| The INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) was formed in 1986 by a resolution of the INTOSAI Congress and is known as the "training arm" of INTOSAI. Based in Oslo, Norway since 2001, the IDI operates on a regional basis to help Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in developing countries to develop a sustainable training infrastructure. |
The IDI has been a training partner of ASOSAI since 1986, when the former was created by a resolution of the INTOSAI Congress. This partnership has seen the IDI involved in two rounds of the ‘train-the-trainers’ programme, the most recent of which was completed in 2002, that underpins its Long Term Regional Training Programme (LTRTP).
ASOSAI and its members have, in return, provided resources for the development of world class training courses that have been used elsewhere in the INTOSAI community. It is a mutually supportive relationship that has delivered sustainable change amongst member SAls in the region and beyond. This article highlights some of the achievements of 2003 and looks forward to some of the known activities planned for 2004.
Training in the INTOSAI community is very much about collaboration, co-operation and mutual support. These principles underpin the success that ASOSAI has experienced in developing a sustainable training infrastructure. The IDI also relies heavily on the vision and support of SAls in providing in-kind contributions of staff time in developing world class training materials.
It was with this background in mind that the IDI and the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) began a collaboration programme to develop an environmental auditing course. The IDI’s Strategic Plan for 2001-2006 has five goals, of which Goal is "to co-operate with INTOSAI Standing Committees and Working Groups". The IDI and its partners have approached this goal with an open and innovative mind, and the results have, so far, been noteworthy. Rather than approaching environmental auditing on a region by region basis, the IDI and the WGEA decided to test whether four English-speaking INTOSAI regions could collaborate in the development of a two-week English-language course.
The first stage, a curriculum meeting, took place in November 2002 and was attended by 11 subject matter experts (including three from ASOSAI). An experienced training specialist from India also attended the meeting to provide a training perspective. The outputs of the meeting were an outline curriculum and, more importantly, confirmation that the IDI training methodology could be adapted to environmental auditing.
Once the training specialists from ASOSAI, EUROSAI, SPASAI and English-speaking AFROSAI had been selected, they were invited to Norway for a seminar in June 2003. The purpose of the seminar was to give the trainers a background to environmental auditing issues, which was deemed to be an essential precursor to the design meeting that took place for three weeks in Malaysia in August-September 2003.
This was the first time that training specialists from more than one region had been asked to design a course together. The output, the course materials completed by the end of the design meeting, are proof that IDI training specialists speak the same training language whatever part of the world they come from.
ASOSAI was selected to host the inaugural environmental auditing workshop, which took place in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2003. Five of the eight training specialists who delivered the course were from ASOSAI member SAls (specifically from: India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines and Thailand). ASOSAI also provided one of the subject matter experts, from China.
The IDI focus on delivering sustainable training led to some innovative conditions being set on participation at the Antalya workshop. The most important of these conditions was that only SAI’s that have already carried out environmental audits, or those that were planning to do so shortly, were considered. Consequently, 16 ASOSAI members filled the 30 places available at the workshop.
Another innovation for an IDI course was the requirement that all participants should draw up a draft environmental auditing proposal and action plan that would be submitted to the management of their SAls on their return. Participants were required to provide information on environmental issues and programmes in their countries, and the resultant action plans and proposals were compiled and distributed on CD-ROM to all participants at the end of the workshop.
Feedback from participants has been particularly encouraging, with both the environmental auditing content and the IDI training methodology being the subject of positive comments. To follow up the work begun at the workshop, participants have started a dialogue on environmental issues on the IDI Bulletin Board, where it is hoped that the community of ASOSAI (and, in future, other regions’) environmental auditors will develop.
As has already been stated, the IDI has a Strategic Plan goal to cooperate with INTOSAI Working Groups and Standing Committees. The environmental auditing project is one part of the strategy to implement that goal. The IDI has also been working in the OLACEFS region alongside the INTOSAI Public Debt Committee. A third strand of activity in this has been cooperation with the Working Group on the Audit of Privatisation. The IDI co-operation arrangements with this Working Group very neatly coincided with ASOSAI’s decision in 2002 to focus on privatisation as one of two Regional Audit Workshops to be developed as part of the ‘train-the-trainers’ programme.
This was a timely decision for the IDI because it focused attention on the ASOSAI course. ASOSAI’s decision to be the first to develop such a course is an indication of the courage of members of the ASOSAI training community. It is a difficult undertaking to develop a course in a technical audit subject without any existing materials on which to base it. Therefore, the IDI was delighted to be able to support the early development of the course in late 2002 by funding a subject matter expert (SME) from the United Kingdom, and the INTOSAI Working Group on the Audit of Privatisation played a crucial role in finding a well-qualified privatisation expert to fill that important role.
The IDI and ASOSAI reported on progress made in the development of this course to the annual meeting of the Working Group in Prague, Czech Republic in June 2003. An experienced ASOSAI training specialist from the SAI of Pakistan reported on the draft structure and content of the course and received very positive feedback from Working Group members.
The penultimate stage in the course development cycle, a 10-day instructor meeting, took place in Tokyo in January 2004. The aim of the meeting was to finalise the course materials due to be delivered at a subsequent Regional Audit Workshop. Again, the IDI and the Working Group were able to support this initiative by providing two subject matter experts. The thinking behind the idea of using two SMEs was that, while the SME used in the first meeting could help refine the materials, a second SME (in this case from the Czech Republic) could add a second expert perspective and provide different case studies.
The delivery of the workshop is expected to take place in May 2004.
The IDI was pleased to attend the ASOSAI Assembly in October 2003, and training was naturally an important area for discussion in the plenary and separate training committee meetings.
One of the main outcomes for the IDI/ASOSAI co-operation programme was the definition of goals and objectives for the forthcoming ASOSAI Symposium, which will be funded by the IDI as part of its commitment to strengthen the network of training specialists in each INTOSAI region. The Symposium will be an excellent networking opportunity for the region’s two groups of trainers, and the ASOSAI Training Committee fully supports the IDI’s strategy of mixing the updating of trainers’ knowledge and skills with the development of course outlines in subjects that have been identified as being of regional importance to ASOSAI members.
To support the aims of the Symposium, the IDI is currently considering whether it can fund two design workshops later in 2004, should ASOSAl’s training requirements point in such a direction.
2003 has been a formative year in the development of the relationship between the IDI and the training community in ASOSAI. The support provided by ASOSAl’s members to the development of world class courses is an essential part of the IDI success story. With a busy 2004 regional training programme already underway, this year also promises to be a fruitful one for SAls in ASOSAI.
The IDI is very grateful for the support received by SAls in ASOSAI, and would like to thank those SAls that provided training specialists and subject matter experts for regional and international training activities. Particular thanks are given to the SAls that hosted IDI activities in 2003.
(Contributed by: The INTOSAI Development Initiative (http://www.idi.no)