Bosnia and Herzegovina: Supreme Audit Institution and Anti-Corruption Agency Sign Memorandum of Cooperation

 

17 November 2023, Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight Against Corruption and the Audit Office of the Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have signed a memorandum of cooperation. The two institutions placed their signature under the new agreement following a joint workshop facilitated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“Increased cooperation between these two institutions is a useful step to support implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption in BiH”, said Mr. Koen Marquering, Programme Officer at the UNODC Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe and Head of Secretariat for the Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap. “Such cooperation can help to promote transparency, accountability and integrity in the allocation, use and monitoring of public funds”, Marquering noted.

The Memorandum of Cooperation foresees joint work in various areas. “In the coming period we will enhance our mutual exchange of information and analyse audit findings so that relevant audit recommendations can feed into the development of integrity plans”, said Mr. Elvis Kondžić, Director of the BiH Anti-Cooperation Agency at the signing ceremony.

The workshop on “Enhancing the collaboration between the supreme audit institutions and anti-corruption bodies to more effectively prevent and fight corruption” brought together over 30 staff of the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Audit Office, local audit offices, prosecutor’s offices and law enforcement bodies.

 

During the workshop, UNODC presented its practical guide with examples of cooperation between anti-corruption agencies and audit institutions to prevent corruption. BiH’s practitioners mapped the institutional framework for anti-corruption, discussed the relevance of auditing for prevention and enforcement, and brainstormed on effective communication and the use of information and communication technologies in the context of joint anti-corruption efforts.

UNODC facilitated this workshop through its Abu Dhabi Declaration Programme, which is funded by the Supreme Audit Institution of the United Arab Emirates and designed to promote the role of supreme audit institutions in tackling corruption and enhance their collaboration with anti-corruption bodies.

The training in BiH follows a regional workshop for South-Eastern Europe held earlier this year. BiH is the first country in the region to formalize cooperation between its anti-corruption agency and supreme audit institution in this manner.

Together with Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo[1], Bosnia and Herzegovina is an active member of UNODC’s regional platform for fast-tracking implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and the related Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, endorsed by all Western Balkan jurisdictions in 2021.

 

[1] All references to Kosovo shall be understood in the context of UNSCR 1244