A workshop on Conducting Mapping and iCAT (ISSAI Compliance Assessment Tools) was held at the Tungi Colonnade Hotel, Nuku’alofa, Tonga for the staff of the Tonga Office of the Auditor General (TOAG). The workshop was delivered by the Norway based INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), an organisation that supports the strengthening of performance and capacities of government audit offices or Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) around the world.

The workshop is the start of support to SAI Tonga for implementing ISSAIs (International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions) under the Support for External Oversight Function of the Public Financial Management System (Tonga). The 30 or so participants which included the senior management staff of the TOAG, were trained on a method to implement ISSAIs in a holistic and phased approach. It is holistic as it involves the adoption and implementation of ISSAIs for financial, compliance and performance audits; and phased allowing the TOAG to be fully compliant with the standards over a period of time, while at the same time have minimum impact on the usual operational work of the TOAG.

Mr. Sefita Tangi, Auditor-General of Tonga remarked, “The Tonga Audit Office is grateful for this opportunity to pilot in the Pacific region the SAI level support project of the IDI’s global ISSAI implementation initiative, 3i Programme Phase II. The expected outcome of this project is ISSAI compliant audits conducted by the TOAG.”

The workshop was facilitated by Shofiqul Islam, IDI Manager Capacity Development, and assisted by Eroni Vatuloka, PASAI PFM (Public Financial Management) Consultant.

PASAI acknowledges the kind financial support of the Australian Government and the IDI in improving public financial management in Tonga.