IntoSAINT is a self-assessment tool that SAIs can use for analysing their integrity risks and assessing the maturity of their integrity management systems. The self-assessment is conducted during a structured two-day workshop moderated by a trained facilitator. The tool is targeted at preventing corruption and generates a list of management recommendations for supporting the integrity of the organisation in question. It is a management tool enabling the user to design a tailor-made integrity policy and at the same time to raise integrity-awareness among its staff.
IntoSAINT: learning by doing (video)
(A woman sits on a park bench. On-screen text: Learning by Doing. The IntoSAINT and Sharaka logos. On-screen text: Supreme audit institutions working together on integrity. People look at some brochures. A woman in a headscarf speaks, while others listen. Abdel Elabassi:)
ARABIC MUSIC
(The Sharaka project is a cooperation between the Netherlands Court of Audit and colleagues in the Arab region. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs finances this project, and the duration of the project is five years.)
(I think the regional and international cooperation gives us the opportunity to exchange experiences and to share good practices in many domains. And the Sharaka project is a model for this cooperation.)
(One of the most urgent problems in the Arab region is unemployment, especially youth unemployment. And in order to create employment, investments are needed. And for investments, we need a favourable economic climate.)
(One of the elements of a favourable climate is a lack of corruption: integrity. Of course the Supreme Audit Institutions have a role to set the example. So, it's important that the Supreme Audit Institutions are especially sensitive to integrity.)
(It's very important that citizens trust their government and the public sector as a whole. And we think that we, as the Supreme Audit Institutions, should set a good example by reflecting on our own integrity.)
(IntoSAINT, as a methodology, is a tool to determine the vulnerable areas in my organisation and the weaknesses. So I can, with this methodology, increase the level of integrity in my organisation.)
(Basically it's a workshop with a cross-selection of employees. The heart of the workshop is a discussion that we have with the employees from all parts of the organisation about what they experience as threats to the way they behave. The threats to the integrity of the organisation. And particularly how the organisation can help them to perform their work in a more ethical way.)
(The most important result is to set up a formal integrity policy based on a systematic analysis of risks and vulnerabilities. And also to set up an action plan to implement the integrity measures.)
(The most important result for my SAI is everybody's keen awareness about the importance of the question and the subject of integrity. Now, everybody is speaking about integrity and asking how to guarantee that everything is going well.)
(Integrity, as a word, is a noun, but in fact, I think it's a verb. That means we need to keep working on it, and IntoSAINT is a very useful tool to help us with that.)
(Our kind of institutions are very important in every country, because we need to produce reports that are indisputable. Everybody needs to be able to trust that what we say is OK and is correct. And in order to do that, I think we all should have a high sense of integrity. And I don't think we all have a problem with integrity, but it needs to be an ongoing subject that we talk about, among each other and with each other.)
(The participants become change agents, because for them, it's an eye-opener. It's the first time they talk about these issues, about integrity issues in their own work. They come up with recommendations, and they really become change agents for their organisation.)
(If the management of the SAI takes on board the recommendations, this is a really great opportunity for them to become a better organisation, to have more motivated employees and finally that results in better quality of the work that they do.)
(A young man takes a group photo, and the image freezes. The Court of Audit logo. On-screen text: The 'Sharaka' programme is coordinated and implemented by the Netherlands Court of Audit and financed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Sharaka logo above: english.rekenkamer.nl/sharaka next to the IntoSAINT logo above: intosaicbc.org/intosaint.)
THE ARABIC MUSIC CONTINUES, THEN FADES AWAY