INTOSAI and UN – SDGs

There is a growing global recognition – and importantly, expectation – of the central roles of INTOSAI and SAIs in promoting good governance and accountability. The recognition of these roles was prominently shown in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution of December 2011, "Promoting the efficiency, accountability, effectiveness and transparency of public administration by strengthening supreme audit institutions" (A/66/209).

Building on that recognition, the UN, in various forums and through the active engagement of INTOSAI, has underscored the indispensable role of independent and capable SAIs in the efficient, effective, transparent, and accountable implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This recognition was explicitly recognized by the UN Member States in the General Assembly’s December 2014 resolution, "Promoting and fostering the efficiency, accountability, effectiveness and transparency of public administration by strengthening supreme audit institutions" (A/69/228).

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the UN Member States jointly committed to in September 2015, provide an ambitious and long-term "plan of actions for people, planet, and prosperity", for all nations. The declaration on the SDGs, "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", noted that "Our Governments have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review, at the national, regional and global levels, in relation to the progress made in implementing the Goals and targets over the coming fifteen years". SAIs can, through their audits and consistent with their mandates and priorities, make valuable contributions to national efforts to track progress, monitor implementation, and identify improvement opportunities across the full set of the SDGs and their respective nations’ sustainable development efforts. INTOSAI has an important supporting and leveraging role to play in national, regional, and global efforts to implement the SDGs and to follow-up and review progress that is made. However, to meet global expectations, INTOSAI must operate in a more integrated and effective manner.