Tag: performance audit

The audit of crisis management functioning within rail infrastructure was undertaken on the Supreme Audit Office of Poland, Najwyższa Izba Kontroli (NIK)’s own initiative and covered among other, procedures applied during the biggest breakdown of rail traffic control that occurred in March 2022, 3 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The audit was also driven by a significant number of issues and accidents on railways. In 2020, 516 railway accidents occurred, of which 6 were serious accidents caused by collisions or derailment of trains and affected the safety of people within railway areas. Moreover, 1,218 incidents were noted that did not result in any fatalities or serious injuries or in material or environment damage. However, these incidents could have turned into events requiring actions provided for in crisis management plans. The also audit investigated issues identified during the mass coal transports from seaports at the turn of 2022-2023, issues related to movements of refugees from Ukraine, difficulties in rail traffic in the area of ​​Warsaw Junction caused by investment works in 2020-2023 and disturbances in rail traffic caused by an unauthorized broadcasting of radio-stop signals in 2020-2023.

Evaluations and performance audits require a robust selection process to ensure success. A thorough and systematic examination of potential performance audit topics allows the identification of those that present the highest risks and offer the greatest potential for improvement respectively. Furthermore, it facilitates determining the optimal timing for results to be integrated into the further development of respective public policies. Consequently, a well-considered selection of evaluation topics is more likely to influence existing public policies positively.

The Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland (NIK) audited the implementation of a strategic pilotage project, Forest carbon farms, to verify its performance and if funds were spent efficiently during its implementation by the General Directorate of State Forests. The audit also looked at whether it enabled obtaining the best outcomes, and if forest divisions correctly and reliably planned and performed their activities included in the project. 

Climate change already has severe consequences for developing countries. Through the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, Norway and other industrialised countries committed to support climate change adaptation efforts in developing countries. 

According to the State of the Climate in Asia (2023) report, the average temperature of Asian countries in 2023 rose by 0.91 degrees Celsius compared to the period from 1991-2020. This results in a rise in sea surface temperature, which further intensifies tropical cyclones and severe rainfall that leads to floods and landslides. Indonesia has encountered a total of 300 natural disasters, including 200 instances of flooding between 1990 and 2021. These events have caused harm to around 11 million individuals. Figure 1 shows that all-natural disasters that happened in Indonesia were caused by climate change.

Cyprus has been facing water scarcity for years. The lack of natural surface water systems, such as lakes and rivers, has historically led to excessive exploitation of groundwater. Over-extraction from underground water bodies, in combination with reduced rainfall, as a result of climate change, have led to the current situation, where most of Cyprus’ aquifers are in poor condition. To address the need for sufficient water reserves, in the past, the government has constructed dams to collect rainwater that would otherwise flow into the sea and has developed infrastructure to transfer water to areas with less rainfall, with the Southern Conveyor Project being the most significant. However, the reduction in rainfall mentioned above impacts adversely on the quality of water collected in the dams.

Future uncertainty, driven by factors such as climate change, technological advancements, and global dynamics, poses challenges that require organizations and governments to adopt more flexible, adaptive, and resilient approaches to planning. SAIs play a crucial role in addressing climate change and future uncertainty by providing insights into the effectiveness of climate-related initiatives and fostering greater accountability and transparency. Strategic foresight in auditing is essential for anticipating and preparing for future uncertainties, enabling organizations to navigate risks and opportunities proactively. Applying a six-step foresight framework in auditing the energy transition, particularly in the electricity sector, allows auditors to evaluate progress, identify gaps, and provide recommendations for more sustainable and resilient energy policies. By integrating strategic foresight into auditing practices, organizations can better prepare for the complexities of a rapidly changing world and build resilience against future uncertainties.

Auditing the performance of government environmental programs is concerned with the three E’s, Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness, like most performance audits. However, it is very difficult to set up performance indicators and select adequate methodology to analyze the performance results for auditing in various environmental programs.

Many Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) have in recent decades adopted performance auditing as one of their main tasks. Performance audits extend a SAI’s role from main public auditor to judge, jury and even management consultant. INTOSAI has promoted performance auditing as a method to establish the economy, effectiveness and efficiency of government policy (‘the 3Es’) and a means to strengthen government accountability and transparency. 

Auditing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can increase accountability of government for commitments made to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as expedite progress towards achieving these goals.

The International Meeting of Performance Audit Critical Thinkers (IMPACT) Conference, an initiative of the Australasian…

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) uses several approaches to engage with citizens and CSOs during the course of a performance audit, particularly during the fieldwork phase.

The Office of the Auditor General of Nepal (OAGN) approved the Citizen Participation Audit (CPA) procedure in 2016. This procedure incorporates civil society partners into the audit process to provide primary sources of data or sector specific information and expertise.

The Belgian Court of Audit received its ISO 9001:2015 certification for the processes leading to its core products.

It is commonly held wisdom that every staff member in a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) is responsible for audit quality, and that SAIs should ensure quality at every stage of the audit process through standard operating procedures. This is certainly true, especially for routine audits. However, in the case of audits that are complex…

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Myanmar and Norway includes cooperation to enhance work in performance and compliance audits. In January 2020, SAI Myanmar established a 14-member unit specializing in performance audits, and as part of the MoU…

“You must run to keep in place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”—Red Queen theory of evolution. Traditionally, audits, based on accounting standards, have focused on financial statement accuracy and regularity. In the area of public audit, the traditional approach also…

Since 2005, the Office of the State Audit Office (SAO) of the Kingdom of Thailand, the nation’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), has been responsible for initiating environmental audits, and the SAO gives precedence to environmental issues involving sustainable development. This article depicts the SAO’s three-phase approach in carrying out environmental performance audits and cultivating…

The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions and the United Nations (UN) have created high expectations for Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), as evident in several INTOSAI standards and UN resolutions. Additionally, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expects SAIs to…

Pursuant to International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) 300-26, performance auditors generally choose between a result-, problem-, or system-oriented approach (or a combination thereof) to facilitate the soundness of audit design. In this article, the Netherlands Court of Audit (NCA) chronicles its performance audit experience according to…

Environmental performance auditing in Australia, Canada and India was studied as part of a three-component doctoral research. Other components included a global trend analysis and an investigation of current practices in environmental performance auditing. Following a brief examination of the mandate and institutional arrangements of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Australia, Canada and India and the study methodology, this article provides an overview of results and emerging issues…

The State Audit Bureau of Kuwait (SAB) hosted a workshop on “Performance Audit” April 5-6, 2016, within the framework of the cooperation agreement with the Netherlands Court of Audit. A number of participants from SAB staff and trainers from the Netherlands Court of Audit…