The Working Group on Environmental Auditing of the African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI WGEA) is the African regional branch of a global working group of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) dedicated to environmental issues. Recalling the 14th INTOSAI Congress (14th INCOSAI), held in Washington DC in October 1992, members of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) expressed a keen interest in the roles and activities of SAIs in the field of environmental auditing.

The Assembly approved the creation of a Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) that was later on established under the chairmanship of the Court of Auditors of the Netherlands by the INTOSAI Governing Board. The Court of Auditors of Netherlands was given the duty to prepare the WGEA’s terms of reference that was approved by the Governing Board of INTOSAI in May 1993. This first document indicates that the WGEA aims to help member SAIs to better fulfill their mandate and better use of monitoring tools in the field of political protection of the environment.

In October 2001, the mandate of the Working Group, called the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA or INTOSAI WGEA) widened. Since then, it is now responsible for the development and improvement of technical tools, materials and practices relating to environmental auditing on behalf and for the benefit of SAIs.

More specifically, it is mandated to:

• ·         contribute to the understanding by SAIs of specific issues related to environmental auditing ;
• ·         facilitate the exchange of information and experience among SAIs ;
• ·         update and improve standards and tools for environmental audit, including dissemination of guidelines and other information materials.

As such, it is the crucible, a laboratory in which are discussed all the environmental concerns that SAIs of all the continents are facing. It allows finding relevant, comprehensive and current responses in various environmental audit issues in a world subject to mutations affecting the environment.

As a proactive and voluntary organization (the activity of its members are free), INTOSAI WGEA initially included 12 member SAIs and today consists of over 80 SAIs, which are organized into groups according to INTOSAI regions such as ASOSAI, PASAI, OLACEFS, ARABOSAI, EUROSAI and AFROSAI.

The AFROSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (AFROSAI WGEA) is the African regional branch of a global working group of SAIs dedicated to environmental issues. African SAIs established a formal Working Group in 2002 after conducting several Audit activities relating to environmental issues within the banner of the AFROSAI English Sub-Group (AFROSAI-E) or under a collaborative approach headed by SAI South Africa.

Since its establishment, the AFROSAI WGEA encourages SAIs to conduct audits of environmental issues and implement programs and activities for capacity building of SAIs in this regard. For the purpose of supervising and guiding its efforts, AFROSAI WGEA usually develops a three-year work-plan approved by SAIs according to AFROSAI established practices.

The Auditor-General for the Federation (SAI Nigeria) is the current President of the AFROSAI WGEA and plays host to the Secretariat. SAI Nigeria took over the Presidency of the Working Group at the 9th Annual Assembly meeting in Cairo Egypt in October 2019.

Find out more about the activities from AFROSAI WGEA homepage.
For more information, please contact the Secretariat at info@afrosaiwgea.africa.

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