Two intense weeks of capacity development were conducted from 14 to 24 October in Rīga, as the Auditor General/Director of audit Ms Maylina Jno Ville, auditor Ms Ann Marie George and auditor Mr Arthur Peterson Pemberton from SAI Dominica visited SAI Latvia under the framework of the Global SAI Accountability Initiative (GSAI).
One focus of the two weeks was to explore methods of engagement with various stakeholders. SAI Latvia shared its practices in working with different actors at different stages of the audit through training and also by arranging meetings with the civil society organization Sustento and the Public Council of the SAI Latvia. As the Public Expenditure and Accounts Committee of Latvia’s Parliament (Saeima) is a key partner in holding the government to account on audit recommendations, there was an opportunity to both witness the parliamentary committee in action, and to meet with the Chairman of the Committee Mr Gatis Liepiņš.
In other workshop sessions, the auditors of SAI Latvia shared their knowledge and skills on topics such as: data analysis as a method of audit, ethics in audit work, communication of audit results, selection of audit topics and risk analysis, planning and evidence gathering for compliance audits, IT tools and others.
The Latvian experts engaged in the GSAI project also worked together with SAI Dominica colleagues on the compliance and performance audit manuals to be developed within the project, and on one specific performance audit report. As the visit fell on Global Ethics Day, SAI Dominica colleagues joined in the SAI Latvia commemoration of this day with a speech by Honorable Supreme Court Judge of Latvia Ms Sanita Osipova who spoke about cooperation and independence.
The first week of meetings and training sessions was also attended by Mr Muhammad Wahyudi of IDI which gave the opportunity for the partners to discuss the future of the cooperation. CAROSAI representative Ms Karen Bell also joined the group on-line for the discussion on the collaboration in 2025 and the possibility to share project results in the broader context of the CAROSAI region.
Auditor General of SAI Domonica indicates, "Overall, the experiences from the study visit have equipped us with the valuable knowledge, fresh perspective, and unique insights necessary to conduct more impactful audits and strengthen our institutional standing. We are grateful for the opportunity to engage in peer collaboration and look forward to applying these experiences to enhance our audit practices."
The overall objective of project is to Enable SAI Dominica to conduct more impactful audits and have a stronger institutional standing through peer collaboration.
The project has four components:
- C0. Project management and coordination
- C1. Audit competencies, quality, processes, and results
- C2. Independence and stakeholder engagement
- C3. ICT development for effective audit work