Closing conference Sharaka II
Speech by Ewout Irrgang, acting President of the Netherlands Court of Audit, 12 june 2023 The Hague
Dear colleagues,
The Dutch have a saying: ‘God created the world, but the Dutch created The Netherlands’. It means most of the Netherlands, including The Hague, is below sea-level. Our country would be mostly submerged by sea if the Dutch had no built dikes and canals to create The Netherlands as it is today. Foreigners often ask us if most people live in the part of the country above sea-level. But it’s actually the other way around: most people live in the parts of The Netherlands below sea-level. The Dutch seem to feel very safe in their cities and communities below sea-level.
It is my pleasure to welcome you back to The Hague, below sea-level, for the Sharaka closing meeting of the first topic of our regional cooperation. Unfortunately, it is not possible for our Sudanese colleagues to join this Closing Conference in person. We are very concerned by the challenges our colleagues have faced over the last weeks. We hope that they remain safe and that things settle down soon.
In June last year, we set out to conduct eight performance audits on SDG 11: making cities and communities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Over the past year, colleagues from our countries have engaged in fruitful discussions and shared experiences and best practices on how we can work towards achieving impact with our SDG 11 audits in our respective countries. We have learned about the importance of collaborative efforts.
The role of SAIs in achieving this goal is important. SAIs can provide oversight and accountability to ensure that public funds are being used effectively, efficiently, and economically to improve the lives of our citizens. We can help identify areas where improvements can be made and encourage governments to take action. A specific ‘new’ perspective within this parallel audit was to involve Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in different stages. We are all aware that this is an important step to contribute to better public services for our citizens. The main challenge is often were to begin and how to apply this in practice. In order to facilitate this step we have been working on a tool/approach with our colleagues from Iraq. Based on this tested approach and the gathered inputs e.g. experiences, examples from your audits within your context, we are able now to produce a practical product that can be helpful for future audits, within our Sharaka community, but also relevant for other SAIs. This is, in my opinion, a concrete example of the added value of a cooperation like Sharaka, that fits in the INTOSAI motto ‘Mutual experience benefits all’.
Colleagues,
I know you have a full schedule ahead of you. Exchanging experiences with your colleagues, your peers, forms the basis for this week. Sharing knowledge that you have acquired over the last year allows for deeper learning and a better understanding. That is what makes the Sharaka community unique, we can come together to share our best practices, our challenges, and our commonalities.
As we close this first regional topic, let us take the lessons we have learned and apply them in our respective countries. Where a door closes, another one opens. In the upcoming week, we will have a discussion with the Liaison Officers that will shape the future of our regional cooperation. Together we will discuss potential topics that hold relevance and are of strategic priorities for the SAIs within this Sharaka community.
Finally, as you know the Dutch audit-team is auditing a very Dutch topic for SDG-11: water safety. Although there is no inmediate concern about our safety in Dutch cities like The Hague or Amsterdam the world is changing. Sea-levels are rising. Even in the intermediate term there are no direct risks for our safety foreseen. But even the Dutch might have to change a bit our old habit of just building ever higher dikes and dams. We plan to publish our audit on water safety before the end of the year.
For now, let me reassure you that although most of The Hague is below sea-level, you are in fact perfectly safe. And welcome. Thank you very much.