On March 13, 2024 in the framework of the experience-sharing with representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions of Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation held a seminar on “Openness of SAIs and Effective Cooperation with the Media”.

During the event, participants touched upon such aspects as public awareness of the SAIs’ activities and the role of the public audit in administration; ways to increase citizens’ engagement in public audit; factors limiting openness and transparency of the SAIs’ activities; as well as the analysis of the executive authorities’ openness.

Opening the seminar, Mr. Timur Makhmutov, Director of the Department for International and Regional Cooperation of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, stressed the importance of the event in strengthening cooperation with the African countries, as well as the symbolism of the multilateral seminar on the openness of SAIs.

Openness and publicity are the crucial principles of SAIs’ activities enshrined at the international level and in national legislation. Without their implementation, it is impossible to ensure full-fledged implementation of public audit mission, as well as foster accountability and transparency of public administration in order to increase its effectiveness to the benefit of the peoples of our countries,

he stated, emphasizing the relevance of the topic of the meeting.

Mr. Egor Korobkin, Head of the Strategic Communications Division of the Department of External Communications, shared SAI Russia’s experience. He described in detail how the Accounts Chamber builds its communication strategy, thereby increasing citizens’ awareness and engagement in the public audit. The speaker highlighted the main challenges in this area and also shared the Accounts Chamber’s methodology for assessing the federal executive authorities’ (FEA) openness as part of the annual analytical report by SAI Russia  “Open Government in Russia”.

Mr. Evgeny Paltchikov, Deputy Head of the Inspectorate for Comprehensive Analysis of Sustainable Development of the Department of Economic Development Audit, added that the Accounts Chamber’s plans for 2024 include the first assessment of the FEAs’ openness in the format of an expert-analytical activity “Audit of the Management of Federal Resources Allocated by Federal Executive Authorities to Exercise Powers in the Field of Providing Access to Information about Their Activities, for the Period 2023–2024.”

Ms. Vivine Nahimana, Principal State Inspector, Head of Department for Institutional, Administrative and Legal Affairs of the General State Inspectorate of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evrad Lele Thiam, Head of International Cooperation Sector of the Supreme State Audit Office of the Republic of Cameroon, Mr. Aime Butuka Moyo, Auditor of the Court of Accounts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mr. Alex Euv Moutsiangou, Magistrate, Chair of the Chamber, coordinator of the Committee for Education, Training and External Relations, responsible for external audit and public policy assessment of the Court of Accounts of the Gabonese Republic, spoke at the seminar.

Colleagues from the African countries described the obstacles to making their SAIs more transparent, specifically mentioning SAIs’ limited ability to publish data due to the nature of their accountability. The speakers also pointed out the SAIs’ achievements in increasing their level of openness, shared their plans to develop platforms for cooperation with civil society and create websites to exchange information with citizens, to implement the stakeholders’ coordination programs, and to strengthen the regional cooperation.

The seminar participants emphasized the relevance of the seminar’s topic and expressed their readiness to continue sharing experiences on important issues of auditing activities, for example, on the powers of SAIs with judicial functions.