Celebrating PASAI Achievements – Talk at ADB Manila

The Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) Mr Tiofilusi Tiueti and the PASAI Advocate Mr Eroni Vatuloka presented on PASAI’s achievements at the ADB Headquarters in Manila Philippines on 26 and 27 October 2016.  ADB celebrates 50 years of operations in the Asia and the Pacific region and the presentation highlighted ADB’s partnership with PASAI in their quest for improved governance, transparency, and accountability and in fighting fraud and corruption in the region.

The PASAI team presented at the Pacific Talk for staff of the Pacific Department and at the Insight Thursday, to the wider ADB audience. Both presentations were well-attended.  The Team was asked about the challenges on getting quality accounts audited on time especially project audits and how PASAI was addressing those problems; the relationship with the private sector auditors apart from outsourcing; the involvement of other international and regional bodies and the use of international best practices and standards; and the independence of the audit institutions.

The Team also met with relevant offices of the Bank and with Executive Directors who expressed interest and appreciation of the collective work of PASAI and its members. Mr James Lynch, the Deputy Director General of the Pacific Department remarked, “the regional initiative through PASAI is one of the few technical assistance that shows commendable results and believed that the visit by PASAI has been very productive.”

PASAI acknowledges the valued support by the ADB Pacific Department for the successful visit.

L-R: Mr James Lynch (Deputy Director General, ADB Pacific Department), Mr Eroni Vatuloka (PASAI Advocate), ED Bhimantara Widyajala (Executive Director covering Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga), Mr Tiofilusi Tiueti (Chief Executive, PASAI), Mr Ben Graham (Senior Evaluation Specialist Independent Evaluation Department), Ms Flordeliza dR. Asistin (Senior Operations and Institutional Coordination Officer, ADB Pacific Department)

Mr Tiofilusi Tiueti (Chief Executive, PASAI)

PASAI Chief Executive and PASAI Advocate with  Mr Viliami Sefesi, Financial Control Specialist at ADB. 

PASAI Chief Executive and PASAI Advocate hosted for lunch by Mr Viliami Sefesi, Financial Control Specialist at ADB and Mr Oscar Malielegaoi, Adviser to ADB Executive Director for countries covering Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga.

The announcement of the event at ADB.

Supporting performance measurement of the Tuvalu Office of the Auditor-General

The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) completed the performance assessment of the Tuvalu Office of the Auditor-General (TOAG) this week, using the SAI Performance Measurement Framework (SAI PMF). It is one of the five assessments conducted as part of a capacity development initiative – “Supporting SAI Performance Measurement in PASAI” – a collaboration between the INTOSAI Development Initiatives, PASAI and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

The SAI PMF is a global framework that enables SAIs to assess their performance against International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and other established international good practices for external public auditing. The framework can be used to contribute to improved SAI capacity development through promoting the use of performance measurement and management, as well as identifying opportunities to strengthen and monitor SAI performance and accountability. The implementation of SAI PMF is aligned with one of PASAI’s strategic goals, developing SAI’s performance measurement framework to assist with improving the delivery of SAI’s audit responsibilities.

The assessment was conducted on 20-26 October 2016 by an internal assessment team from TOAG and peer reviewed by the Samoa Audit Office (SAO) with support from PASAI. The TOAG team included Mr Eli Lopati (Auditor General of Tuvalu), Mrs Imase Kaunatu and Mr Tony Prcevich. The peer review team included Ms Jaslyn Tuioti Mariner-Leota and Mr Marshall Maua from SAO and Mrs Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, PASAI Director Practice Development. The Auditor-General of TOAG, Mr. Eli Lopati, management and staff of the SAI provided great support to the assessment team.

Following the completion of the assessment, the peer review team presented its preliminary findings to the staff of TOAG. Mr Lopati expressed his appreciation of the assessment and gratitude for the review. He said, “This is the first time that the Office has been reviewed. The results ofthe assessment will help us prioritise and focus our efforts on areas requiring improvement and development”. Management and staff also acknowledged the importance of the assessment and their acceptance of the preliminary findings as constructive feedback on areas where the SAI requires improvement.

The review team is expected to complete and finalise its report on the assessment at a performance analysis workshop in Tonga next month. The second phase of this project will commence in January 2017 with performance assessment of five more SAIs in the northern Pacific.

Workshop participants and co-ordinators.

Cape Town After-meeting Documentation Now Available

The presentations and CBC Steering Committee Resolutions from the Annual Meeting in Cape Town are now on the INTOSAI Capacity Building Committee website HERE

FIPP - Call for Candidates

Please find below a letter from the Chairs of the Knowledge Sharing Committee, the Capacity Building Committee and the Professional Standards Committee inviting your SAI to nominate candidates for the Forum for INTOSAI Professional Pronouncements (FIPP). The deadline for nominations is 1 November, 2016 and they should kindly be submitted to ir@cag.gov.in.

Call for candidates for FIPP 2017

FIPP ToR 2016

Nomination Form FIPP 2017

OLACEFS Request for feed-back on Capacity Building Plan

When Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU ) became Chair of the Capacity Building Committee (CCC ) of the Organization of Latin America and Caribbean Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS ) in the beginning of 2016, it established a bold and broad agenda focused on strengthening the Committee, with a view to interinstitutional cooperation and professional development in every Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) in the region. This pragmatic approach reflects the need to broaden the range of initiatives aiming to build capacities and increase professional technical skills.

Many educational activities have been carried out this year, in accordance with guidelines from previous years combined with strategic initiatives introduced by the TCU’s candidacy to chair the Committee. These activities include more than 20 eLearning courses, coordinated audits in various phases, a high-level seminar on Information Technology and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a three-day innovation workshop for technical staff of all regional SAIs, and the publication of a diagnosis of regional capacity-building needs based on a robust methodology and extensive SAI participation.

For the remainder of the 2016 to 2018 period, the CCC plans to provide continuity to longtime activities, but also to undertake completely new and innovative initiatives that will demand considerable financial and human resources.

Due to its strategic importance, the CCC recognizes the need to count on contributions from partner institutions, so that the capacity-building plan best captures opportunities and meets needs for the region. In this regard, the proposals presented herein are still subject to suggestions, refinements, and further detailing, and may even add new initiatives and programs.

By publishing and sharing a first version of this document with strategic partners, the CCC sees an opportunity to thus improve the proposals, incorporate innovate ideas, and maximize the impact of efforts by identifying synergies and complementary initiatives in the development of solutions that share common objectives.

In practical terms, this document is therefore open to contributions, for a limited time, in order to incorporate suggestions, improvements, and recommendations from partners within and outside of the CCC in a timely fashion.

Specifically, the CCC Chair requests feedback and contributions from CCC members, other SAIs and OLACEFS committee, other INTOSAI regions, the CBC, IDI, and KSC and other INTOSAI bodies, and cooperating institutions such as the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and the World Bank, among others.

The deadline for receiving these contributions is October 26, 2016, which will allow the CCC Chair to publish a second, definitive version of the Plan in time for the upcoming INTOSAI Congress (INCOSAI) in early December.

Please find the above-mentioned plan here: OLACEFS Capacity Building Plan 2016-2018

EUROSAI Conference on the Importance of Ethics and Integrity for SAIs

Integrity is not a simple concept to define. Many overlapping and distinct definitions are used. The term integrity is derived from the Latin in-tangere, meaning untouched. It refers to virtue, incorruptibility and the state of being unimpaired. Integrity is closely related to the absence of fraud and corruption, but it also entails common decency.

According to the Operational Plan of EUROSAI Goal Team 1, EUROSAI would like to “Promote the use of SAI PMF pilots, ethical and other integrity based self-assessment tools by informing EUROSAI members about these concept”. On behalf of Task Force on Audit and Ethics and Goal Team 1 on Capacity Building, State Audit Office of Hungary organised a Conference on the importance of ethics and integrity for Supreme Audit Institutions between 14 and 15 September, 2016 to enhance this objective.

During this conference, the participants had the great opportunity to receive information about different concepts relating to the issue of integrity:
- SAI leading by example – ISSAI 12,
- ISSAI 30, INTOSAI Code of Ethics,
- ID programmes against fraud and corruption,
- Promoting an ethical culture in public organisations.

The conference was followed by the 10th meeting of the Goal Team 1 on Capacity Building.

More details are on the Newsportal of the State Audit Office of Hungary.
All the documents are published on the Training section of the EUROSAI Website.

Fourth INCOSAI Newsletter

Please find below the fourth INCOSAI newsletter recently published by the hosting SAI of the United Arab Emirates.

In this newsletter you will find an update on the two main themes for the Congress. Furthermore, there is an update about the latest information on the preparations for the Congress, including further details on the booths and seminars (including the newest initiative: “The discussion forum”). Finally, the hosting SAI of UAE will brief you on the Congress in the light of recent developments within INTOSAI.

