In this emergency, transparency and accountability should not be seen as obstacles to government action but as indispensable tools to ensure that the exercise of the large number of resources allocated to address the different aspects of the pandemic, obtained from different sources, internal and external, such as budget reallocations, donors and international institutions, is adequate and timely.
Aware of these circumstances, the OLACEFS has joined the Global Initiative promoted by the IDI on cooperative compliance audits of transparency, accountability and inclusion in the use of emergency funds for COVID-19.
On December 4, 2020, a discussion was held between the SAIs of the region, international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); World Bank (WB), International Budget Partnership (IBP), Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean (UNDRR). Similarly, there were presentations by experts from the SAIs of Brazil, Guatemala and Paraguay, a call that brought together more than 150 participants from 17 member SAIs of the OLACEFS.
The SAIs that make up the Working Group on Disaster Management Auditing (GTFD) of the Latin American and Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS), led by the Superior Audit Office of the Federation of Mexico, in line with the Regional Action Plan for COVID-19, are promoting this initiative whose objective is to contribute to transparency and inclusion in the use of emergency funds for COVID-19, as well as to establish transparent, inclusive and accountable frameworks for public spending during future emergencies, which, in turn, will help to build trust in governments and public institutions.
In this scenario of uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, SAIs are called to carefully audit the exercise of the large number of resources allocated to address this emergency and its effects and to verify the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of the actions undertaken in each one of the stages of its management.
Therefore, the President of the GTFD called on the region’s SAIs to be part of this important initiative that will make it possible to improve resource management auditing in times of emergency. For more information, contact: Sr. Shofiqul Islam, Senior Manager: shofiqul.islam@idi.no; Ms. María Herrero-Aldea, Coordinator: maria.herrero-aldea@idi.no; Sr. Aníbal Kohlhuber, IDI: anibalcol@yahoo.com.ar with copy to GTFD_OLACEFS@asf.gob.mx.
