The guide is divided into interlinked thematic modules, throughout which readers will find valuable tools and strategies to promote public participation in the audit process. Those key points are based on evidence from international experiences and case studies and are backed by global standards and regulations, which will help them understand the underlying rationale behind citizen engagement and ways it can be effectively enhanced.
The four modules address the following specific areas:
- Module 1, The Basics of Supreme Audit Institutions—Citizen Engagement, introduces a framework for understanding SAI–citizen engagement and the benefits that can derive from it. Complementing that framework is an overview of the chief international standards and regulations governing SAI–citizen engagement. This module also presents a readiness assessment tool to help SAIs and citizens understand and overcome organizational constraints and effectively prepare themselves for collaborative engagement.
- Module 2, Citizen Engagement Practices by Supreme Audit Institutions— Tools and Methods, focuses on deepening understanding of the various entry points to the audit cycle for SAI–citizen engagement. This module also introduces tools and strategies that are useful for SAIs to effectively communicate and engage with the public as part of that process.
- Module 3, From Plan to Action, defines the concept of constructive engagement in this area and introduces tools and methods for putting in place effective partnership-building mechanisms. Among the tools highlighted, the World Bank Institute (WBI) methodology, Rapid Results Framework, and the use of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) in SAI–citizen engagement are described in detail. The emphasis is on providing tool and approaches to tackle the practical challenges associated with the operationalization of SAI–citizen engagement.
- Module 4, What Success Looks Like and How to Measure Results, touches on the importance of measuring the effectiveness of participatory mechanisms along the way and the outcomes and results derived from those mechanisms. This module is intended to provide SAIs with methods and tools to effectively design appropriate indicators to measure progress and results.