A webinar to discuss the annual baseline survey results of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) in the Pacific was recently organized as part of an “Accountable Public Finance to serve Pacific people”, known as Vaka Pasifika project, and funded by the European Union.

The webinar organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji, brought together SAI representatives from the Pacific Islands and Vaka Pasifika project technical specialists to discuss the findings from the survey and present a proposed schedule of activities.

Over a three-year period from 2022-2024, the project will track the performance of SAIs in their public finance management oversight role. This is an opportunity for SAIs to showcase some results, track their progress and provide feedback on the recommendations arising from the results.

This year, the survey identified the major challenges faced by SAIs. The main challenges were undertaking audits in a timely manner, gaining political support and commitment for SAI independence, making necessary legislative amendments and a high turnover of staff. These problems make it impossible to build long-term capability of SAI staff to implement high-quality audits and hinder the sustainability of recommendations implementation. The SAIs that haven’t conducted the performance audit cited a lack of legislative power to undertake such audits and a lack of capacity.

However, some of the SAI’s made progress on the performance audits. For example, the Fiji Office of the Auditor General, Performance Audit on Licensing and Monitoring of river gravel and sand extractions (2021) recommended that relevant stakeholders work together to assist the monitoring of illegal river gravel and sand extractions. As a result, the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources is pursuing strategies to implement the audit recommendations, one of which includes discussions with the Fiji Police Force on an MOU devised to assist in the enforcement of the law against illegal operators. One of the most discussed topics during the webinar was the work with stakeholders for better delivery of audit results. SAIs plan to pay a lot attention to the inclusion of Civil Society Organizations, Members of Parliaments, and other interested parties in the follow-up of the audit results and identification of audit topics.

Mr. Kelly Samuel, CFE from the Office of the National Public Auditor in FSM presented inspiring results on stakeholder engagement and the implementation of the outreach program.

“We let people know that we’re here… to serve them, if they have any concern regarding anything that has to do with the government, government funds, activities, programmes, projects, they are welcome to report it to us.”

The Auditor General of Solomon Islands, Mr. David Dennis added, “The types of audits that we do, especially in the financial statements/audits – it’s an area that the community really struggles to understand and to translate. And our experience has been that in every engagement that we have to take it step-by-step and engage really closely with the community.”

During the event, the participants shared practical experiences and lessons learnt from their audit work and cooperation with stakeholders, and garnered practical insights for future activities planning, and capture success stories and best practices from other SAIs that can be disseminated to enhance performance and learning.

Vaka Pasifika project targets documented challenges in the oversight and accountability of public finance in the Pacific. It aims at providing a platform for Pacific experts, decision-makers and thinkers to design tailored solutions. These solutions can then be supported by the project through funding and technical assistance.

The project also provides opportunities for civil society and the media to better understand and engage with public finance cycles and for governments (central/local) to consult and engage with citizens on the budget. The Vaka Pasifika project is funded by the European Union until 2026. The project builds on the results of the “Strengthening Public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific” (PFM) project implemented between 2018 and 2022.

For more information or media interviews, please contact:

Marine Destrez, Vaka Pasifika Project Manager, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji. E: marine.destrez@undp.org