Tag: Summer 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…