The Technical Commission on Good Governance Practices (CTPBG), of the Latin American and Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) is carrying out the cycle of conferences “Hand in Hand for Good Governance,” to review and highlight the initiatives that Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are carrying out at the regional level to strengthen the culture of Control.

In the first virtual meeting (July 29), the president of the AGN and the CTPBG, Mr. Jesús Rodríguez, presented an overview of the role that OLACEFS member SAIs should play: “Our Latin American region has a presidential institutional design (unlike European countries, which tend to be parliamentarian). This makes accountability very relevant to the balance of powers. In times of pandemic, States contributed many resources to face the emergency. This aid was converted 50% into expenses and another 50% into tax relief, loans and guarantees.”

Rodríguez also reviewed a global diagnosis on the role of governments in the pandemic: “A study by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), based in Canada, on accountability in 120 countries, found that, with nuances, no government rose to the occasion. Half of the countries bypassed legislatures, half of the countries published little or no accountability information, two out of three countries had limited information on Executive branch spending and one in four countries published their COVID audits in 2020.”

“The institutional balance was affected –he concluded. The seriousness of the situation should not be the excuse for not having proper accountability.”

The president of the OLACEFS Capacity Building Committee (CCC) and Minister of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU-Brazil), Augusto Nardes, also participated in the international webinar. “Ours is a very large and complex country to control,” he said. The regional view and the combined audits are very useful and are also a great tool for good governance.”

Nardes concluded: “We need volunteers, people from society who want to participate to strengthen this governance network. We have to raise collective awareness to create good governance at the regional level.”

Both officials thanked the organizers and participants of the meeting and invited them to collaborate in the next initiatives of the cycle.

Upcoming meetings:

August 26

September 30

October 28

At 1:00 p.m. (Buenos Aires time)

videoconference by zoom