a mandate to report to legislators but not to the public. Thus, 
in most countries, audit reports are submitted to the legislature, 
which is responsible for examining the audit findings and enforcing 
action against executive agencies. Audit systems themselves are not 
normally geared toward citizen participation-—audit reports are not 
always released in a timely fashion to the public, the reports are 
written using technical jargon, and the public is not given an 
opportunity to offer input on the findings in legislative hearings. 

Further, audit institutions may fear that their neutrality may be 
compromised through collaboration with civil society organizations. 
Audit officials are often concerned that any collaboration with 
citizens or citizen groups—-which often have their own explicit 
agendas—-may compromise the neutrality and objectivity expected of 
their institution and therefore compromise their independent audit 
opinion. 

In particular, audit institutions typically have not developed 
processes for selecting partners from among civil society 
organizations. Thus, even if audit officials are receptive to closer 
collaboration, they may be uncertain about how to identify groups that 
have the skills and the credibility to assist in conducting audits. 

For their part, civil society organizations are concerned that 
governments may come to develop corrupt or "unseemly" relationships 
with civil society organizations if there is no system of checks and 
balances on their participation in audits. Any government-initiated 
participatory audit scheme that involves the selection of NGOs or 
experts from civil society is in danger of being misused. If 
governments, rather than audit institutions, select civil society 
partners for audits, they may be tempted to select only those 
organizations or personnel that are sympathetic to them or that will 
not highlight major irregularities in their financial operations. 

Strengthening Collaboration between SAIs and Civil Society: 

Measures may be available to mitigate some of the concerns of audit 
officials and civil society groups regarding increased collaboration.
First, the spectrum for collaboration between auditors and civil 
society is very broad, and collaboration could take a variety of forms 
depending on the comfort levels of either institution or the relevant 
country context. For example, civil society groups could (1) directly 
participate in audits (as in the Philippines experience), (2) focus on 
demanding follow-up actions to audit findings and put pressure on the 
government to require the implementation of audit recommendations (as 
in Argentina), or (3) identify entities that should be the subject of 
audits (as in South Korea). Further, civil society organizations could 
even undertake independent audits that complement formal government 
audits (as in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India). 

Second, concerns that audit findings are not geared toward citizen 
participation can be mitigated if audit institutions develop 
accessible reports that are widely distributed to the public in a 
timely manner and if legislators hold public hearings on audit reports 
and publish minutes of meetings in which audit reports are discussed. 
In fact, section 16 of INTOSArs Lima Declaration of Guidelines on 
Auditing Precepts is titled "Reporting to Parliament and General 
Public [emphasis added]" and asks that SAIs be empowered by the 
national constitution to report their findings publicly as "this will 
ensure extensive distribution and discussion, and enhance 
opportunities for enforcing the findings of the SAI." Section 17 
expands on this point by stating that audit reports should "present 
the facts and their assessment in an objective, clear manner and be 
limited to essentials. The wording of the reports shall be precise and 
easy to understand." Making such information available will help 
citizens understand legislative hearings. 

Finally, to mitigate concerns that close collaboration with civil 
society could compromise the neutrality of SAIs—and to ensure that 
SAIs are able to select partners from among civil society in a fair 
and effective manner—audit institutions could conduct audits so that 
any citizen, irrespective of ideology and partisanship, has the 
opportunity to provide suggestions to the audit team. This could 
ensure that no one person or organization dominates or misuses the 
collaborative process. Alternatively, the procedure for selecting 
civil society partners could be made transparent to address concerns 
that governments may co-opt the partners that it selects to 
collaborate with audit institutions. One such measure would involve 
creating an independent board—akin to the South Korean Citizen Audit 
Request Screening Committee—that could act on behalf of the government 
to select the appropriate organizations to partner with audit 
institutions. 

Conclusion: 

Recent trends in civil society show the emergence of activities that 
focus on government auditing systems and the use of innovative tools 
that incorporate aspects of the audit discipline to monitor public 
resources. Citizen participation is increasingly recognized as an 
essential component of good governance practices. We are just 
beginning to see the potential for this collaboration and are excited 
by the possibility for improved transparency and service to citizens. 

For more information on international civil society audit initiatives, 
contact the author at ramkumar@cbpp.org or visit the International 
Budget Project Web site at www.internationalbudget.org. 

Footnotes: 

[1] Civil society institutions encompass all organizations that are 
not public or for profit, including universities, nongovernmental 
organizations, environmental movements, indigenous peoples' 
associations, organized local communities, and trade unions. 

[2] See the April 2006 issue of the Journal, "Audit and Civil Society: 
The Korean Experience," for a more detailed discussion of SAI and 
civil society experiences in South Korea. 

