The President of the General Audit Office, also in her capacity as President of CAROSAI, Ms. Croes-Williams, and the Secretary of the General Audit Office, Ms. de Jong-Curet, participated in the XXIV INCOSAI Congress from November 7 to 12, 2022.
In the 24th International Congress of General Audit Institutions, 147 delegations (700 representatives) from different countries and (regional) organizations participated. Minister Bruno Dantas, Auditor General of the Federal Audit Office of Brazil (Tribunal de Contas da União – TCU), chaired the meetings during this INCOSAI Congress.
They presented several topics and held several discussion panels. The main themes of the congress concern:
The fight against the climate crisis;
The role of General Audit Offices in emergencies;
The independence of General Audit Offices;
The joint conduct of coordinated investigations;
The role of General Audit Offices in the fight against drugs and crime;
The presentation of SAI reports on the Development Goals, 2030 SDG Agenda, concerning, among other things, the fight against poverty.
Furthermore, they discussed administrative issues for subsequent approval. They include the activity and financial report for the three years 2019-2021, the presentation and the INTOSAI Strategic Plan 2023-2028 approval, and the regional reports of EUROSAI, ARABSAI, ASOSAI, AFROSAI, CAROSAI, OLACEFS, and PASAI. It is important to note that they expelled the membership of the Netherlands Antilles.
Ms. Croes-Williams, also in her capacity as CAROSAI president, also participated in the Capacity Building Committee meeting (CBC meeting). The chairman gave a presentation at this meeting and shared Aruba’s General Audit Office experiences on the “Supreme Audit Institute Performance Management Framework (SAI PMF) of Aruba – Small Island State in the Caribbean”, Leave No SAI Behind, with all attendees. SAI PMF is the first step toward upgrading a General Audit Office. SAIs, that conduct and complete this self-assessment are frontrunners, as only 77 General Audit Offices in the world have done so. In addition to completing this assessment, Aruba’s General Audit Office made its results public. Only 15 countries have done so to date.
Participation in the XXIV INCOSAI Congress was very intensive. In addition to all the meetings, discussion panels, and gatherings, the Aruban delegation maintained many contacts and made new ones with members of sister institutions and regional organizations. These include SAI Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Latvia, Philippines, Turkey, Peru, Chile, and Mexico, also with IDI, US GAO, and UNDESA. They also held meetings or discussions with colleagues from CAROSAI, OLACEFS, the General Audit Institutions of the Netherlands and Curacao on improving financial management and with the Court of Audit of Belgium and the General Audit Office of Suriname respectively on possible support and cooperation between the Dutch-speaking Audit Institutions. They also consider a joint study. A possible topic could be Brazil’s initiative with INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), to conduct a global study on climate change and its consequences.
The XXIV International Congress of General Accounts (INCOSAI 2022) concluded with the adoption by the INTOSAI community of the Rio di Janeiro Declaration. In this declaration, the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) pledged to continue its work by responding to change and emerging risks and to foster better collaboration with stakeholders to advance the General Audit Institutions and INTOSAI work.
During the official closing of the XXIV INCOSAI Congress, the President of the General Audit Office presented to the Auditor General of SAI Brazil, also the President of INTOSAI and host, a book on the cultural heritage of Aruba. The General Court of Auditors wishes to thank the National Archaeological Museum Aruba and Foundation 1403 for this beautiful gift, which Mr. Bruno Dantas very gratefully received.
