Cooperation with the National Audit Office of Kosovo
The Swedish National Audit Office cooperates with the National Audit Office of Kosovo in many areas, including developing capabilities for conducting high-quality performance audits, developing quality management, bolstering communication, enhancing the authority’s governance, HR and modern leadership. The cooperation also includes legislative issues and relations with parliament.
We have cooperated with the National Audit Office of Kosovo for a long time and two of their previous internationally appointed Auditors General were Swedes, both of whom previously worked with public-sector auditing in Sweden.
Focus areas
Improving the quality of audit findings
In performance audit, our support centres on ensuring that audits are performed with a high level of quality from start to finish. We are involved in developing the process of how planning, implementation, analysis, communication and follow-up of audit findings is carried out. We provide support to the team at the authority that is responsible for quality issues.
We provide training sessions to help auditors write good reports that are clear and comprehensible.
Developing the ability to plan, manage and lead the authority
We support the planning of the long-term development of operations, the annual planning of audits and the operations monitoring. External communication and reporting to parliament are also being developed.
We also cooperate with the National Audit Office of Kosovo to contribute to obtaining a desired amendment to the Audit Act.
Planning and adapting communication for different target groups
To strengthen internal and external communication, we support the National Audit Office of Kosovo in several ways, including by supporting strategic management communication and the development of communication strategies.
Strengthening leadership and employee engagement
For managers, we have a leadership development programme designed to support their leadership.
We are also trying out the team development tool TeamPro with the aim of creating better dialogue within teams. The goal is to create conditions for well-functioning teams that deliver high-quality audits.
Developing quality management
Quality management is an important function in a modern supreme audit institution, so we support the development of quality management within the project. This is done by documenting roles and responsibilities, producing quality objectives based on a risk analysis and by creating a follow-up process.
Outcomes
Cooperation with Kosovo has generated several outcomes:
- The National Audit Office of Kosovo has been modernised and developed to operate in line with international standards. They have made great progress in auditing and strategic planning.
- The auditing process has improved and a clear process accepted by the auditors has been established.
- The National Audit Office of Kosovo has become a full member of the international organisations of INTOSAI and EUROSAI.
- The managers have improved their competence in supporting and assuring the quality of audits. The authority has also increased its awareness of quality control and introduced it in all performance audits.
- The authority has made significant progress in strategic planning and audit planning.
- The leadership role has been strengthened at various levels. Managers have improved at communicating and giving feedback. The team spirit has been strengthened and the relationship between employees and managers has improved.
- Audit reports have generally become more reader-friendly and there is a greater awareness among managers and auditors about the benefits of more analytical and reader-friendly reports. The reports have become more structured. More normative and open questions are used which, in turn, gives the analysis greater depth.
- A certification system has been established in the field of performance audit. This has led to greater confidence among the certified auditors and a better ability to work independently.
Circumstances and challenges
The National Audit Office of Kosovo is ambitious, has a large mandate and enjoys a high level of trust among its citizens. Our long-term cooperation focuses on sustainable capacity and heightened quality in auditing in accordance with international standards.
The National Audit Office of Kosovo faces various challenges on how to operate. This includes
- The independence of the Authority is limited since the government has influence over the authority’s budget.
- The authority wants to amend the Audit Act to strengthen its independence and base its auditing on risk analysis. The authority also wants to have freedom of action and be able to prioritise where to make use of their internal resources.
- The authority needs to develop its activities related to recruiting and retaining employees.