[End of section] 

CAROSAI Convenes Its Seventh Triennial Congress in the Bahamas: 

By Ron Stroman, U.S. Government Accountability Office: 

The Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI) 
convened its seventh congress in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, 
October 16-19, 2006, with the theme Towards Greater Accountability. 
Almost 40 delegates and observers from14 Caribbean supreme audit 
institutions (SAI); the SAIs of Cuba, the United Kingdom, and the 
United States; the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI); the INTOSAI 
Secretariat; the Organization of American States (OAS); and the 
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants attended the congress. 

[Photograph: Participants in the CAROSAI meeting in the Bahamas] 

Opening Ceremony: 

Perry Christie, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, was the keynote 
speaker at the opening ceremony. Prime Minister Christie challenged 
the auditors to ensure government accountability for public funds. He 
described the need for the Bahamas to develop a professional class of 
public servants that can match the efficiency and expertise of the 
private sector. He also raised a concern about the importance of 
developing equitable funding sources for public sector infrastructure 
development that primarily benefits private sector projects. 

Terrance Bastian, Auditor General of the host SAI, welcomed the 
delegates and observers to the Bahamas. Mr. Bastian said that auditors 
general, as stewards of public funds and resources, should be held to 
the highest standards of accountability to enhance good governance. 
Mr. Bastian pointed out that the public is demanding the best possible 
value for the use of public funds, and auditors general have a 
responsibility to ensure accountability, transparency, and efficiency 
in the management of those resources. Mr. Bastian said that he hoped 
that as a result of attending the congress, the auditors would be in a 
better position to use the latest auditing techniques and technology 
to enhance service to parliaments and public sector entities. 

Theme I: The Auditor's Role in the Efficient Management of Public 
Funds: 

Veronica Brown, the Director of Audit for Antigua and Barbuda, 
presented the lead paper and summarized the country papers for theme 
I. Mrs. Brown described the indispensable role that SAIs play in 
enforcing a system of effective checks and balances in the control of 
public finances and accountability to the taxpayers for the management 
of those funds. According to Mrs. Brown, the legal mandate of SAI 
independence is the key principle that enables SAIs to accomplish 
their missions. 

Mrs. Brown also outlined major structural impediments that some 
CAROSAI SAIs face in trying to maintain independence. These 
impediments include (1) the need for SAIs to obtain budgets and 
staffing levels from the Ministry of Finance, (2) SAI staff 
appointments made by the Public Service Commission, and (3) SAIs' lack 
of direct control over the acquisition of their own technological 
resources. In the plenary session, participants discussed the need for 
clear and transparent protocols for making SAI reports public and the 
need for legal support for value-for-money audits. 

Theme II: Modernizing SAIs' Administrative and Auditing Methods in the 
Electronic Age: 

Antonette Hodge from St. Kitts and Nevis led the discussion of modern 
auditing in an age of explosive technological development, including 
the advantages of and obstacles to relying on computers as the primary 
instrument for accessing information and storing documents. There was 
consensus that computers can make auditing more efficient by providing 
faster access to readily available information. 

Participants discussed the major challenges that computers pose for 
CAROSAI SAIs. First, the costs of modernization, keeping new 
technology current, and updating computer security require new 
dedicated revenue for information technology. Also, it is difficult to 
hire and retain audit staff with the necessary computer skills. 

Theme III: Corruption and Money Laundering--Challenges to Good 
Governance: 

Albert Edwards, Auditor General of St. Kitts and Nevis, led the 
discussion on money laundering. The delegates identified the fight 
against corruption and money laundering as a leading issue for 
Caribbean nations. While SAIs are not anticorruption specialists, they 
play a pivotal role in deterring and detecting corruption and money 
laundering. For example, SAIs can ensure that their officers comply 
with codes of professional conduct as well as conflict-of-interest 
reporting requirements. Moreover, SAIs can and should report all 
material instances of wrongdoing to the appropriate regulatory and 
investigative agencies. 

The delegates had a spirited discussion regarding the difficulty of 
combating corruption in businesses possessing substantial financial 
resources. In addition, the central bank has the primary 
responsibility for combating money laundering in several countries, 
but SAIs often have no authority to audit the central bank. Several 
SAIs mentioned the importance of having legally mandated whistleblower 
protection. 

Linda Fealing, the Inspector General for the OAS, discussed OAS 
efforts to combat corruption, in particular the Inter-American 
Convention against Corruption, which the OAS adopted in 1996. The 
convention is designed to promote and strengthen member state 
mechanisms to prevent and eradicate corruption. Ms. Fealing also 
described the OAS Secretary General's efforts to mitigate the risk of 
fraud and corruption in OAS's general secretariat and the role of the 
inspector general's office. 

