Cooperation with Arab audit institutions deepened
Working relationship with parliament and implementation of UN sustainable development goals high on the agenda
The presidents of seven Arab supreme audit institutions and the Netherlands Court of Audit meeting in The Hague have discussed how their cooperation in the Sharaka programme can be deepened in the years ahead. Two themes were high on the agenda: joint audits of how each country was working on the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), and how to improve the working relationship between audit institutions and parliament in order to increase the impact of audit reports.
The supreme audit institutions of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Sudan and the Netherlands agreed on the follow-up after focusing for the past two years on strengthening integrity within and by audit institutions (using the IntoSAINT self-assessment tool developed by the Netherlands Court of Audit and now used worldwide) and monitoring national efforts to achieve the SDGs. The audit institutions in each country studied what preparations their government had made to achieve the SDGs.
Board member Francine Giskes of the Netherlands Court of Audit said, ‘We share expertise and promote regional cooperation in order to strengthen good governance. We also contribute to audit reports in the Arab countries.’
Financial support from Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided €1.1 million in total in 2016 and 2017 to finance this international programme and has reserved a further €3.2 million for the coming years.
As well as holding talks on programme coordination and support for bilateral cooperation projects with audit institutions in the Arab region, the audit institutions’ presidents used this week’s visit to hold talks with the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sigrid Kaag. Talks were also held with members of two committees of the House of Representatives to discuss ways to strengthen the relationship between audit institutions and parliament.