SAI Independence
Blog and News
💡Conference in the Spotlight:
IDI presents new study on strengthening public oversight of extractives industries at
2023 EITI Global Conference
Independent, effective and credible Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are an essential component of political systems and indispensable to democracy-building. To hold governments to account and add value to citizens, SAIs must be able to maintain independence from the bodies they audit.
When SAI Independence is threatened, institutional oversight activities can be impaired, weakening a country’s integrity and accountability systems and increasing democratic backsliding. SAI Independence has deteriorated in recent years and SAIs are not able overcome threats to their independence alone. To overcome this, IDI has partnered with Transparency International to broaden collaboration between SAIs and civil society organisations (CSOs) and published the resource kit "Safeguarding the Independence of Supreme Audit Institutions" in Fall 2022.
As strong actors in the accountability ecosystem, CSOs can help to safeguard and enhance SAI Independence and raise awareness of the challenges SAIs face through influence and outreach. CSOs have the unique capacity to advocate for SAI Independence whenever a threat arises and take action with a large network of stakeholders. This resource kit provides key insights and resources for CSOs to support SAIs at the global, regional and national level.
New Study Published:
"Strengthening Public Oversight of Extractive Industries Through Supreme Audit Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities"
- By reading this study, one will gain a better understanding of
- the opportunities and challenges SAIs’ face in the technical management and follow-through of extractive industry auditing
- how to leverage and build partnerships for improved oversight,existing SAI-CSO collaboration
- collaborative advocacy and assessment tools
Effective oversight and resource management of extractive industries can positively contribute to a country's national development through fiscal revenues, supply chain and employment opportunities, and social investments. IDI has released this new study to provide an overview of how SAIs can increase extractive industry oversight activities at the country and global level.
The study, which collected responses from 25 SAIs across three different INTOSAI regions, shares solutions and action points tailored to SAIs and actors in the accountability ecosystem to foster better collaboration and increased transparency of oil, gas, mining, and broader extractive industries- including entry points for SAIs to partner with EI transparency leader, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It also includes findings and raises practical insights regarding SAIs’ legal frameworks and their application to INTOSAI’ independence principles.
In addition, the conclusions and appendices address concrete actions SAIs and other stakeholders can take to improve extractive sector governance and identify key partners for taking action using a multistakeholder approach.
Critically, SAI Independence must be protected and maintained so that SAIs can effectively carry out their mandate as the main oversight actors of state and private sector-driven extractive activities.
The study, which collected responses from 25 SAIs across three different INTOSAI regions, shares solutions and action points tailored to SAIs and actors in the accountability ecosystem to foster better collaboration and increased transparency of oil, gas, mining, and broader extractive industries- including entry points for SAIs to partner with EI transparency leader, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It also includes findings and raises practical insights regarding SAIs’ legal frameworks and their application to INTOSAI’ independence principles.
In addition, the conclusions and appendices address concrete actions SAIs and other stakeholders can take to improve extractive sector governance and identify key partners for taking action using a multistakeholder approach.
Critically, SAI Independence must be protected and maintained so that SAIs can effectively carry out their mandate as the main oversight actors of state and private sector-driven extractive activities.
You can read our new study by clicking on the cover above.
Do you want to learn more about the study's key findings?
Watch the summary video➡️
Watch the summary video➡️