Report of the Coordinated Pacific Region Performance Audit: Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies and Management

Report ID: 238

The countries of the Pacific are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels, cyclones, tsunamis, food security, and coastal erosion are real and daily threats. Pacific governments also face challenges in recovering from natural disasters and extreme weather events.

In response to these threats and challenges, PASAI Auditors-General undertook a Cooperative Performance Audit on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies and management.

Ten SAIs from eight Pacific Island states participated in the audit: Cook Islands, Federated States of

Micronesia (FSM), the FSM State of Kosrae, the FSM State of Pohnpei, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu and two other Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). In line with the practice of previous regional overview reports, participating SAIs that have not yet released their audit reports are referred to anonymously — in this instance as PICT 1 and PICT 2.

Key findings

Audit findings from the eight published audit reports clustered around the following key performance themes:

governance arrangements, including legal and policy frameworks, mainstreaming, vulnerability assessments and strategy development, and coordination between responsible agencies

project implementation, including project-level governance—coordination and project management, financing and human resource capacity constraints

monitoring and reporting.

International Coordinated Parallel Audit of Public Debt Management Information Systems

Report ID: 254

During 2013-2014 the Supreme Audit Institutions of Brazil, Bulgaria, Fiji, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Yemen, and Zambia carried out the International Coordinated Parallel Audit of Public Debt Management Information Systems under the current Strategic Plan of the INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt (WGPD). The SAIs of China, Egypt, Mexico and Russian Federation took part in the project as observers.

The audit was conducted on the basis of the Common Parallel Audit Programme 1, elaborated in 2012 by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine (as parallel audit coordinator), according to the International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) and best national practices. Summaries of national audit reports, developed by the participating SAIs within the framework of the parallel audit, complement the Joint Parallel Audit Report.

The parallel audit was focused on assessment of efficiency of Public Debt Management Information Systems (PDMIS) functioning in jurisdictions of the participating SAIs. The primary objective of the audit was to ascertain:

• whether the management and control processes of national Public Debt Management Information Systems were in place, and
• whether the reviewed information systems were equipped with adequate general and application controls and if they were properly implemented.

Joint Report on EUROFISC Cooperative Audit

Report ID: 255

Since 2011, EU Member States have implemented EUROFISC, an early warning system, which enables them to share information on suspected companies and their customers. EUROFISC increases the chances of national administrations to detect fraudsters in due time. The quality of data, IT support, response times and response rates of the Member States, however, need to be enhanced to effectively combat VAT fraud within the EU.

The current value added tax (VAT) system in the European Union (EU) provides opportunities for intra–Community fraud that all Member States have to deal with. This is sufficient reason for the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the EU to address this topic. Due to its European dimension, the SAIs considered it necessary to cooperate in their audit activities. Consequently, a number of coordinated audits were conducted during the last years within the EU.

The SAIs of Austria, Germany and Hungary carried out a coordinated audit in 2013 and 2014 by each SAI in its territory and according to its own mandate. Their audit activities resulted in national reports for each of the three participating countries, and a joint report. The joint report presents the overall and synthesized conclusions and recommendations supported by the relevant audit observations of the participating SAIS. The audit period covered the years 2011 to 2013.

Joint Report Funds earmarked for the implementation of the Swiss–Czech Cooperation Programme to reduce economic and social disparities within the enlarged European Union

Report ID: 260

In 2013 the SAIs of  Czech Republic and Switzerland  agreed to perform a coordinated audit of the “Funds earmarked for the implementation of the Swiss-Czech Cooperation Programme (SCCP) to reduce economic and social disparities within the enlarged European Union”.

The objective of the parallel audit was  to verify the compliance of the cooperation programme activities with the relevant obligations stipulated in the Swiss–Czech Framework Agreement (SCFA), signed on 20 December 2007, as well as in the national legislations and guidelines. Both audits aimed at reviewing the implementation system of the SCCP, the reliability of the control and audit system, the fulfilment of programme objectives and selected projects of beneficiaries.

EUROSAI IT Working Group Parallel Audit on Biometric Passports

Report ID: 261

At the 8th Meeting of the EUROSAI IT Working Group (ITWG), held in Paris, France, in 2013, the SAIs of Switzerland (Audit coordinator), Portugal, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway, decided to carry out Parallel Audit on Biometric Passports

The objective of the audit was to assess whether adequate management and control processes are in place relating to the biometric passport production process. Within the primary objective, auditors were expected to ascertain whether the process to obtain a reliable and secure biometric passport is well defined and properly implemented.

The main goal of this audit was to validate the following areas with regard to the production process, including the risk mitigation aspect: Benefit realisation, Security, Effectiveness and efficiency

The evaluation of the reported results showed that the overall passport process is generally under control while a couple of high-risk findings were identified in the non-process-specific assessments. In the non-process-specific assessments, most of the countries found deficiencies and weaknesses related to the IS/IT system and the IT management. Medium risks have been identified in the area of laws and regulations, cost-benefit realisation and transparency, as well as in security regulations relating to internal and external personnel.

Source: https://www.vkontrole.lt/en/docs/booklet-parallel-audit-on-biometricpassports.pdf