Theme IV: Contribution of Auditing Standards and Procedures to 
Enhancing the Uniformity and Quality of Audit Work: 

Adrian Strachan, the Auditor General of Jamaica, began his 
presentation by noting that auditing standards provide an essential 
analytical framework to ensure that audit work is carried out with 
independence, integrity, and objectivity. With the rapid pace of 
globalization and the need to conduct audits across national boundaries,
Mr. Strachan emphasized the need for an international consensus on 
generally accepted auditing standards. He made it clear, however, that 
a consensus cannot emerge until there is universal agreement on 
fundamental concepts, such as the definition of what constitutes an 
audit. 

Participants also recognized that several highly publicized events 
involving questionable ethical behavior by auditors---in cases such as 
ENRON and WorldCom--have underscored the importance of periodic 
outside reviews of SAIs' internal control systems. In this regard, it 
was pointed out that U.S. Government Auditing Standards require audit 
organizations to have an external peer review at least every 3 years. 
Participants discussed whether CAROSAI could arrange a system of peer 
reviews for its members and generally agreed on the importance of 
having the results of each peer review accepted by international 
organizations. 

Theme V: The Role of the Public Accounts Committee: 

Sir John Bourn, the Comptroller and Auditor General of the United 
Kingdom (UK), discussed the National Audit Office's (NAO) role in 
supporting the UK Public Accounts Committee. The committee is chaired 
by a senior opposition member of Parliament and is nonpolitical in 
that it focuses on recommendations about management improvements 
rather than policy. The public and press are invited to attend 
committee hearings. Panel questions are based on a brief that the NAO 
and the members' own staffs provide to the committee. The NAO drafts 
the committee reports and follows up on its recommendations. 

Training and Capacity Building: 

IDI presented its new strategic vision for 2007-2012 and discussed its 
training activities in CAROSAI and other INTOSAI regions. IDI also 
discussed its current e-learning effort with the INTOSAI Information 
Technology (IT) Audit Committee. This effort entails the development 
of a 20-hour e-learning course on IT controls planned for three 
INTOSAI regions—ASOSAL AFROSAI-E, and CAROSAI. 

Dan Duguay, Auditor General for the Cayman Islands and Chair of the 
Regional Institutional Strengthening Committee (RISC), presented 
RISC's accomplishments and future plans. Mr. Duguay noted that as a 
result of the committee's work, (1) financial and IT courses were 
developed and delivered with funding from the Inter-American 
Development Bank, (2) two master's degree classes were completed with 
funding from the Canadian Development Fund, and (3) computers were 
purchased locally for various SAIs in the region. 

Key Emerging Issues for SAIs: 

David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, urged SAIs 
to supplement their traditional audit responsibilities by providing 
government officials with foresight about key emerging issues. Mr. 
Walker stated that SAIs are uniquely positioned to discuss these 
emerging trends in a professional, objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, 
fair, and balanced manner. Some of the key emerging issues Mr. Walker 
discussed were long-range fiscal challenges, globalization, new 
security threats, climate change, and natural disasters. Mr. Walker 
also discussed the importance of working toward global convergence on 
major accounting and auditing standards. 

Other Business: 

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by CAROSAI, the NAO, 
and IDI. The MOU continues an agreement between the signatories to 
work together to strengthen Caribbean SAIs through regional training 
and support for capacity-building initiatives. 

Other Activities: 

Delegates and guests enjoyed the hospitality and graciousness of the 
host SAL They attended a dinner reception hosted by the Governor-
General of the Bahamas, Arthur Dion Hanna, at Government House. 
Participants also had the opportunity to visit the Atlantis Resort on 
Paradise Island and toured the world-famous Atlantis aquarium. 
Finally, on Wednesday evening delegates attended an evening of dinner, 
dancing, and entertainment on Sandals Island. 

For additional information, contact the Department of the Auditor 
General of the Bahamas: 

Fax: ++1 (242) 322 6420. 
E-mail: auditorgeneral@bahamas.gov.bs. 

[End of section] 

Audit Profile: Ghana Audit Service: 
		
By George Winful, Ghana Audit Service: 

History: 

In 1910, the Ghana Audit Service (GAS) was created in London as a 
colonial audit department. Originally called the Gold Coast Audit 
Department, it later became known as the Auditor-General's Department. 
The 1969 Constitution of Ghana extended financial and administrative 
autonomy to the agency, and the 1972 Audit Service Decree established 
it as the GAS and strengthened its independence by establishing a 
seven-member Audit Service Board as its governing body. The board 
consists of the chairman, four representatives appointed by the 
president acting in consultation with the Council of State, the 
auditor-general, and the head of the Civil Service. The Audit Service 
Act of 2000 (Act 584), which derives most of its provisions from the 
1992 Constitution, further enhanced the mandate of the GAS. 

Mission: 

The GAS exists to promote good governance—transparency, 
accountability, and probity—in the public financial management system 
of Ghana by auditing the management of public resources in accordance 
with recognized international auditing standards and reporting to 
Parliament. Its vision is to become one of the leading supreme audit 
institutions in the world by 2010, delivering professional, excellent, 
and cost-effective auditing services. 

