Members of the Board of the INTOSAI Development Initiative,Heads of supreme audit institutions,Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,Dear colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that I take the floor today, at the opening of the SAI leadership and stakeholder workshop on “Contributions of Supreme Audit Institutions to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals”.
This event follows upon a similar event held here last year, almost one year ago to the day. The positive feedback that we received from the supreme audit institutions (SAIs) that participated in that meeting, and the fact that this year’s event gathers more participants, are an indication of the willingness of supreme audits institutions across the world to engage with the 2030 Agenda and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
I am happy to see that so many heads of SAIs have chosen to attend this meeting. Supreme audit institutions are uniquely positioned to promote effective public governance, enhance the efficiency of public administration, help improve development outcomes and promote trust in government – all key ingredients for the success of the 2030 Agenda. This meeting is more than a mere meeting of the SAI community; it is a forum connecting auditors and the international development community, under the framework of the SDGs.
In this regard, I would like to thank the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) for jointly organizing this meeting with us. Building on INTOSAI’s commitment to engage with the SDGs over the long term, IDI’s piloting of the SDG audit program in all the world’s regions has been a significant accomplishment. Taken together, these audits will inform the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in a unique way.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Last year’s meeting was an occasion for all SAIs to exchange notes of how they were doing on auditing SDG preparedness of their national governments. Then, many SAIs were only at the planning stage or contemplating whether to undertake such audits. Over the past 12 months, the work has progressed tremendously. I understand that the audits are now complete for some regions, and nearing completion in others; and I also hear that SDG audits have started in francophone Africa. This will hopefully make for a rich meeting, where front runners can share tips and alert SAIs that are just beginning their audits on what they can expect and on the pitfalls to avoid.
I also hope that after this opening day, those of us who operate at the global level will start getting a sense of the overall picture that emerges from this worldwide undertaking. In my function of Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the questions I have in this respect include the following: how have governments been preparing to implement the SDGs from the institutional standpoint? Can the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches highlighted by many countries in their interventions here at the high-level political forum really deliver integrated approaches to implement the SDGs? Have these arrangements extended to examining the coherence of policies across sectors, and how do they address synergies and trade-offs across SDG targets? Are these arrangements conducive to mobilizing the resources needed to implement the Agenda? And finally, what are emerging commonalities across countries and regions, which would be worth reflecting in global review fora?
I am asking all these questions with the 2019 review of the 2030 Agenda in mind. Next year will be marked by two important milestones.
First, in July 2019, Goal 16 on “peaceful and inclusive societies, justice and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions” will be reviewed for the first time at the HLPF held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. Many have underlined that the inclusion of a self-standing goal on institutions in the SDGs is in itself a game-changer. Through your roles as auditors of governments’ actions, you are, individually and collectively, in a unique position to inform the review of this goal.
Second, in September 2019, the high-level political forum under the auspices of the General Assembly will conduct the first comprehensive review of all the SDGs. This will be a high-level meeting, at the Head of State or Head of Government level. This is where the international community will have to take a hard look on progress made so far on the whole Agenda, and if required agree to course corrections. The findings and recommendations of the SDG preparedness audits, and the global and regional overviews they will have provided by then, have the potential to inform Governments as they prepare for these discussions.
In other words, the SAI community can have a real impact on the decisions that are made with respect to the 2030 Agenda. I am glad to see that your discussions tomorrow will delve into the preparations for 2019, and I hope that you will seize this opportunity to the full. As Secretariat for the 2030 Agenda and the HLPF, UNDESA stands ready to help and support you in this regard.
In the longer run, many SAIs will be shifting to auditing SDG implementation. This is something that we will need, not for the next one or two years, but for the full period until 2030 and likely beyond. As you well know, this work presents methodological challenges, and its scope is immense. Meetings like this one are geared to helping SAIs identify related challenges, and benefit from the experiences of other SAIs. Let me state that, should SAIs feel the need to make this meeting a regular feature over the years, we would gladly continue to host it and provide a space for this important discussion.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are still in the initial phase of gathering information on what is working and what is not working for the SDGs. This has been an effort of unprecedented scale, which has gone far beyond national governments and international organizations. Supreme audit institutions have a critical role to play in contributing to more robust implementation, follow-up and review of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.
I wish you a fruitful meeting.
