Project profile — International Governance, Accountability and Performance Program

• Vietnam (16.90%)
• Senegal (24.73%)
• Guyana (26.23%)
• Rwanda (32.14%)

• Public finance management:
Public finance management (15111) (60.00%)
Legislatures and political parties (15152) (40.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (principal objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)

The project aims to build the capacity of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) to further effective, accountable and inclusive public spending and delivery of services by the public service in Senegal, Guyana, Rwanda and Vietnam. The project works at supporting the efforts and the capacity of these countries’ governments to ensure their public services achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and respond to the needs and potential of women and girls. The project also seeks to build links with oversight bodies and strengthen their capacity to ensure that audit report findings are more effectively actioned, thus contributing to a more responsive public service. Leveraging the internationally recognized expertise of Canada’s audit community, project activities include: (1) placing partner country auditors in Canadian audit offices to build skills, capacity, and networks in the form of nine-month fellowships; (2) in-country and regional training for staff of SAIs and oversight offices to strengthen their audit skills and ability to follow-up on audit findings; and (3) providing management training to leaders in SAIs, with a particular focus on women’s empowerment. Each activity prioritises women auditors and managers to ensure improved representation and advancement of women in positions of leadership within audit offices and SAIs. The project is implemented by the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF) with support from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, as well as Canadian provincial and municipal audit offices.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced effectiveness of supreme audit institutions in performance auditing in targeted countries, with a focus on gender equality, environment and other sustainable development goals (SDGs); (2) enhanced effectiveness of oversight bodies in targeted countries in holding government accountable for its performance and public expenditures, with a focus on gender equality, environment and other SDGs.

Results achieved as of March 2020 include: (1) 570 state audit professionals (of which 205 were women) in Guyana, Rwanda, Senegal, and Vietnam developed their skills and knowledge related to planning and implementing effective performance audits; (2) eight Vietnamese officials (of which three were women), were evenly divided between parliamentarians on the Budgetary Affairs Committee and auditors from the Supreme Audit Office, which enhanced their knowledge of Canadian practices for effectively implementing performance audit recommendations and using them to hold governments accountable ; (3) eight auditors (one man and one woman from Guyana, Vietnam, Senegal, and Rwanda) participated in the 2019-2020 Fellowships Program with the Auditors General of Canada, Alberta, Quebec, and British Columbia, where they learned Canadian practices in performance audit, and developed their own audit plans to be finalized and implemented on their return to their Supreme Audit Institutions. Four auditors from Guyana and Rwanda who participated in the 2018-2019 Fellowships Program graduated in May 2019 and returned to their home institutions to begin work on implementing their audit plans; and (4) 93 Supreme Audit Institution personnel (of which 34 were women) in Guyana and Rwanda participated in training sessions on the principles of gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and conducting gender-integrated performance audits (training for the institutions in Vietnam and Senegal will follow in FY 2020-2021).

• Proactive disclosure