Vietnam, UNDP share experience in SDGs audit

Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) Ho Duc Phoc meets with UNDP officials on August 30.

Director of the UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific Haoliang Xu congratulated the SAV on the achievements it has obtained in recent years, saying the supreme audit office plays a crucial role in ensuring full transparency and accountability in the public sector of UN member states, which facilitate economic growth and strengthen public confidence in the governments.

Phoc, for his part, thanked the UNDP for supporting the SAV through the Project VIE/02/008-KTNN for the 2003-2010 term. The project has helped the SAV make major steps in enhancing the legal framework of its operation and issue many important documents, he said.

The SAV has been active in sharing experience in SDGs auditing, he said, noting that the SAV has joined a conference on audit of the SDGs implementation preparedness among heads of state audit offices of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and will host a ASEAN Supreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI) seminar on SDGs audit experience sharing next year.

It has acknowledged its role and responsibility in auditing SDGs-related contents and is striving to strengthen its capacity in this matter, he added.

UNDP officials, including Team Leader for SDG Integration Laurel Patterson, Head of Water and Ocean Governance Programme Andrew Hudson and data development specialist Surge Kerto shared with the SAV experience in environmental audit, information technology audit, and particularly SDGs audit.

Concluding the meeting, Phoc said he expects the SAV will receive greater support from the UNDP in performing SDGs audit and organising SDGs audit training courses, seminars and conferences within the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) and ASEANSAI.

Founded in 1965, the UNDP is the UN’s global development network that advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life for themselves. Vietnam inked a cooperation agreement with the UNDP in 1978 and the two sides have implemented joint projects since then.