Q3 2021

As difficult as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, one of its gifts is the opportunity to reflect on progress made and prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. With staff that are experiencing the impact of the pandemic on a daily basis, leaders of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) must first and foremost…

In 2020, the Office of the Comptroller General of the State of Ecuador conducted its first-ever internal survey on gender equality. The survey asked 1,553 public servants within the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) about their awareness of the issue; the organizational culture; the prevalence of workplace harassment; and the need for gender equality policies. These efforts reflect…

Effective March 30, 2021, following unanimous approval by the House of Representatives, President of Malta Dr. George Vella re-appointed Auditor General Charles Deguara to a second five-year term, in accordance with the Constitution. The Maltese Deputy Auditor General, Noel Camilleri, was similarly re-appointed for a second five-year term. During their first mandate…

The Office of the Auditor General of the Union (OAG), Myanmar’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), recently launched two internal courses: a refresher course for staff officers, and a capacity-building course for senior auditors, with 109 and 58 participants, respectively. The goals of the two-month-long courses—led by five Deputy Directors and an Assistant Director—are to…

The Turkish Court of Accounts recently completed a peer review of the Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in January 2021. The peer review determined that…

The Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA), the country’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), is finalizing an update to its Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process, which will enable it to carry out its activities more efficiently and effectively. This update aligns with…

In 2021, the Accounts Committee for Control over the Execution of the Republican Budget (“Accounts Committee”)—the Republic of Kazakhstan’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI)—celebrates its 25th anniversary. The Accounts Committee conducts comprehensive, independent assessments of the activities of government entities, with the aim of identifying shortcomings, managing risk, and making recommendations for more effective performance. Since its inception in 1996…

The State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand (SAO) has been carefully monitoring the government’s response to the pandemic. This response has included establishing the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), regulating medical supplies, developing tracking applications, and preparing vaccinations.
Under the leadership of Auditor General Prajuck Boonyoung, SAO Thailand has…

To promote a culture of ethics, probity, and transparency in public administration, the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Guatemala recently released a mobile app, available for iOS and Android, which enables citizens themselves to…

A major focus of the State Audit Office (SAO) of Georgia is to examine the effectiveness of the government’s public debt management. To that end, SAO Georgia conducted an audit in 2020 to follow up on…

On March 17, 2021, Mr. Abdelkader Benmarouf, President of the Algerian Court of Accounts (COA), chaired a meeting of the African Union Board of External Auditors held by videoconference. During the meeting…

The Commission on Audit (COA), the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the Philippines, won first place at the professional level in the Hackathon BPK Competition—whose theme was…

The rapidly evolving pace of AI makes it necessary to establish a framework to independently verify AI systems (even as the technology continues to advance). The global accountability community needs a toolkit to evaluate this ever-changing technology, and, more importantly, organizations that build, purchase, and deploy AI need a framework to understand how AI systems will be evaluated. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), recognizing the urgent need for AI governance…

On May 25, 2021, Mr. Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, led a virtual discussion group on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 30 organizations—including INTOSAI organizations and 21 Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), donor and civil society organizations, and United Nations organizations and observers—contributed to the dialogue. The group stems from…

Recently, SAI Costa Rica has moved toward an innovative approach—the use of artificial intelligence (AI)—to auditing public procurement of goods and services. The SAI carried out two audits using AI in 2020 and plans to…

The Accountability State Authority of Egypt (ASA) participated from March 22 to April 23, 2021, in the financial audit of the African Union and affiliated institutions for fiscal year 2020. Egypt has been a permanent member of…

Making informed planning decisions early in the audit process is key to completing audits in a timely manner. Many teams use historical information to determine how long an audit will take. But every audit and every audit organization is different, so it is impossible to…

Over the last five years, agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s public sector have undergone fundamental transformations—including restructuring, implementing governance mechanisms, and activating control requirements—aimed at improving their performance. The General Court of Audit (GCA), the country’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), has sought to contribute to these efforts by…

It is commonly held wisdom that every staff member in a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) is responsible for audit quality, and that SAIs should ensure quality at every stage of the audit process through standard operating procedures. This is certainly true, especially for routine audits. However, in the case of audits that are complex…

On July 1, 2021, Yusador Gaye, the Auditor General of the Republic of Liberia, passed away. She had served at the helm of the General Auditing Commission, Liberia’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), since 2014. Mrs. Gaye’s calm and unwavering leadership…

Francis Masuba, Assistant Auditor General – Corporate Services and Accounting Officer at the Office of the Auditor General of the Republic of Uganda—the country’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI)—passed away on June 27, 2021. Mr. Masuba served for 37 years in the SAI and was an active participant in…

On June 28-30, 2021, the INTOSAI General Secretariat and United Nations (UN) held the 25th UN/INTOSAI Symposium. Almost 300 representatives of international organizations and Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) from some 120 countries took part in the event, which was held…

The INTOSAI Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services Committee (KSC), which encourages Supreme Audit Institutions’ (SAIs) cooperation, collaboration, and continuous improvement, has published a report on the INTOSAI Community Portal with the findings of its KSC Survey 2020. One of the essential features…

The INTOSAI Task Force on Strategic Planning (TFSP) continues to develop the INTOSAI Strategic Plan for 2023-2028. The June 2021 quarterly staff-level meeting shifted the focus of the TFSP to…

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” said Nelson Mandela. This is a maxim that the INTOSAI community has taken to heart in the development, launch, and rollout of the Professional Education for SAI Auditors Pilot (PESA-P), a first-ever pilot by, and for…

The INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt (WGPD), led by the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the Philippines, held its virtual Annual Meeting, with the theme “Auditing Public Debt in a Crisis (COVID-19 Considerations and the Public Debt Auditor’s Experience),” on May 19-20, 2021. This was the final such meeting presided over by…

After years of preparation and several changes in dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic was finally honored to host the XI European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) Congress on April 14-15, 2021. The Congress—held online—attracted 219 participants, including…

On May 11, 2021, the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) IT Working Group organized an e-seminar, “From Code to Action: SAIs in the World of AI,“ attended by 250 participants from 50 Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) around the world. The aim of the event was to…

From June 22-24, 2021, more than 100 people from locations around the world attended the first virtual Congress held by the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI). COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented Palau from hosting the Congress in 2020, as originally planned. So this year…

On May 18, 2021, the LXXII Meeting of the Governing Board of the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) was successfully held. The virtual event was organized by…

From 2021 to 2022, the Working Group Specialized in the Fight against Transnational Corruption (GTCT) of the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) conducted a variety of activities. The president of GTCT is the Office of the Comptroller General of the State of Ecuador, and the group includes 17 Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) from the region. GTCT developed…

During the pandemic, the Commission on Information Technologies and Communications (CTIC) of the Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) has helped the region’s Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) carry out their work in various ways. To help the region’s SAIs continue to hold events and perform tasks remotely…

Nine SAIs in challenging contexts are strengthening their performance with the support of the Accelerated Peer-support Partnership Program, a partnership of IDI, AFROSAI-E, and CREFIAF. In spite of difficult circumstances and the negative impact of COVID-19, these SAIs have…

“The Malagasy people deserve an independent, visible, and credible Court of Accounts. Today, we are strengthening our institution, so that the country can be confident in the management of public money.” So said the President of Madagascar’s Court of Accounts, Mr. Jean de Dieu Rakotondramihamina, during…

Technological advances have impacted the work of most SAIs, and emerging technologies have the potential to further shape the ways in which SAIs contribute to good governance. SAIs are at different stages in their technological journeys, and their use of technology may be affected by…