The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) together with the Fiji Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) conducted the ‘Communicating and Promoting Value and Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs)’ workshop in Suva, Fiji on 5 – 9 December 2016. This was the third communications workshop delivered by PASAI this year, as part of its programme on communicating the value and benefits of SAIs. The OAG’s Directors and senior management attended the workshop with 30 participants.

Mr. Sairusi Dukuno, OAG Director of Corporate Services opened the workshop, welcoming the special guest speaker, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Ms Makereta Konrote, PASAI facilitators and workshop participants. Referring to the strategic priorities of the OAG, Mr Dukuno stated, “One of its strategic objectives is to motivate personnel to achieve their potential and nurture a conducive environment for professional and personal development through facilitating continuous learning and development programs for all levels. This five day workshop is a part of the continuous learning.”

Special guest speaker, Ms Konrote gave an encouraging speech, emphasising the important role that the OAG plays in keeping public officers responsible and accountable in how public funds are used. She referred to the principles in the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) 12: The Value and Benefits of SAIs – making a difference to the lives of citizens, in her keynote speech. “Dissemination of information to citizens including Parliament and other stakeholders is crucial, so a comprehensive, clear and well-defined Communication Strategy will go a long way to achieving this objective. As auditors, you will also learn the core elements that need to be included while writing reports and the ability to convey information in an accurate, concise and a clear manner. We welcome strengthening of these skills and look forward to seeing the improvements in future reports from the Auditor General,” she said.

The workshop participants were enthusiastically engaged in sessions that included topics such as ‘Identifying SAI Stakeholders’, ‘Stakeholder Engagement’, ‘Communication Strategy Implementation’, ‘Report writing processes’, ‘Writing concisely’, and ‘Dealing with the Media’. The sessions were facilitated by PASAI Director of Practice Development, Sinaroseta Palamo- Iosefo and Communications Adviser, Tina Vaka.

PASAI acknowledges the support from the Fiji OAG in organising the workshop, and the valued support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.