Regional parallel performance audit reviews gender equality

Five Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia: the Audit Office of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Audit Office of the Institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Supreme Audit Office of the Republika Srpska Public Sector, the State Audit Institution of Montenegro and the State Audit Institution of the Republic of Serbia conducted a regional parallel performance audit with a focus on gender equality.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) provided technical and financial support for the parallel audit through the  regional project “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality: Towards More Transparent, Inclusive, and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” ensuring the highest possible level of independence of each SAI. 

In early 2023, the SAIs concluded an agreement to conduct a parallel performance audit based on the legislation governing the organisation and functioning of the signatories to the Agreement and International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) professional pronouncements, with the content and structure of the Agreement aligned with INTOSAI GUID 9000. The audit was carried out by individual institutions in line with the Agreement and the Framework plan for conducting parallel audits in the period from January to December 2023. During this period the audit teams held several regional meetings in order to discuss the relevant activities carried out within each of the audit stages.

The audit examined the effectiveness of key measures and activities for achieving gender equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, including gender-responsible budgeting, preventing violence against women and promoting equality in public, political and economic life.

The publication compiling the summaries of individual audit reports published by the SAIs was facilitated and launched by UN Women during the presentation of the results of this regional parallel performance audit that took place in Sarajevo on March 5, 2024.

The publication is available here.

This regional parallel performance audit is a joint effort of the SAIs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, with support from UN Women, to actively contribute to the global INTOSAI commitment to ensure a more transparent, accountable and inclusive frameworks to achieve gender equality.