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On 20 May, the 11th Meeting and Workshop of the EUROSAI Working Group on the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes began in Rome (Italian Republic). The event was organised by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine in cooperation with the Supreme Audit Institution of the Italian Republic (Corte dei conti).
Representatives of supreme audit institutions from 12 European countries are participating in the meeting, including Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamberof Ukraine Olha Pishchanska, President of the Corte dei conti of the Italian Republic Guido Carlino, auditors from the SAIs of the Working Group member countries, and other participants.
The theme of this year's Working Group meeting, ‘Together Against Disasters: From Preparedness to Innovation,’ aims to encourage broad discussion and the formation of new approaches to auditing based on professional dialogue in the context of today's challenges. Opening the event, Olha Pishchanska outlined the importance of the Working Group's activities in preventing crisis situations:
«Today it is obvious: no country can effectively confront disasters on its own. Climate crises, technological accidents, pandemics, wars, and threats to critical infrastructure all require strong international cooperation, joint strategic thinking, and updated approaches and methodologies in public control and audit. The EUROSAI Working Group has already established itself as a vital platform for professional cooperation», – said Olha Pishchanska.
During the event, the Working Group's activities for the previous period were summarised, in particular the implementation of the Working Group's Strategic Plan for 2021-2024, and key areas of work for 2025-2027 were discussed: developing the professional skills of auditors, strengthening disaster prevention measures and effective communication on audit results.
SAI’s representatives also shared their own experience of conducting audits in the areas of civil protection and disaster response, as well as their audit findings in these areas. Lilia Prudivus, an auditor at the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, informed about the importance of critical infrastructure preparedness for emergencies and the role of auditing in building the resilience of this infrastructure. Her colleague, Iryna Yurshevska, presented the results of an international parallel audit on civil protection in schools to the participants of the event. Viktor Vitovetsky, Director of the Department for the Organisation of Civil Protection Measures at the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, via online connection, informed participants about how measures to organise the security of critical infrastructure are implemented in practice and about the specifics of responding to emergencies in the context of the challenges of war.
During the event, experts from the supreme audit institutions of participating countries also shared their practices for assessing the readiness of states for various emergencies. Their audits focus on the protection of critical infrastructure, the effectiveness of emergency management, and the functioning of shelter systems, among other things.
Experts from the Republic of Serbia and Romania presented the results of their audits on shelter management. They identified shortcomings in the regulation and financing of this area.
A representative of the Estonian Republic's SAI presented the results of a critical infrastructure security audit, which revealed a lack of systemic security requirements for energy facilities in the country.
At the same time, the Georgian SAI presented the conclusions of an audit assessing the effectiveness of anti-hail systems and their impact on mitigating the effects of natural disasters.
The auditor of the Italian Republic’s SAI spoke, in particular, about the audit of flood risk management measures and the audit of measures to eliminate the 2023 flood at the regional level.
The invited expert, a representative of the Civil Protection Service of the Italian Republic, informed about emergency management mechanisms, the role of central and local authorities in this process, coordination between them in disaster response, etc.
The interactive Flash Talk session “One Lesson We Learned from Our Most Recent Disaster Audit” attracted particular attention from the participants, during which speakers gave short presentations on effective tools that influenced public policy.
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The day before, a bilateral meeting was also held between the Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, Olha Pishchanska, and the President of the Corte dei conti, Guido Carlino. The Chairs of the SAIs discussed the possibility of conducting joint audits and current cooperation: opportunities for exchanging experience on conducting real-time audits**, in particular, support from the supreme audit institution of the Italian Republic in updating the regulatory framework of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine necessary for conducting such audits. The parties also discussed opportunities for auditors the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine to learn about best practices for auditing during emergencies.
The Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber, Olha Pishchanska, thanked her Italian colleague for the warm welcome and comprehensive assistance in organising the XIth Meeting of the EUROSAI Working Group on the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes, as well as for his institution's efforts to develop innovations in the field of auditing.
On 21 May, during the second day of the XIth Meeting of the Working Group, participants will discuss innovative approaches and digital solutions in auditing funds for disaster prevention and recovery.
* The EUROSAI Working Group on the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes was established in 2014on the initiative of the Accounting Chamber.. The working group brings together 17 supreme audit institutions. Its goal is to strengthen the capacity of states in the area of auditing funds allocated to combat the effects of disasters, as well as to promote innovative approaches to public finance control.
** The Italian Republic's SAI heads the Project Group on Real-Time Audit Benefits and Methodologies, which was established in 2023 as part of EUROSAI's Strategic Goal 1 (SG1).
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