More than 50 participants joined the 13th meeting of the Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services Committee (KSC) Meeting, which was held online on 16 September 2021.

The event was opened by KSC Chairman, Comptroller and Auditor General of SAI India Mr. Girish Chandra Murmu, who noted the importance of the working groups’ activities on guidelines development as well as the exchange of knowledge and best practices in order to improve public audit.

Director of the Department of International and Regional Cooperation of SAI Russia Mr. Timur Makhmutov presented a welcoming speech on behalf of the INTOSAI Chair. He highlighted activities carried by two working groups headed by SAI Russia – Working Group on SDGs and Key Sustainable Development Indicators and Working Group on Public Procurement Audit. He also informed the participants about the initiative to create a new Working Group on Healthcare Audit, encouraging members to join the group and take an active part in its work. Special attention was paid to the INTOSAI Digital University project.

Further, the presentation was made by Dr. Silke Steiner, head of the INTOSAI Secretariat, Head of International Department of SAI Austria. She reported on the main INTOSAI activities carried online due to the constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, on 28-30 June 2021 for the first time in the history of the organization, the 25th UN-INTOSAI Symposium was held in a virtual format. It was dedicated to the work of SAIs during and after a pandemic, as well as to their experience in strengthening effective government institutions.

Ms. Steiner paid special attention to the UN-INTOSAI cooperation regarding sustainable development and the SDGs implementation, highlighting the participation of the INTOSAI Secretary General Dr. Margit Kraker in two specialized events – the UN Conference on SDG16 and the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

She also noted that the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the financial issues of the organization's activities. In particular, she noted that the Covid-19 Grant approved in 2020 helped 51 SAIs, most affected from the crisis, get financial support to ensure their activities.

KSC Secretariat reported on the working groups’ activities and crosscutting initiatives implementation with other INTOSAI bodies. The dashboard will be approved on November 23, 2021 at the 75th INTOSAI GB meeting. It was noted that during the pandemic, the working groups focused their activities on online exchange of experience and training programs, the release of newsletters and preparation of methodological recommendations for auditors.

A separate item of the Agenda was devoted to the consideration of the Committee’s financial matters. KSC budget was used to support the INTOSAI Community Portal and the activities carried by the working groups. It was noted that the working groups need to present a plan for the distribution of funds in accordance with their working plans.

Participants were also informed about the KSC interaction with other INTOSAI committees, and about the status of two Research Projects "SAI Independence " (led by the SAI France) and "Audit Communication and Reporting on Audit Results" (led by the SAI India) carried under KSC 2020-2022 Working Plan.

Mr. Einar Gørrissen, Director General of IDI, presented a report on IDI’s activities in supporting SAIs in the face of the pandemic in 2020.

The next 14th KSC Steering Committee meeting will be hosted by SAI Egypt in 2022.