The Working Group on Environmental Auditing of the African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI WGEA) is the African regional branch of a global working group of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) dedicated to environmental issues. Recalling the 14th INTOSAI Congress (14th INCOSAI), held in Washington DC in October 1992, members of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) expressed a keen interest in the roles and activities of SAIs in the field of environmental auditing.
The Assembly approved the creation of a Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) that was later on established under the chairmanship of the Court of Auditors of the Netherlands by the INTOSAI Governing Board. The Court of Auditors of Netherlands was given the duty to prepare the WGEA’s terms of reference that was approved by the Governing Board of INTOSAI in May 1993. This first document indicates that the WGEA aims to help member SAIs to better fulfill their mandate and better use of monitoring tools in the field of political protection of the environment.
In October 2001, the mandate of the Working Group, called the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA or INTOSAI WGEA) widened. Since then, it is now responsible for the development and improvement of technical tools, materials and practices relating to environmental auditing on behalf and for the benefit of SAIs.
More specifically, it is mandated to:
· contribute to the understanding by SAIs of specific issues related to environmental auditing ;
· facilitate the exchange of information and experience among SAIs ;
· update and improve standards and tools for environmental audit, including dissemination of guidelines and other information materials.
As such, it is the crucible, a laboratory in which are discussed all the environmental concerns that SAIs of all the continents are facing. It allows finding relevant, comprehensive and current responses in various environmental audit issues in a world subject to mutations affecting the environment.
As a proactive and voluntary organization (the activity of its members are free), INTOSAI WGEA initially included 12 member SAIs and today consists of 69 SAIs, which are organized into groups according to INTOSAI regions such as ACAG/SPASAI, OLACEFS, ARABOSAI, EUROSAI and AFROSAI.
Africa indeed was not left behind. African SAIs established a formal Working Group since 2002, after conducting several audit activities relating to environmental issues within the banner of the AFROSAI English Sub-Group (AFROSAI-E) or under a collaborative approach headed by SAI South Africa.
Since its establishment, AFROSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (AFROSAI WGEA) encourages SAIs to conduct audits of environmental issues, and implements programs and activities for capacity building of SAIs in this regard. For the purpose of supervising and guiding its efforts, AFROSAI WGEA usually develops a three-year work-plan approved by SAIs according to AFROSAI established practices.
AFROSAI WGEA is currently chaired by the SAI of Cameroon ( the Supreme State Audit Office) designated in September 2013, during AFROSAI WGEA’s 3rd Meeting held in Cairo, Egypt in April 2013, for the period 2014-2016. SAI Cameroon took office from the National audit Office of Tanzania, which had been AFROSAI WGEA Chair for seven years.
Former hosts
|
Host |
Dates |
1st Annual meeting |
National Audit Office of Tanzania |
3rd to 7th October 2011 in Arusha, Tanzania |
2nd annual meeting |
Supreme State Audit Office of Cameroon |
2nd to 6th July 2012 in Yaounde, Cameroon |
3rd annual meeting |
Accountability State Authority of egypt |
15th to18th April 2013 in Cairo, Egypt |
4th annual meeting |
Kenya National Audit Office |
26th to 31st May, 2014 in Mombassa, Kenya |
5th annual meeting |
Court of Accounts of Senegal |
16th to 21st November, 2015 in Dakar, Senegal |
6th annual meeting |
Office of the Auditor General for the Federation of Nigeria |
12th to 16th September 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria |