The third online meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on SDGs and Key Sustainable Development Indicators (WGSDG KSDI) was held 14 on October 14, 2022.

The meeting brought together 135 participants from 23 SAIs, as well as representatives of the African Organization of the supreme audit institution of the English-speaking countries AFROSAI - E and regional audit institutions of the Russian Federation.

During the reporting period, the group was enlarged with 7 new members.

The Working Group has successfully completed a number of its projects and is preparing to present the results of its activities at the forthcoming XXIV INCOSAI in Brazil.

“Success in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals largely depends on building an effective monitoring, analysis and control system. And today we see that for many SAIs, SDG audit has become one of the priority areas of activity.”

– said Dmitry Zaitsev, Head of the WGSDG KSDI Secretariat and Member of the ACRF Board, in his welcome address

Key results of the group's activities over the past period:

• The WGSDG KSDI has been expanded up to 34 participants and 7 observers. The new members are SAIs Chile, Egypt, India, Jamaica, Maldives, Thailand and Zambia.

• In March 2021, members of the group participated in an open discussion on SDGs at the First INTOSAI International Scientific and Practical Conference. During the discussion, the participants formulated suggestions and comments on the plans for further activities of the SAI and the development of relevant documents.
• Last December, WGSDG KSDI held a webinar for SAIs of CIS Countries on SDGs audit in two main areas: methodological issues (including general information on the SDG Audit Model (ISAM), approaches to SDG audit, audit stages, tools used) and key aspects of conducting a readiness audit (based on the experience of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation).

• The Working Group prepared 2 online courses on SDGs and sustainable development. The webinar for CIS SAIs became the basis of the course “SDGs Audit. CIS Countries’ Experience”, which is presented in Russian and English. The course “Audit of Sustainable development” is accompanied by practical examples of the activities of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. The course was prepared by WGSDG KSDI Secretariat and presented in Russian.
• The draft Guidance on ESG audit initiated by the Working Group was included in the list of new projects of the INTOSAI Knowledge Sharing Committee. The interim results of the project will be presented in April 2023.
• The draft Guidance on audit of the reliability of macroeconomic forecasts is continued. The structure was developed and a group survey was initiated.
• Presentation of the final version of Practical guidance on SDG audit at the regional level will be presented at the information booth of the XXIV INCOSAI.

Plans for the future

• Cooperation with the ASOSAI Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.
• Update of the GUID 5202 “Sustainable Development: The Role of Supreme Audit Institutions”.
• Future development of Guidance on ESG audit and Guidance on audit of the reliability of macroeconomic forecasts.
• Presentation of the final version of Practical guidance on SDG audit at the regional level will at the XXIV INCOSAI.
• Presentation of the results of the group's activities at the XXIV INCOSAI
• New issues WG SDG KSDI Newsletter.

In addition, the meeting participants shared their experience in conducting an audit of SDGs and sustainable development.

Detailed presentations of participants are available on the WGSDG KSDI web-page.