About this learning event

This course will examine the role of supreme audit institutions (SAIs), such as state audit offices, state audit boards and courts of audit, in ensuring public finance accountability and good financial governance.

Through presentations, case studies from around the globe, and workshops, the course aims to improve the participants‘ understanding of the challenges involved in strengthening SAIs and how institutional reform processes can succeed.

As external accountability institutions, SAIs are a crucial link within the public finance management cycle. However, many SAIs still face considerable challenges in conducting audits in accordance with international standards (International Standards on Supreme Audit Institutions ISSAIs). Some of the factors constraining SAIs regard their institutional and organizational capacity, the legal framework and the political economy environment in which they operate. This course will help you understand how SAIs can successfully take on their role as accountability arrangements, how they can address institutional challenges and how they can improve mechanisms for cooperating with parliaments, civil society, the media, the judiciary and government institutions.

Peer learning approaches and the exchange of experience will be important elements of this course.

What you will learn

The following topics will be covered during this 3-day course:

• Public finance accountability: How does a common understanding of a SAI’s accountability purpose impact the development of a SAI’s vision, mission, organizational strategy and reform project? We will examine the accountability concept and elaborate the purpose of supreme audit institutions from various perspectives.
• Supreme audit institutions: How can we measure the accountability practice of SAIs and what can we learn from a comparative assessment of SAIs world-wide? We will compare available data on SAIs and the weaknesses, strengths, institutional models and functions of SAIs within the region and beyond.
• Determinants of reform success: Why does a citizen-oriented, independent external public auditing thrive in some countries and fail in others? We will discuss institutional, political, economic, social and organizational theories that explain reform success or failure.
• Change strategies: How can plural, functional leadership and problem-driven learning foster institutional change processes? We will go through the design and initiation of a reform project.

How you will benefit

The objective of the course is to help participants to better understand the role that supreme audit institutions can play in ensuring public finance accountability and good financial governance.

Participants who will attend the course will gather practical experience regarding external auditing practices and reforms from a wide range of countries. Case studies will be presented by the lecturers as well as the participants themselves in order to share their experiences.

The course will link theory to practice and provide a practical application of discussed subject matters turning the event into a highly relevant learning experience.

Who should attend

This seminar is designed primarily for staff of supreme audit institutions who actively deal with the development of their institution‘s organizational strategies and external communications.

Participants form other relevant institutions, such as the audit committees of the national parliaments, ministries of finance, anti-corruption bodies or civil society who have practical experience in working with SAIs are also welcome to apply.

A high level of English communication skills is an advantage.

Your contributions

The seminar will be highly participatory. Participants should be prepared to share their experiences in strengthening the SAI in their home country.

Participants are asked to make a short country presentation on practices specific to their country, briefly addressing the following questions:

• 1. Which institutional reform process has the SAI in your country recently undertaken?
• 2. Which problems should this reform solve and what were the results?
• 3. How has the institutional context facilitated/constrained the reform of your SAI?
• 4. Who led the reform process? Was there broad engagement for institutional change?
• 5. Which conclusions do you draw from your experience?

Each presentation should be 5 to 10 minutes in length and be comprised of approximately 5 PowerPoint slides.