Mandate: 

By law, the GAS is required to audit all public accounts of Ghana and 
report on them to Parliament within 6 months after the end of each 
financial year. Its mandate includes accounts of the courts, central 
and local government administrations, public universities and other 
schools, and all public corporations or other bodies or organizations 
established by an act of Parliament. 

The auditor-general also has authority to conduct compliance, 
financial, and performance audits on his own initiative or at the 
request of the president or Parliament. 

Legal Authority and Independence: 

The auditor-general is appointed by the president in consultation with 
the Council of State. Under the 1992 Constitution and Act 584, the 
auditor-general is not subject to the direction or control of any 
other person or authority and has the power to disallow any item of 
expenditure that is contrary to law. In addition, the auditor-general 
retains the power to impose surcharges for disallowed expenditures and 
to have access to all books, records, returns, or other documents 
relating to active accounts. Internal auditors of any public 
institution or body must submit copies of all reports issued as a 
result of internal audit work to the auditor-general. 

Organization: 

The GAS headquarters is in Accra, the capital, where about 40 percent 
of its 1,379 employees work. In addition, the GAS has 10 regional 
offices and, within the regions, 98 district offices. Five deputy 
auditors-general work under the direction of the auditor-general. 
Twenty-three assistant auditors-general head the regional offices, and 
most of the 61 directors are responsible for the district offices. 

Professional Development: 

Professional development is an ongoing activity provided through in-
house as well as external training programs. The external training 
programs include courses offered by the United States Government 
Accountability Office, the United Kingdom National Audit Office, and 
the African Organization of English Speaking Supreme Audit 
Organizations (AFROSAI-E). The GAS also sponsors officers' 
undergraduate and graduate studies in local universities and other 
institutions of higher education to obtain professional designations 
offered by professional accountancy institutions. 

Institutional Development Plan: 

With the assistance of the European Union, the GAS prepared a 5-year 
corporate institutional renewal plan for 2004-2008. The plan covers 
human resources, audit methodology, information technology, 
infrastructure, logistics support, and financial resources. As part of 
the plan, 90 senior staff underwent year-long training in new 
financial audit methodologies. 

The GAS Board approved a financial audit manual, and more than 700 
copies were made available to audit offices throughout Ghana. Auditors 
and team leaders in all district offices have been trained in using 
the financial audit manual to conduct audits. 

A performance audit department was created under the jurisdiction of a 
deputy auditor-general. It is headed by a director, and the 23 trained 
performance auditors working under his supervision include quantity 
surveyors, lawyers, architects, engineers, and accountants. A 
performance audit manual has also been produced. 

An information technology (IT) department was also created, and modern 
IT equipment was installed. An IT manual was developed and is being 
used. 

The GAS gained financial independence from the Treasury Department in 
January 2004. It has introduced management systems to assist in 
applications of modern accounting, human resource, and personnel 
management policies and practices. 

International Cooperation: 

The GAS is a member of INTOSAI; the African Organization of Supreme 
Audit Institutions (AFROSAI); and AFROSAI-E, AFROSAI's subregional 
English-speaking group. The auditor-general is currently the vice 
chairman of the AFROSAI-E Governing Board. 

Future Plans: 

The GAS is currently reviewing its processes and methodologies to meet 
current and future demands. Future plans include the following: 

* computerizing processes to ensure maximum efficiency, 

* providing more performance auditing training, and, 

* enhancing coordination and cooperation with key stakeholders to 
increase awareness of GAS operations. 

For further information, contact the Ghana Audit Service: 

Fax: ++233-21-662493/675496. 
E-mail: gogas@ighmail.com. 

[End of section] 

Reports in Print: 

In this issue, the Journal continues to highlight reports from SAIs 
and some international organizations that identify best practices. 

In July 2006, Germany's SAI (the Bundesrechnungshof) and 16 German 
state courts released a set of guidelines for information and 
communications technology (ICT) outsourcing. This document is designed 
to provide practical suggestions for adopting a new approach to 
designing and implementing ICT audits. It addresses several topics 
relevant to ICT outsourcing, including legal prerequisites, pros and 
cons, selection criteria for projects, preparation of contracts and 
the stipulations they should contain, and retroactive program 
evaluation. 

For additional information, contact the Bundesrechnungshof: 

Fax: ++49-22899-721-2990. 
E-mail: poststelle@brh.bund.de. 
Web site: www.bundesrechnungshof.de. 

The National Audit Office of Denmark (NAOD) published guidelines that 
specify principles of good public auditing practice to establish a set 
of professional service standards that auditors have to meet when they 
audit areas covered by these principles, particularly the area of 
public subsidy audits. The guidelines are based on INTOSAI's auditing 
standards and the European Implementing Guidelines for the INTOSAI 
Auditing Standards. 

