Topic Guide: External Audit and Oversight

Supreme audit institutions and stakeholder engagement practices: a stocktaking report. Effective Institutions Platform, 2014. http://www.effectiveinstitutions.org/documentupload/Stock take report on SAIs and citizen engagement.pdf  

This study summarises the potential for, and the benefits of civil society engagement in external auditing. It also elaborates on the conditions which will influence the possible format and scope of engagement between SAIs and CSOs. This includes: political culture and tradition of social accountability in the country, which may influence the legitimacy and acknowledgment of the need to engage citizens and their willingness to cooperate with SAIs; the individual role and mandate of the SAI and the resources available for the SAI’s work; or the quality of linkages with other accountability institutions like anti-corruption agencies or the judiciary, to name but a few. The report also identifies risks for a closer engagement between SAIs and CSOs, among which are fears for undermining both parties’ independence, objectivity and credibility, delays and higher costs of the audit process, and bureaucratic resistance (again, to name but a few). Several country case studies, from Argentina, Mexico, Korea, Indonesia and other countries, are also provided which makes this book a highly relevant resource for initiatives to strengthen CSO’s role in external auditing with the purpose of combating corruption.  

Maximising the efficiency and impact of supreme audit institutions through engagement with other stakeholders. Reed, Q., U4, 2013. http://www.u4.no/publications/...  

The paper focuses on how parliaments and NGOs can help SAIs improve both their audits and the impact of their audits. Its main insight is that both legislatures and non-state actors can, and should, be a useful source of audit initiatives, as well as a vehicle to disseminate findings and create pressure for follow up. A review of SAIs in Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia shows that engagement with NGOs, parliaments and other stakeholders is essential to a well-functioning audit cycle. The paper recommends a more holistic approach to budget accountability that recognises SAI expertise and capacity as only one of the conditions necessary to ensure impact. Other recommendations include the need for an open procedure for audit selection and engagement with external counterparts. It concludes with suggested actions for donors, including assistance to NGOs to monitor the implementation of SAI recommendations.  

Responding to the challenges of supreme audit institutions: can legislatures and civil society help? Van Zyl, A., Ramkumar, V., & de Renzio, P., U4, 2009. http://www.u4.no/publications/...  

This U4 Issue paper explores the challenges of evaluating the expenditures and performance of government agencies in detail and suggests how SAIs can overcome some of them by forming and strengthening alliances with parliaments and civil society. It proposes that, in circumstances where the legislature is weak, the SAI may need to stretch the letter of their mandate for the benefit of more effective application of public resources to development challenges.