OLACEFS and gender

The Latin-American and Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (OLACEFS) is an organization of a permanent nature; international, autonomous, independent and apolitical. This organization meets the need to create a high-level forum to exchange ideas and experiences related to governmental and fiscal control as well as to promote cooperation between our institutions, that is conformed by 22 plenary members and 29 associated members.

Since 2012, we have been implementing a new model of capacity building of auditors, through coordinated audits.

In 2014, we carried out the first coordinated audit on gender equality, with the participation of the SAIs of Chile, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.

The results of that first work, generated such a momentum that in 2016, the OLACEFS’ General Assembly approved a proposal to carry out a new audit on gender, in this case linked to the 2030 Agenda, particularly with Goal 5: “gender equality”.

GTG – Working Group on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination

The Working Group on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination was created at the LXXI meeting of the OLACEFS’ Virtual Board of Directors held on June 30, 2020, by agreement 1448/06/2020.

The general objective of this Working Group is to propose a gender equality and non-discrimination Policy that will serve as a basis to be implemented in the SAIs of OLACEFS. Likewise, the Group shall define, together with the interested SAIs, the implementation of the policy, its monitoring, and evaluation, as well as the processes for feedback and exchange of good practices that can be generated around gender equality and non-discrimination.

This is a new way of enhancing OLACEFS' commitment to gender equity and equality. At the global level, INTOSAI believes that audit entities must ensure their effectiveness, inclusiveness, and accountability. This commitment is reflected in INTOSAI's fourth strategic goal: to strive to maximize the value of the organization, both for its member SAIs and the organization.

At the regional level, it stands as a way to operationalize strategic goal 4 of the OLACEFS Strategic Plan, as it is a way by which SAIs can support the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Members

  1. General Audit Office of the Nation of Argentina

  2. Court of Audit of the Union of Brazil

  3. Comptroller General’s Office of the Republic of Chile (Presidencia)

  4. Comptroller General’s Office of the Republic of Cuba

  5. Comptroller General’s Office of the Republic of Ecuador

  6. Comptroller General’s Office of Accounts of Guatemala

  7. Superior Audit Office of México

  8. Comptroller General’s Office of the Republic of Nicaragua

  9. Comptroller General’s Office of the Republic of Paraguay

  10. Comptroller General’s Office of the Peru

  11. Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

  12. Court of Accounts of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay


Observers

  1. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

  2. INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI-INTOSAI)

IBERO-AMERICAN
AUDIT ON GENDER
EQUALITY

Preparedness of governments for the implementation of the Sustentable Development Goal 5

Presentation

  • The audit presented today is the most successful we have carried out in our organization so far in terms of participation and geographical representation.

    Jorge Bermúdez Soto
    OLACEFS' Executive Secretariat

  • This report shows that the commitment to gender equality exists in the people of Ibero-American countries. It’s time for the governments to step it up.

    Katja Iversen
    President and CEO, Women Deliver

  • The systematic mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals is crucial.

    Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
    United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, (UN Women)

Ibero-American
Audit on gender equality

The coordinated audit on SDG 5 has been a great opportunity to engage OLACEFS’ SAIs members to analyze the status of compliance with this SDG, as well as an opportunity to exercise the purpose of acting as models of transparency and accountability in our own entities.

Indeed, among the OLACEFS we are committed to support the implementation of the SDGs. In this framework, we have established four approaches to carry out our work, one of them being our purpose to act as models of transparency and accountability in our own operations. For that reason, along with the coordinated audit, we carried out an internal survey that constitutes a self-evaluation on the gender-related issues among our institutions.

Axes and components evaluated

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    • Commitments Acquired
    • Existence and Articulation of National Mechanisms
    • Mechanisms for intersectoral and subnational coordination
    • Integration into the National Development Plan (NDP)
    • Public awareness and stakeholders promotion
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    • Resource Estimation
    • Stakeholders’ participation
    • Cooperation Opportunities
    • Risks and Strategies Identification
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    • Definition of responsible actors
    • Participation in process design
    • Performance indicators and defined baselines
    • Production process and quality data collection
    • Communicating results and accountability

Integrated Gender Index

1. Not implemented (X = 0%)

In training (0% < X <=50,0%)

3. In development (50,0% < X <=75,0%)

4. Optimized (75,0% < X <=100%)

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    Planning

    This axis is the one that presents the best evaluation.

    The creation of institutions specially aimed at the implementation of the 2030 Agenda stands out among the findings.

    The governments of the region have been effective in the distribution of information and involvement of citizens and other actors interested in the processes and institutional mechanisms necessary to integrate SDG 5.

    Recomendations
    • Have institutions that are dedicated exclusively to implementing the 2030 Agenda in their countries, identifying lines of action and coordinating the actors involved;
    • Integrate the focus on gender into government actions;
    • Prepare –or execute where they exist– national medium and long-term development plans that integrate the goals and objectives of the Agenda
    • Strengthen the role of subnational entities in the realization of the goals of the Agenda.
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    Financing

    This axis is the weakest of the 3 evaluated.