For additional information, contact the NAOD: 
Fax: ++45 33 11 04 15, 14 38 28. 
E-mail: rigsrevisionen@rigsrevisionen.dk. 
Web site: www.rigsrevisionen.dk. 

In December 2006, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development (OECD) published a report entitled Best Practices for 
Consumer Policy: Report on the Effectiveness of Enforcement Regimes. 
The objective of the study was to investigate which enforcement 
regimes are cost-effective in securing a high level of compliance with 
consumer protection legislation designed to prevent financial losses. 
One of the study's principal research methods was the use of case stud-
ies to identify existing systems and to assist in evaluating policy 
options. The four countries selected for case studies were the United 
Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The report concludes 
that it is highly unlikely that any single model of practices and 
procedures will provide the most cost-effective means of achieving a 
high degree of compliance with the law across OECD countries. However, 
it identifies a set of different options that are likely to be cost-
effective. 

For additional information, contact OECD: 

Fax: +33-1-45-24-85-00. 
Web site: www.oecd.org. 

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is an independent, 
privately funded accounting standard-setter that cooperates with 
national accounting standard-setters to achieve convergence in 
accounting standards around the world and follows a rigorous, open due 
process as it develops International Financial Reporting Standards 
(IFRS). 

In 2006, the IASB issued Working Relationships between the IASB and 
Other Accounting Standard-Setters, a statement of best practices that is
particularly relevant to standard-setters in jurisdictions that have 
adopted or converged with IFRS, or are doing so. The IASB statement 
identifies a range of activities that the IASB and other
accounting standard-setters believe should be undertaken to facilitate 
the ongoing adoption of or convergence with IFRS. 

The IASB statement assumes that the ultimate aims of the IASB and 
other accounting standard-setters are to: 

* develop, in the public interest, a single set of high-quality, 
understandable, and enforceable global accounting standards that 
result in transparent and comparable information in financial 
statements and other financial reporting to help participants in the 
world's capital markets and other users make economic decisions and; 

* promote the use and rigorous application of those standards. 

In fulfilling these objectives, the IASB and other accounting standard-
setters also aim to: 

* take account of, as appropriate, the special needs of small and 
medium-sized entities and emerging economies and; 

* bring about the convergence of national accounting standards and 
IFRS to high-quality solutions. 

The activities identified in the IASB statement are important in 
building and maintaining an open and cooperative relationship between 
the IASB and other standard-setters. The IASB statement is available 
online on the IASB Web site at About Us/About IASB. 

For additional information, contact the IASB: 

Fax: ++44 (0)20 7332 2749. 
E-mail: iasb@iasb.org. 
Web site: www.iasb.org. 

[End of section] 

Inside INTOSAI: 

Michaela Ott-Spracklin Retires from INTOSAI General Secretariat: 

[Photograph: Michaela Ott-Spracklin] 

Michaela Ott-Spracklin has retired from the INTOSAI General 
Secretariat/Austrian Court of Audit. Ms. OttSpracklin joined the 
General Secretariat in 1985 and served under three different 
secretaries general. Over the course of her distinguished career, she 
was instrumental in assisting with many events, including 13 
UN/INTOSAI Seminars, 12 INTOSAI Governing Board meetings, 5 CAROSAI 
congresses, 3 ARABOSAI congresses, 1 AFROSAI congress, and 1 INTOSAI 
congress in Berlin. Ms. Ott-Spracklin also proofread more than 100 
German-language issues of the Journal. The Journal staff, who know she 
will be missed by her colleagues around the world, wish her well in 
her retirement. 

Alberta Ellison Retires from U.S. GAO: 

[Photograph: Alberta Ellison] 

Alberta Ellison has retired from the U.S. Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) after a distinguished 37-year career with the U.S. 
government. Mrs. Ellison was associated with GAO's International 
Auditor Fellowship Program from its founding in 1979 and later assumed 
the role of program manager. The fellows widely recognized her as a 
patient and dedicated friend who helped make their stays in the United 
States more comfortable and meaningful. 

Mrs. Ellison was also associated with this Journal and was named 
assistant editor in 2003. Her strong commitment to the Journal was 
apparent to all who worked with her. 

During her career, Mrs. Ellison represented the Journal at the 
Commonwealth of Auditors General Conferences and also had the 
opportunity to attend numerous INTOSAI regional meetings, such as the 
AFROSAI congress in Burkina Faso and a SPASM congress in Fiji. 

Mrs. Ellison will be missed by her friends and colleagues at GAO and 
around the world, who join with Journal staff in wishing her well in 
her retirement. Those wishing to contact Mrs. Ellison can do so 
through this Journal. 

Financial Audit Guidelines Subcommittee: 

New Practice Notes: 

Over the past few months, the Financial Audit Guidelines Subcommittee 
(FAS) has drafted practice notes on risk standards, special reports 
and summarized financial statements, communication, and quality 
control standards. Exposure drafts of all these practice notes have 
been posted on the FAS Web site, and all SAIs are encouraged to 
comment on them. Comments from court system SAIs are especially 
welcome. The FAS hopes to have 12 practice notes ready for endorsement 
by INCOSM in November 2007. 

To speed up the practice note process, a "SWAT team" was formed and 
worked intensively for a week on a group of practice notes. The team—
comprising experts from the United States, Canada, Norway, and Sweden—
met in Stockholm in December 2006. This method proved to be very 
successful and will be used to work on other practice notes in the 
future. 

Subcommittee Meetings: 

After the last issue of the Journal, the FAS held a telephone 
conference to discuss the abovementioned draft practice notes. During 
the conference call, the FAS and the INTOSAI representative to the 
International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) 
Consultative Advisory Group discussed and agreed upon input to be 
given on the IAASB's suggested strategic priorities. Two additional 
telephone conferences were held in February and March. 

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada will host the next face-to-
face meeting in Ottawa in June. Another meeting is scheduled in 
Stockholm in late August. 

Call for New Nominations to the FAS Reference Panel: 

Nomination letters have been sent to all SMs with a call for new 
nominations of experts to the FAS reference panel. A special request 
has been sent to courts, as the FAS is in urgent need of input from 
court of account SMs to back up the excellent contributions of the SM 
of Brazil. 

For additional information, contact the FAS Project Secretariat: 

Fax: ++46-8-5171 4111. 
E-mail: projectsecretariat@riksrevisionen.se. 
Web site: http://psc.rigsrevisionen.dk/fas. 

Subcommittee on Internal Control Standards: 

The State Audit Institution of the Sultanate of Oman generously hosted 
a meeting of the Professional Standards Committee (PSC) Subcommittee 
on Internal Control Standards in Muscat on January 14-17, 2007. The 
meeting was chaired by Franki Vanstapel, Senior President of the 
Belgian Court of Audit, and drew 25 delegates from 12 member SAIs. 

[Photograph: Members of the Subcommittee on Internal Control Standards 
at its meeting in Oman in January 2007] 

The meeting began with a review of the results of the combined 
questionnaire on internal control tools and aspects of good governance 
that the subcommittee had sent to INTOSAI members. The survey results 
indicated that INTOSAI was in need of internal control tools; it also 
identified ongoing needs in the field of good governance. Participants 
debated the best approach to take to meet these needs and agreed that 
it would be better to make existing materials available to all 
interested SAIs and public managers than to develop INTOSAI-specific 
internal control tools and guidance on good governance. The members 
formally recorded the activities and decisions the PSC had implemented 
and confirmed its new dual approach for the subcommittee: (1) using 
and building on standards issued by other standard-setting bodies to 
the maximum extent possible and (2) developing complementary guidance 
where there is a special need or a pressing concern in the SAI 
environment. Members felt that this approach would lead to more 
efficiency within INTOSAI and clarify how internationally accepted 
standards are to be used. To this end, participants recommended that 
information on internal controls and guidance on good governance be 
posted to the PSC Web site to give SAIs and public managers electronic 
access to existing materials. 

During the meeting, members also approved a draft collaboration 
agreement concluded with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). 
They agreed that this collaboration agreement was in line with the 
PSC's stated policy of using the expertise of other standard-setting 
organizations wherever possible. This agreement supports goal 1 of 
INTOSAI's strategic plan by developing partnerships with other 
standard-setting organizations. 

The members also reviewed a draft on further information on entity 
risk management. The draft informs INTOSAI members about new 
developments in the field of internal control. 

Finally, the marketing of INTOSAI's guidelines for internal control 
standards for the public sector was discussed. Subcommittee members 
had already taken several actions to distribute the guidelines in 
their countries. The guidelines have been translated into national 
languages and initiatives have been undertaken to introduce them to 
public managers and auditors. The members agreed that INTOSAI should 
develop a plan for the implementation and the dissemination of its 
standards and guidelines, and the chair said he would bring up this 
matter with the PSC. 

For additional information, contact the Subcommittee on Internal 
Control Standards chair: 

Fax: ++32 (2) 551 86 22. 
E-mail: International@ccrek.be. 

Working Group on Environmental Auditing: 

WGEA Steering Committee Meeting: 

The Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa hosted the sixth 
steering committee meeting (SC6) of the Working Group on Environmental 
Auditing (WGEA) in Cape Town, South Africa, February 11-14, 2007. SC6 
was a pivotal meeting during which the following key agenda items were 
covered: 

Final review and approval of four guidance papers. Steering committee 
members gave final comments and approval to the project leaders of the 
following guidance papers: 

* Auditing biodiversity: Guidance for SAIs (Brazil and Canada); 

* Cooperation between SAIs: Tips and examples for cooperative audits 
(the Netherlands and Poland); 

* Evolution and trends in environmental auditing (Canada); and; 

* The World Summit on Sustainable Development: An audit guide for SAIs 
(United Kingdom). 

