Speaking the language of Citizens

The problem of technical language

As stated in the Lima Declaration, SAIs need to present the facts and their assessments in an objective, clear manner and be limited to the essentials so that their reports are easy for the general public to understand.

The wording of reports is still a challenge to promoting effective engagement strategies, and it is pronounced in Westminster´s SAI models, which require audit reports to be reported to the legislature, which should be knowledgeable and actively involved so as to hold governments accountable based on audit findings.

Why should SAI reports be understandable to citizens and other stakeholders?

  • They are official and objective sources of information regarding the functioning of public administration.
  • Audit reports are key contributions in the process of making government more transparent and accountable.

Ensuring the effectiveness of audit reports and promoting ownership by several agents that can partner with SAIs to make state agencies accountable call for efforts to make that information not only accessible but, most importantly, comprehensible.

Any comments? Please notify us here.

Bibliography

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UN (2006):“Dialogue on Civil Society Engagement in Public Accountability”, Workshop Report, Manila, Philippines.

Cornejo, C. (2012): “Citizenship and Supreme Audit Institutions: Transparency, Civic Participation and Accountability”, report on the Expert´s Forum, coordinated on behalf of the TPA INITIATIVE (April 16th to 27th, 2012) in the Journal of the Ibero- American Experts’ Network Nº 9, pp. 42-47, Madrid, 1st semester.

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Ramkumar, V. &Krafchik, W. (2006): “The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Auditing and Public Finance Management”, The International Budget Project.

Guillan Montero, A. (2012): “Building bridges: Advancing transparency and participation through the articulation of Supreme Audit Institutions and civil society”, Paper presented at the 2nd Transatlantic Conference on Transparency Research, Utrecht, June 7-9.

ELLA (2012): “The Latin American Approach to Improving Public Spending Oversight”.

OLACEFS – GIZ/BMZ (2012): “Citizen participation in public oversight: good practices for strengthening relationships between SAIs and citizenship”, Commission on Citizen Participation, San José.

INTOSAI (2013): “Challenges of SAIs regarding Sustainable and Efficient Ways to Communicate their Audit Findings and Recommendations”, INTOSAI Basic Paper, 22nd UN/INTOSAI Symposium, Vienna, March 5-7.