IDI benefits from peer expertise and experience in the TOGETHER iniative

A pool of resource people from different INTOSAI regions met in Oslo from 30 May to 03 June to review and further develop the initial material of IDI’s new Initiative on supporting SAIs in the intersected areas of human resource governance, diversity management & ethics (TOGETHER). The resource pool includes experienced HR practioners and other relevant professionals from SAIs of Indonesia, Ecuador, Bhutan, Morroco, Brazil, Sweden, Liberia, Ghana, France, and from PASAI Secretariat.

Beside reflecting on the insights from peers, the main outcomes from the meeting included reaching key consensus on the overall approach and the main parameters of the initiative content.

TOGETHER will advance the quest of SAIs to lead by example in how they manage their work force and thereby contribute to tangible changes in public sector accountability, integrity, and transparency. Addressing relevant needs, challenges, and opportunities in the areas of human resources, ethics, gender, and inclusiveness across different SAI levels of development, models, and contexts, TOGETHER will include blended support to SAIs in three components: (a) Human Resource Management (HRM) Fundamentals for SAIs; (b) SAIs and Ethics; and (c) Gender Responsive and Inclusive SAIs.

The initiative is planned to be launched in September-October this year and will initially target a pilot group of 10 SAIs from English-speaking INTOSAI regions, starting with the first and main component on HRM. After a round of awareness raising and initial conversations with SAI leadership in order to get a high-level understanding of their maturity level regarding HRM autonomy and key features of HRM functions, an eLearning course on HRM Basics for SAIs will be delivered to a group of relevant participants from the selected SAIs. The HRM Basics course will be followed by support on conducting an integrated review of SAI HRM practices to identify gaps and prioritise SAI-level development actions to be implemented in 2023. Implementation of TOGETHER Initiative in other INTOSAI languages (French, Spanish and Arabic) will be explored in 2023.

The development process of the TOGETHER Initiative benefits from helpful collaborations, including initial study and preliminary design done with the support of the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation (CAAF), close dialogue with INTOSAI regions that have previously supported their members in human resource management, and engagement with INTOSAI Capacity Building Commission (CBC) for reflecting the existing CBC tools and relevant INTOSAI standards on HRM for SAIs.

HR practioners and other relevant professionals working on the meeting outputs