5 July 2021

Wellington, New Zealand: More than 100 people from locations around the world registered to attend PASAI’s first virtual Congress between 22 and 24 June 2021.

COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented Palau from hosting Congress in 2020 as originally planned. So this year PASAI members agreed the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General (SAI NZ) would host it virtually from Wellington, New Zealand.

SAI NZ rose to the challenge of hosting Congress in a purely online format. The Congress platform allowed for live video crosses to presenters in North America and Australasia, pre-recorded videos submitted by eminent speakers from Africa and the Pacific, break-out discussion sessions in separate online ‘rooms’ and even short, randomly chosen networking sessions between participants.

The hosts were still able to create a sense of place for participants, with heartfelt opening and closing ceremonies filmed from the significant Māori Affairs Committee Room, Māui tikitiki-a-Taranga, in New Zealand’s Parliament House.

The online format enabled an exceptional array of distinguished guests and keynote speakers to participate. Attendees heard from:

• the Right Honourable Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the House of Representatives, New Zealand;

• the Honourable Aupito William Sio, Minister for Pacific Peoples and Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs;

• the Right Honourable Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999–2008) and former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (2009–17);

• Ed Olowo-Okere, Director Governance Global Practice at the World Bank Group, Washington DC;

• Tsakani Maluleke, Auditor-General of South Africa;

• Doris Flores Brooks, former Public Auditor of Guam;

• Lyn Provost CNZM, former Auditor-General of New Zealand;

• the Honourable Dr Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa, Prime Minister of Tonga and former Auditor General;

• Kevin Brady, former Auditor-General of New Zealand; and

• Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Associate Professor at the University of Auckland and New Zealander of the Year.

With half of the speakers presenting live, Congress attendees enjoyed the active discussions with John Ryan, PASAI Secretary-General and Auditor-General of New Zealand, as well as being able to engage with the speakers by submitting their own questions through the platform.

“COVID is a reset – it’s not going to be ‘back to normal’. Despite all our challenges, we have a really strong past that we’re standing on and we’re extremely well positioned to take ourselves forward,” Mr Ryan said, reflecting on the support conveyed by SAI heads, development partners and regional partners throughout the Congress.

The theme of the three-day Congress was ‘Impact through leadership’, which enabled SAI Heads to discuss leadership opportunities and challenges they have experienced during the pandemic. SAI Heads also heard about effective communication strategies for creating audit impact with key stakeholders like the public.

PASAI released a communiqué after the event and looks forward to the next Congress hosted by SAI Palau.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the EU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

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Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

A snapshot of photos from the 23rd PASAI Congress:

PDF version of media release