SAI Poland Completes National SDG Audit of Preparedness

Poland has declared its commitment to implement the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 and the agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a task which calls for cooperation from the entire administration and all relevant stakeholders.

A new development model for Poland, outlined in the government’s “Strategy for Responsible Development,” meets the Agenda 2030 expectations with the Minister of Economic Development (and later the Minister of Enterprise and Technology) providing coordinating roles and the Supreme Audit Office of Poland (NIK) monitoring the process by conducting a performance audit.

The audit, “Preparedness for Implementation of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals” was carried out in Poland in the first quarter of 2018.

Performed within the international framework of a joint audit based on International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and a single model and methodology developed by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the NIK audited Poland’s public administration SDG implementation preparedness.

The NIK found that effective actions were initiated to integrate the SDGs into national development policy, including the establishment of an appropriate institutional structure and ability to monitor implementation progress.

The report provided a conclusion that Poland had made significant progress on preparations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda SDGs. In the audit reports, the NIK formulated several comments, where it recommended to the audited entities a continuation and intensification of undertaken actions to ensure effective and consistent SDG achievement in the longer perspective, such as:

• Enhancing comprehensive partnerships;
• Promoting the 2030 Agenda and disseminating information on the SDGs in different environments and social groups;
• Adjusting national indicators to the list adopted by the UN;
• Regularly reviewing progress at the national and local levels; and
• Raising awareness on preferences offered for declining cities.

Read the full story about the NIK’s journey in auditing national preparedness for SDG implementation in this issue’s Feature Articles section.