INCOSAI Newsletter no. 4

Strengthened Strategic Direction for the INTOSAI-Donor Cooperation

The 9th meeting of the INTOSAI-Donor Steering Committee was kindly hosted in Cape Town on 5-6 October by the Auditor-General of South Africa, Mr. Kimi Makwetu. Participants welcomed the synergies from holding the meeting, for the first time, in connection with the annual meeting of INTOSAI’s Capacity Building Committee (CBC). Together, the meetings saw participation from over 100 representatives from SAIs and development partners. 

The Steering Committee approved a new strategic direction for the INTOSAI-Donor Cooperation. The Global Call for Proposals will continue to be the flagship activity of the Cooperation. It will take a two-tier approach: Tier 1 will be an inclusive, rolling process where applicants can submit concept notes at any time, while Tier 2 will provide more intense support to a smaller group of SAIs that have a stronger need for scaled-up and strengthened support, such as those in fragile and conflict environments. 

Through an increased focus on communicating capacity development results and successes, the Cooperation’s stakeholders focus on influencing behaviour change to strengthen the way support is provided to SAIs. To support this, the Cooperation will also launch the INTOSAI-Donor Cooperation Portal – a new web-based platform which will integrate all activities of the Cooperation, and provide a common space for presenting information on SAIs and capacity development projects worldwide. Stronger measurement of results will also be central to the Cooperation. 

Steering Committee members also expressed their support for the 2017-19 strategy for the SAI Performance Measurement Framework (SAI PMF). The SAI PMF is a global tool to assist SAIs to better measure and manage their performance, and is expected to be endorsed by the global SAI community at the INTOSAI Congress this December. The Cooperation has been a strong supporter of the SAI PMF and contributed to its development through strategic advice and financing pilot assessments and training events. It will remain engaged in an advisory role and through partnering on implementation of assessments. From 2017, the CBC will take on the role of strategic governance lead for SAI PMF, while the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) takes the operational lead. 

Background

The INTOSAI-Donor Cooperation is a strategic partnership between the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and 23 development partners to scale up and strengthen support to Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in developing countries. It was established with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2009. The Cooperation is unique in bringing together partners who share a common goal of enhancing accountability, public financial management, transparency, and good governance through strengthening SAIs. 

Leadership of the INTOSAI-Donor Steering Committee is provided by Joint Chairs and Vice Chairs from the INTOSAI and donor communities. The SAI of Saudi Arabia is Chair and the SAI of United States is Vice Chair for INTOSAI. The World Bank is Chair and the UK Department for International Development is Vice Chair for the Donors. 

For further information on the INTOSAI-Donor Cooperation, please contact the INTOSAI-Donor Secretariat within the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI): intosai.donor.secretariat@idi.no 

Tonga Office of the Auditor-General holds Communications Workshop

The Tonga Office of the Auditor General (TOAG) held a communications workshop titled ‘Communicating and Promoting Value and Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs)’ from Monday, 10th October – Friday, 14th October, 2016 at the Tungi Colonnade, Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Twenty-eight participants attended the workshop with 24 from TOAG, two from the Tonga Ministry of Revenue and Customs and two from the Tonga Ministry of Finance and National Planning. This communications workshop is part of the ‘Support of the external oversight function of the Public Financial Management system’ project that is funded by the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 

The workshop was opened with a short devotion and prayer by Rev. Mavae Fonokalafi of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga and Operation Manager of Tungi Colonnade, followed by a warm welcome by Tonga Auditor-General, Sefita Tangi to the PASAI consultants and Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) representative. Sefita noted, “We hope that the various initiatives under this project will result in enhancing the external oversight of the PFM system in Tonga.” 

Meria Russell, DFAT Programme Manager for Governance, Economic and Private Sector Development spoke about the agreement and the aims of this programme, which is funded by DFAT. “It is our hope that the participants who take part in this workshop will be committed to what they are about to learn and be able to fully utilise these skills in order to benefit the people of Tonga. We look forward to the positive outcomes of this workshop,” she said. 

The participants spent the first two days discussing the value and benefits of SAIs as prescribed in the International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) 12: 
The value and benefits of SAIs–making a difference to the lives of citizens. Participants also discussed how to effectively engage with stakeholders with the aim to develop a communication strategy for the Tonga SAI. The second part of the training focused on report writing skills, dealing with media and social media, public speaking and writing media releases. The participants’ critical thinking, analytical skills and writing abilities were put to the test through the myriad of audit-related exercises that honed their communication skills in each session. 

The workshop was facilitated by PASAI Advocate, Eroni Vatuloka and PASAI Communications Advisor, Tina Vaka. The training was hosted by the Tonga Office of the Auditor-General and supported by DFAT. 

The participants of the Tonga Office of the Auditor-General Communications workshop, Nuku’alofa, Tonga.