A new working paper examines the involvement of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in auditing the pre¬paredness of governments for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2015. These audits have covered institutional arrangements put in place to implement the SDGs, the mobilization of resources, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks. SDG preparedness audits have produced valuable information that is not necessarily available from other national processes linked with SDG follow-up and review. As such, audit recommendations can be a powerful tool to help governments improve SDG implementation. The paper reflects on the impact that SDG audits have made, and on the challenges and opportunities for SAIs that have engaged in this exercise. While many of these challenges are generic to the work of SAIs, SDG audits also present specific political, institutional and technical problems. Finally, the paper explores questions that this new area of engagement poses for SAIs, including the long-term prospects for institutionalization of SDG audits and the relationship with other accountability mechanisms for the SDGs at the national level.
Click here for more information.
The United Nations is now accepting nominations for the 2019 United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA). The UNPSA promotes and rewards innovation and excellence in public services supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, its 17 Goals (SDGs), and the core principle of 2030 Agenda of leaving no one behind. The deadline for nominations is 30 November 2018.
The 2018 UN E-Government Survey is available online. The 2018 Survey provides new analysis and evidence on how to further utilize the potential of e-government to support the 2030 Agenda. It also examines how Member States can use e-government and information technologies to build sustainable and resilient societies.
The World Public Sector Report (WPSR) has been published by the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) of UNDESA since 2001. The forthcoming edition will focus on public institutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), examining trends in relation to the implementation of institutional principles highlighted in SDG 16. This call for contributions invites researchers and experts to submit inputs and policy briefs highlighting issues, trends, research findings or solutions in relation to the research questions that the report seeks to address The deadline for submissions is 15 September 2018. Click here for more information.