Office of the Auditor General plays role in regional capacity development
The Office of the Auditor General Cayman Islands (“the Office”) in its current strategic plan cited a goal of supporting the development of public audit across the Caribbean region. This objective arose out of the Office being seen, by International donor agencies, as a leader in public sector auditing and our desire to assist in the capacity development of regional public audit offices.
In a move to fulfill this objective, two of our staff members (Patrick Smith and Winston Sobers) visited the audit office of St. Vincent & The Grenadines in April 2017 to commence a twinning arrangement with the key objective of strengthening the capacity of the Audit Office - St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The twinning arrangement, which is fully funded by the World Bank, consists of two visits by staff from our office to the St. Vincent office with the key areas of focus being to:
· provide training in conducting financial audits of statutory bodies and capital projects
· assist the Audit Office of St Vincent and the Grenadines in developing a strategic business plan
· assist the Audit Office of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the preparation of a learning development policy/plan for strengthening the capacity of the financial auditors
During this first phase of the twinning arrangement, approximately 23 staff of the St. Vincent office received basic training in risk based auditing and 9 members of a core group identified to specialize in conducting audits of statutory bodies received additional training through practical workshops to an intermediate level.
In addition to providing audit training, the management team of the St. Vincent office was also guided in revamping the vision statement, mission statement, and the key objectives of its strategic business plan.
The second phase of the arrangement has been tentatively set for August 2017, until then the Office will remain in contact with the St. Vincent office, and provide support and guidance via email and video conferencing.
More information regarding this twinning arrangement can be obtained by contacting Sue Winspear (345) 244 3201 or Patrick Smith (345) 244-3204 at the Office of the Auditor General.