Higher degree of implementation of audit recommendations leads to reduction of corruption in BiH

„Public audit plays a significant role in preventing corruption, as it represents one of the most important control mechanisms for the proper and efficient spending of public funds“, is one of the conclusions of the conference „More Effective Public Audit for Reducing Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina“, held in Sarajevo on January 24, 2020.

The conference, which brought together representatives of supreme audit institutions in BiH, representatives of parliamentary committees for finance and budget, competent prosecutor's offices for acting on findings from audit reports, and representatives of public institutions, civil society organizations and the media, was organized by the Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) with financial support from Sweden.

"Sweden strongly advocates for transparency in the public sector and the principles of the rule of law. The use of audit and audit recommendations is an important integral element in preparing necessary reforms in public institutions. This would respond to citizens' demands for transparent management in state institutions.“ - on this occasion stated Torgny Svenungsson, Director of the Department for Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden in BiH. Public audits draw attention to identified deficiencies in the financial operations of institutions and provide concrete recommendations for their elimination.

„Issuing audit recommendations represents the first step in a chain of activities aimed at raising financial discipline and transparency in the work of public sector institutions. The next step is the implementation of recommendations by the responsible audited institutions, and in case of their non-implementation, initiating accountability issues, as well as sanctioning irresponsible behavior, omissions, and violations of the law. Currently, we have a situation where a large number of audit recommendations remain unimplemented, without any sanctions for the responsible institutions,“ stated Jasmila Pašić, Project Manager of CCI.

Through dialogue with all relevant stakeholders, efforts are being made to identify space for improving the aforementioned process in order to increase the degree of implementation of audit recommendations, and to improve existing control mechanisms, i.e., the role of competent parliamentary committees.

“On behalf of the Audit Office of the Institutions of BiH, I am pleased to participate in today's conference, as well as in the continuation of activities of the project „More Effective Public Audit for Reducing Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina“. In addition to welcoming the involvement of civil society in decision-making and reform processes in the public sector, these events are important to us to once again clarify the role of the Audit Office and point out the necessity of engagement by the legislative and executive authorities in acting on audit recommendations, because the capacity and influence of the audit are directly related to the degree to which its recommendations are implemented by relevant stakeholders.

Also, I look forward with great interest to the presentation of the web database through which the public will be able to find, in one place, recommendations from audit offices at all levels in BiH and the status of their implementation,“ emphasized Jasmin Pilica, Deputy General Auditor of the Audit Office of the Institutions of BiH.

Specialized portal Revizije.info

During the Conference, participants were presented with the specialized portal Revizije.info, which focuses on the topic of audit, i.e., control of spending of public money and the work of public institutions and enterprises in accordance with the law. An integral part of the portal is a database of financial audits conducted in BiH over the past 4 years. The intention is to offer the public a credible and analytical database of institutions that have been subject to audit (and received recommendations for improvement), as well as their work on implementing these recommendations.