This page provides information on potential opportunities for auditors from INTOSAI member countries to be involved in an exchange with another supreme audit institution (SAI).
The Supreme Audit Institution of Canada has a “Fellowship Program” whereby senior government auditors from developing countries come to the Office every year as part of the International Audit Office Assistance Program and spend nine months in Canada becoming familiar with Canadian techniques in public sector auditing.
This program is run by a public-private sector partnership organized as a national non-profit foundation called the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation (CCAF). The CCAF’s International Audit Office Assistance Program was established in 1980 with the long-term objective to help strengthen the role of comprehensive auditing in participating national audit offices, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of the performance reporting, accountability, and governance capacities of those governments. Its mission is to transfer methodology to people of influence in developing countries to help improve governance and management for better use of resources.
Since its inception, the Program has been funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and offers fellowships to highly qualified professional men and women from selected national audit offices. These “Fellows” come to Canada for nine months of intensive on-the-job and classroom training in the concepts of comprehensive auditing and the principles underlying accountability and good management and governance. Instruction and practical audit experience are provided by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada as well as the provincial Office of the Auditor General of Québec. The CCAF has offered fellowship in the environmental field on a regular basis.
The Supreme Audit Institution of the United States sponsors a 4-month International Auditor Fellowship Program. The program is designed to help strengthen the ability of SAIs to fulfill their missions and to enhance accountability and governance worldwide. Since its inception in 1979, over 300 mid- to senior-level officials from the SAIs of more than 90 countries have graduated from the program.
The program's objectives are to (1) enhance the individual skills of participants in order to strengthen the institutional capacity of SAIs; (2) sustain professional competencies and skills through continuous learning and knowledge sharing; and (3) strengthen professional networks to promote institutional relationships among SAIs, donors, and other partners in the accountability community. To accomplish these objectives, fellows participate in an intensive multifaceted learning program that includes:
In operating the program, more than 100 experienced staff from the General Accounting Office (GAO) serve as instructors and mentors. Their multidisciplinary expertise-as analysts, accountants, lawyers, economists, computer scientists, engineers, and experts in the social and physical sciences and public and business administration-is intended to provide a rich professional resource for fellows during the program and when they return home.
There is nothing specific in the program that targets in particular environmental auditing; however interests in this area among participants could be accommodated by having them "shadow" an environmental audit. For specific information on this matter you can contact:
Mr. Steven Elstein
Assistant Director
U.S. General Accounting Office
441 G Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20548
U.S.A.
Phone number: 202-512-6515
Email: elsteins@gao.gov
The INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) aims to increase the expertise in environmental auditing and to enhance environmental governance with high-quality contribution and visibility by both members of the Working Group and non–member SAIs. Currently the INTOSAI WGEA consists of 86 member countries.
