Bilateral Support

The large majority of SAIs in developing countries successfully participate in regional and global IDI initiatives. However, several SAIs require more extensive support to sustainably develop their capacity and performance. The objective of IDI’s bilateral support is to ensure that the most challenged SAIs are assisted and are improving their performance. The criteria for getting such support and the principles for how the support is to be provided are set out in the IDI policy for bilateral support. This states that bilateral support will be geared towards SAIs in fragile situations and other SAIs facing significant development challenges. IDI will in 2019 continue the bilateral cooperation with the SAIs of Somalia, South Sudan and the nine SAIs in the PAP-APP engagement. The bilateral support for these SAIs are provided in close cooperation with AFROSAI-E and CREFIAF. In the PAP-APP engagement, the cooperation agreements with the individual SAIs, signed in the second half of 2018, provides the scope of the support for the individual SAI. The support is tailor made to the country context and the need of the individual SAI with the aim of developing SAI lead and strategic project proposals to mobilise support for the implementation of their strategic priorities. The first phase of the PAP-APP will come to an end in 2019 for some SAIs and in mid-2020 for others depending on the level of support needed to develop project proposals. IDI is together with AFROSAI-E supporting the SAI Somalia in the implementation of its strategic plan. IDI is having an advisory role in ensuring coordination between all external partners involved in supporting the SAI in addition to providing support in the strengthening audit scope and quality, establishing sound management systems and strengthen the legal framework and communication with stakeholders. The support in these areas will continue in 2019. The support to the SAI South Sudan is built on a similar model as for SAI Somalia with a tri-party agreement between the SAI, AFROSAI-E and IDI. The ambition is however different as the main objective is to maintain and strengthen key audit-related capacities in NAC, to prepare NAC to play a strong role in the reform efforts of the Government of South Sudan. Support to the planning, execution, reporting and dissemination of audit results is a key part of the project as well as sensitizing key auditees and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on NAC’s function, standards, operations, recent findings and how audit reports can be followed up. The situation in South Sudan is volatile which makes it challenging to achieve the objective of maintaining the capacity. The bilateral portfolio of IDI grew substantially in 2018 with the establishment of the PAP-APP engagement. IDI will therefore give priority to consolidate and manage the existing portfolio and does not foresee a substantial evolvement of the portfolio in 2019. The most resource intensive areas of support for the bilateral cooperation’s in 2019 will be on strategic management and audit scope and quality. Strategic management will be a key priority in most of the PAP-APP SAIs and for SAI Somalia and to some extent for SAI South Sudan. A close cooperation with staff involved in the SPMR and SES initiative has therefore been established.