Pago Pago, American Samoa: Director Practice Development for the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI), Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, visited American Samoa last week on a knowledge-sharing mission.

The primary purpose of Ms Palamo-Iosefo’s trip was to collaborate with the American Samoa Government Territorial Audit Office (TAO) on opportunities for PASAI to support building its capabilities and improving audit quality.

With most of the TAO’s 11 personnel joining the office in 2022 and the Territorial Auditor, Mike Edmonds, being appointed to the head position just last month, the timing was optimal for familiarising staff with PASAI’s work in the Pacific Island region. This includes technical assistance with strategic audit planning, capability development in multiple audit streams and support to improve other aspects of operations such as human resources and external communications.

Ms Palamo-Iosefo discussed the results of an assessment of the TAO that had been completed using the internationally recognised Performance Measurement Framework. Such assessments identify areas for improvement in all areas of an audit office’s operations.

Advocacy of and support pursuing audit office independence are among PASAI’s top strategic priorities, so Ms Palamo-Iosefo also discussed the TAO’s approach to achieving true financial and operational independence to enable it to fully deliver its mandate.

Ms Palamo-Iosefo explained to staff the use of audit planning templates to comply with international auditing standards. Adherence to the standards enhances audit quality and ensures sustainability of audit practice.

Finally, in keeping with best practice, Ms Palamo-Iosefo completed a quality assurance review of one of the TAO’s performance audits.

Ms Palamo-Iosefo left with agreed action points and was satisfied the trip’s objectives had been met.

“We now have a good sense of the nuances of the TAO, its staff and the environment in which it operates,” she said.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

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Contact information:

Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, Director – Practice Development PASAI
E: sina.iosefo@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

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