Thank you very much.
It is with great pleasure that I take the floor today, at the opening of the SAI leadership and stakeholder workshop on “Contributions of Supreme Audit Institutions to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals”.
This event follows upon a similar event held here last year, almost one year ago to the day. The positive feedback that we received from the supreme audit institutions (SAIs) that participated in that meeting, and the fact that this year’s event gathers more participants, are an indication of the willingness of supreme audits institutions across the world to engage with the 2030 Agenda and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
I am happy to see that so many heads of SAIs have chosen to attend this meeting. Supreme audit institutions are uniquely positioned to promote effective public governance, enhance the efficiency of public administration, help improve development outcomes and promote trust in government – all key ingredients for the success of the 2030 Agenda. This meeting is more than a mere meeting of the SAI community; it is a forum connecting auditors and the international development community, under the framework of the SDGs.
In this regard, I would like to thank the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) for jointly organizing this meeting with us. Building on INTOSAI’s commitment to engage with the SDGs over the long term, IDI’s piloting of the SDG audit program in all the world’s regions has been a significant accomplishment. Taken together, these audits will inform the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in a unique way.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Last year’s meeting was an occasion for all SAIs to exchange notes of how they were doing on auditing SDG preparedness of their national governments. Then, many SAIs were only at the planning stage or contemplating whether to undertake such audits. Over the past 12 months, the work has progressed tremendously. I understand that the audits are now complete for some regions, and nearing completion in others; and I also hear that SDG audits have started in francophone Africa. This will hopefully make for a rich meeting, where front runners can share tips and alert SAIs that are just beginning their audits on what they can expect and on the pitfalls to avoid.
I also hope that after this opening day, those of us who operate at the global level will start getting a sense of the overall picture that emerges from this worldwide undertaking. In my function of Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the questions I have in this respect include the following: how have governments been preparing to implement the SDGs from the institutional standpoint? Can the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches highlighted by many countries in their interventions here at the high-level political forum really deliver integrated approaches to implement the SDGs? Have these arrangements extended to examining the coherence of policies across sectors, and how do they address synergies and trade-offs across SDG targets? Are these arrangements conducive to mobilizing the resources needed to implement the Agenda? And finally, what are emerging commonalities across countries and regions, which would be worth reflecting in global review fora?
I am asking all these questions with the 2019 review of the 2030 Agenda in mind. Next year will be marked by two important milestones.
First, in July 2019, Goal 16 on “peaceful and inclusive societies, justice and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions” will be reviewed for the first time at the HLPF held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. Many have underlined that the inclusion of a self-standing goal on institutions in the SDGs is in itself a game-changer. Through your roles as auditors of governments’ actions, you are, individually and collectively, in a unique position to inform the review of this goal.
Second, in September 2019, the high-level political forum under the auspices of the General Assembly will conduct the first comprehensive review of all the SDGs. This will be a high-level meeting, at the Head of State or Head of Government level. This is where the international community will have to take a hard look on progress made so far on the whole Agenda, and if required agree to course corrections. The findings and recommendations of the SDG preparedness audits, and the global and regional overviews they will have provided by then, have the potential to inform Governments as they prepare for these discussions.
In other words, the SAI community can have a real impact on the decisions that are made with respect to the 2030 Agenda. I am glad to see that your discussions tomorrow will delve into the preparations for 2019, and I hope that you will seize this opportunity to the full. As Secretariat for the 2030 Agenda and the HLPF, UNDESA stands ready to help and support you in this regard.
In the longer run, many SAIs will be shifting to auditing SDG implementation. This is something that we will need, not for the next one or two years, but for the full period until 2030 and likely beyond. As you well know, this work presents methodological challenges, and its scope is immense. Meetings like this one are geared to helping SAIs identify related challenges, and benefit from the experiences of other SAIs. Let me state that, should SAIs feel the need to make this meeting a regular feature over the years, we would gladly continue to host it and provide a space for this important discussion.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are still in the initial phase of gathering information on what is working and what is not working for the SDGs. This has been an effort of unprecedented scale, which has gone far beyond national governments and international organizations. Supreme audit institutions have a critical role to play in contributing to more robust implementation, follow-up and review of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.
I wish you a fruitful meeting.
Thank you very much.
File date:
Thursday, July 19, 2018