The papers were circulated to all WGEA members for review and approval 
at the beginning of March. WGEA members had 4 weeks (until April 4) to 
comment on and approve the papers. The ballot process for approval 
gave members the option to approve as is, approve subject to some 
comments, or not approve. The papers are to be amended one last time 
and will be presented at the WGEA assembly meeting (WGEA11) in Arusha, 
Tanzania, in June 2007 and subsequently at the XDC INCOSAI in Mexico 
in November 2007. 

Development of a long-term vision and action plan for the WGEA. During 
SC6, important discussions concerning the future of the WGEA took 
place in relation to the following three areas: 

* Visioning. Steering committee members began to develop a collective 
vision for the WGEA in 2015 (Vision 2015) focusing on common goals and 
objectives and emphasizing professionalism, capacity building, 
information sharing, regional coordination, and increasing the impact 
of environmental audits. 

* Action planning. Working with Vision 2015, steering committee 
members identified concrete projects and activities to be included in 
the 20082010 WGEA work plan. 

* Future functioning of the WGEA. Steering committee members also 
exchanged views regarding organizational and governance matters 
related to the WGEA, including the respective roles and 
responsibilities of the assembly and steering committee, the desired 
composition of the steering committee, the desired role of regional 
coordinators, and the nature and frequency of meetings. 

The 2008-2010 work plan (and supporting vision) will be finalized at 
the upcoming meeting in Tanzania. At the end of that meeting, it will 
be important for WGEA members to agree on the project ideas and for 
the project leaders, coleaders, and subcommittee members to be 
committed to carrying out the work plan. 

WGEA Meeting in Tanzania: 

Preparations are well under way for the next meeting of the WGEA, 
which will be held in Arusha, Tanzania, during the week of June 25, 
2007. This is a high-priority event for SAIs interested in 
environmental auditing. The steering committee approved the agenda, 
which will feature presentations by renowned external speakers, 
workshop sessions on environmental audits conducted by SAIs, small 
group discussions, and tutorials on various WGEA guidance documents. 
The steering committee discussed ways to create a new generation of 
activities while keeping the momentum, a sense of engagement, and 
participation and interest during the meeting. SAIs interested in 
attending should contact Anne Charron at anne.charron@oag-bvg.gc.ca. 
The WGEA hopes to see you in Arusha! 

For additional information, contact the WGEA: 

E-mail: environmentalauditing@oag-bvg.gc.co. 
Web site: www.environmental-auditing.org. 

New INTOSAI Web Sites: 

The INTOSAI community has launched several new Web sites in the past 
few months. 

The first was the new INTOSAI Web site, which is aligned with the 
INTOSAI strategic plan. Visitors to the site can search for materials 
under the plan's four goals and find copies of INTOSAI circulars and 
much more useful information. 

For additional information, contact INTOSAI: 

Fax: ++43 (1) 718 09 69. 
E-mail: intosai@rechnungshofgv.at. 
Web site: www.intosai.org. 

The INTOSAI Public Debt Committee (PDC) also recently unveiled a new 
Web site. The site offers relevant information on the PDC's products, 
activities, and projects. It is also a vehicle to enhance 
communication among PDC members. 

For additional information, contact the PDC: 

Fax: ++52 (555) 534 18 91.
E-mail: agonzaleza@asfgob.mx. 
Web site: www.intosaipdc.org.mx. 

On January 23, 2007, the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) launched 
its new Web site, which includes information about IDI, past and 
upcoming events, publications, news, and more. It also serves as a 
useful portal offering different types of links to other Web sites. 
For example, it includes links to organizations related to 
environmental auditing, performance auditing, and combating fraud and 
corruption. The site is available in English, French, Spanish, and 
Arabic. 

For additional information, contact IDI: 

Fax: + 47 21 54 08 50. 
E-mail: idi@idi.no. 
Web site: www.idi.no. 

[End of section] 

IDI Update: 
IDI Update keeps you informed of developments in the work and programs 
of the INTOSAI Development Initiative. To find out more about IDI and 
to keep up to date between editions of the Journal, look at the IDI 
website: www.idi.no. 

IDI/CAROSAI Strategic Planning Program: 

The five members of the CAROSAI Strategic Planning Committee and 
representatives from IDI held a 3-day meeting in the Cayman Islands in 
February 2007 to plan the process and activities for the upcoming 
IDI/CAROSAI Strategic Planning Program. They drafted vision and 
mission statements and discussed the resources required for this 
process, the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, and 
important regional development issues. 