    There is no evidence of medium/long term evaluations to define what amount, type and quality of resources are necessary to implement the SDG 5 goals in the countries of the region.

    Governments have not carried out risk assessments to define the resources necessary for the implementation of SDG 5. Although there are actions and programs for the benefit of women and girls, strategies have not been defined to evaluate their impact and if these will allow achieving the goals of SDG 5.

    Important opportunities for cooperation were detected.

    Recomendations
    • Carry out a mapping aimed at identifying the resources and capacities needed to ensure their availability in the implementation of the SDGs;
    • Develop plans and programs to manage the financing risk for compliance with the SDGs;
    • Incorporate the gender perspective in the public budget, at all levels of the budget process;
    • Prepare a diagnosis for the determination of public resources to identify the sectors in which it is possible to allocate, guarantee and execute a budget with a focus on gender;
    • Have coordination agreements and alliances to attract and mobilize financial resources with the participation of the various actors called to interact in the implementation of the
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    Follow-up

    It is essential that the follow-up, examination and reporting processes be clearly designed with the participation of all stakeholders.

    Among the opportunities for improvement, there is a need to define the processes to ensure the production, quality and availability of disaggregated data, considering the intersectionality required by the application of a gender-based approach.

    Recomendations
    • Establish and define clear functions in the follow-up mechanisms of the implementation of SDG 5 in order to obtain results in an orderly manner;
    • Define the processes to ensure the production, quality, availability and level of disaggregation of data, considering the intersectionality required by the focus on gender;
    • Define and implement guidelines that allow for updated documentation and thus facilitate the analysis of the followup indicators for the implementation of SDG 5;
    • Link the results of the gathering of information with different actors, in particular with civil society; and,
    • Finalize the integration of existing documents and processes for the long-term follow-up and examination of SDG 5.

SDG 5 in the governments evaluated

Report

IBERO-AMERICAN AUDIT ON GENDER EQUALITY

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The general objective of this audit was to evaluate the preparation of the governments to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5.

In this process, 18 SAIs participated (16 from the continent, 1 subnational and 1 European). Argentina, Bolivia, Bogotá, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Perception survey: gender situation within the entities of the OLACEFS

  • It is an opportunity to diagnose the gender situation within the control institutions of the continent and to act as models of transparency and accountability in our operations. trending_flat

  • We received 4,459 responses from 22 Audit Institutions. The diagnosis denotes that the reality of Latin American control entities does not differ from the one faced in their different countries
PERCEPTION OVER TIME OF GENDER EQUALITY
INSTITUCIONAL ACTIONS
LANGUAGE
SEXUAL HARASSMENT OR MOLESTATION
SELECTION, PROMOTION AND FORMATION OF TEAMS AT WORK

Partnership with Civil Society

Collaborating for Change: How civil society organizations and audit offices can hold government accountable for the Sustainable Development Goals.

This series, produced by the Canadian Audit & Accountability Foundation (CAAF) collaboration with Women Deliver, provides CSOs with information, strategies and tools to effectively engage with audit offices and oversight bodies. It can also be helpful for audit offices that are looking to collaborate with CSOs and other stakeholders. OLAECFS has proudly collaborated in the process and has translated the guide to Spanish.

  • Understanding Performance Audit

    This first publication explains the basic concepts of performance auditing and describes the complementary roles of CSOs and auditors in holding governments accountable for their promises to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Tools for collaboration

    This publication provides tools and tips to help CSOs prepare for collaboration with an audit office. It includes various case studies of successful collaborations between legislative audit offices and CSOs from various countries.

  • Accountability for Gender Equality

    This third publication will apply the strategies seen in Product 2 to SDG 5: achieving gender equality.

GLOSSARY

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    It refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a particular society at a given time considers appropriate for both men and women

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    Refers to the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men and of girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will be equal, but that the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men will not depend on whether they were born with a particular sex. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs, and priorities of women and men are taken into account, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women's issue but concerns and involves men as well as women. Equality between women and men is considered a human rights issue and both a requirement and an indicator of people-centered development

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    Symbolic structures that have their origin in the creative capacity of the human psyche and in the boundaries imposed by social dynamics

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    They are simplistic generalizations of the gender attributes, differences and roles of women and men

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    Refers to the way in which each society divides labor between men and women, boys and girls, according to socially established gender roles or that are considered appropriate and valued for each sex.

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    Any restriction, distinction or exclusion based on sex, that is intended to undermine the recognition or exercise by women of their human, political, economic, social, cultural and civil rights

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    The expression “violence and harassment” in the world of work designates a set of unacceptable behaviors and practices, or threats of such behaviors and practices, whether they are manifested only once or repeatedly, which are intended to cause, or are likely to cause, physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment