2-4 March INTOSAI members, UN representatives and stakeholders participated in the 23rd UN/INTOSAI Symposium on the theme “UN Post-2015 Development Agenda: The Role of SAIs and Means of Implementation for Sustainable Development”. The CBC Chair and Auditor General of South Africa, Mr Kimi Makwetu, was the technical chair of the Symposium, leading discussions and conclusions on three main issues:
· Expectations in SAIs by the Development Partners regarding sustainable development,
· Prerequisites for SAIs to effectively engage in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and
· Possibilities for SAIs to effectively engage in the Post-2015 Development Agenda and experiences of SAIs.
Speakers included a great number of Auditors General and SAI representatives, representatives of a number of UN organizations, including UN DESA, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, UN CEPA and ECOSOC, as well as IDI and the Inter-Parliamentarian Union.
Participants learnt that there are many expectations of the role that SAIs could play in relation to the Post 2015 Development agenda, and the Sustainability Development Goals – these expectations range over a broad spectrum, and are quite diverse.
Although these are all potentially good opportunities for SAIs to become even more relevant, it will not be easy for SAIs, and INTOSAI, to respond in all cases and meet all of these expectations. While SAIs embrace the importance of Sustainability Development Goals, we would have to be cautious not to overstretch given the limited resources available to SAIs.
Following presentations and group discussion on the issues raised the Symposium agreed on conclusions and recommendations.
These can be found on INTOSAIs website: http://www.intosai.org/news/news-2015.html#c5463