IDI/CREFIAF Workshop on Performance Audit: 

In 2006, IDI conducted a Regional Workshop on Performance Auditing as 
part of a Long Term Regional Training Program for CREFIAF (African Sub-
Saharan Francophone SAIs). Teams of auditors from selected SAIs were 
invited to take part in the program. A second Regional Performance 
Auditing Workshop was delivered in Mali in February 2007 to 
accommodate the strong interest in this topic and the future needs of 
other member SAIs. To facilitate the development of the newly 
graduated IDI training specialists, six of the specialists were 
selected to deliver the second workshop. 

IDI/ARABOSAI Capacity-building Program on IT Auditing: 

To build on the success of the IDI/ARABOSAI IT Auditing Program in 
2006, the 2-week IT Audit Workshop is to be delivered again in July 
2007. This second course will also be held in Yemen. To ensure 
continuity, two IT champions from the first course will be on the 
delivery team along with four new IT champions. A redesign meeting was 
held in Yemen in February 2007 to acquaint the new instructor/champion 
team with the course. 

IDI Global Needs Assessment Project: 

Assessing the capacity-building needs in INTOSAI's regions is the 
first step in implementing IDI's new strategic plan for 2007-2012. To 
carry out this task, IDI is undertaking a global project to develop a 
framework and tools for institutional needs assessments. In March 
2007, a team of IDI staff, training specialists, and other regional 
representatives from ARABOSAI, AFROSAI-E (the African Organization of 
English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions), and ASOSAI gathered in 
Norway for a design meeting to develop the required products. The 
framework and tools will be adapted to regional circumstances, and 
institutional needs will be assessed in some regions during 2007. 

IDI/ISCITA E-learning Cooperation Project: 

The alpha (test) version of the IDI/INTOSAI Standing Committee on IT 
Audit (ISCITA) e-learning course on the Audit of IT Controls was 
presented at the 16th ISCITA meeting in Oman in March 2007. This 
version of the course incorporates a series of new interactive 
learning strategies. As this issue of the Journal goes to press, the 
final version of the course was to be delivered in late March/early 
April for the SAIs in AFROSAI-E, ASOSAI, and CAROSAI. More than 400 
auditors signed up for this e-learning course. 

IDI and Liaison with the INTOSAI Community: 

IDI representatives attended and reported at the following events in 
March 2007: the meeting of subcommittee 1 of the Capacity Building 
Committee (London), the AFROSAI-E Governing Board meeting and workshop 
(Angola), the EUROSAI Training Committee meeting (Germany), the 
meeting of the INTOSAI Standing Committee on IT Audit (Oman), the 
INTOSAI Governing Board's Finance and Administration Committee meeting 
(Oslo), and the UN/INTOSAI Symposium (Vienna). 

Contacting IDI: 

To discuss any of the issues raised in this edition of the IDI Update, 
please contact IDI: 

Telephone: ++47 21 54 08 10. 
E-mail: idi@idi.no. 
Web site: www.idi.no. 

[End of section] 

INTOSAI 2007 Events: 

April 10-13: 
Committee on Experts on Public Administration meeting, U.N. Economic 
and Social Council, New York, United States. 

April 23–24: 
Professional Standards Committee Steering Committee meeting, Bahrain. 

May 10-12: 
V EUROSAI/OLACEFS Seminar, Lisbon, Portugal. 

May 26–31: 
ARABOSAI Congress, Yemen. 

June 18–19: 
Financial Audit Guidelines Subcommittee meeting, Ottawa, Canada. 

June 21-22: 
Public Debt Committee meeting, Lisbon, Portugal. 

June 25–29: 
11th Working Group on Environmental Auditing Assembly, Arusha, 
Tanzania. 

June 27-30: 
OECD Forum on Statistics, Knowledge, and Policy, Istanbul, Turkey. 

July 10: 
Financial Audit Guidelines Subcommittee telephone conference. 

August 23–24: 
Financial Audit Guidelines Subcommittee meeting, Stockholm, Sweden. 

September 10–14: 
32nd EUROSAI Governing Board meeting, Switzerland. 

October 15: 
14th Working Group on the Audit of Privatization meeting, Marrakech, 
Morocco. 

October 17: 
OLACEFS Governing Board meeting, Dominican Republic. 

November 4: 
Professional Standards Committee meeting, Mexico City, Mexico. 

November 5–10: 
19th INCOSAI and 56th and 57th INTOSAI Governing Board meetings, 
Mexico City, Mexico. 

Editor's Note: This calendar is published in support of INTOSAI's 
communications strategy and as a way of helping INTOSAI members plan 
and coordinate schedules. Included in this regular Journal feature 
will be INTOSAI-wide events and regionwide events such as congresses, 
general assemblies, and board meetings. Because of limited space, many 
training courses and other professional meetings offered by the 
regions cannot be included. For additional information, contact the 
Secretary General of each regional working group. 

[End of April 2007 edition of The Journal]