Adopt an audit and internal control system to ensure transparency (TNCTG0003)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Action plan – Carthage, Tunisia, 2022 – 2023
Inception Report: Not available
Commitment Start: Dec 2022
Commitment End: Jun 2023
Institutions involved:
- Municipality of Carthage Participatory Democracy Commission and OpenGov
- Municipality of Carthage
- Tunisian Association of Local Governance
Primary Policy Area:
Primary Sector:
OGP Value:
- Public Accountability
- Access to information
- Civic Participation
Description
Commitment ID
TNCTG0003
Commitment Title
Adopt an audit and internal control system to ensure transparency in the management of municipal resources, and set up a citizen advisory committee on ethics, governance and audit
Problem
The Municipal Council feels the need to be accompanied by audit and compliance expertise. The code of local authorities requires municipalities to have an internal control framework, which is currently lacking, and several reservations have been released by the Court of Auditors, taking time to be implemented. Also, the financial diagnostic report of the supervisory authority, the Ministry of the Interior, shows an unbalanced budgetary situation requiring more rationalization and control in the management of the city's finances. The objective is to examine and evaluate the relevance and efficiency of municipal activities and the quality of their performance in order to implement corrective actions.
Status quo
The local authority code stipulates that communes must undertake to ensure the transparency of their management and put in place the means to access information on their expenditure. To do this, they must commit to having an internal audit system. The government supports local governments that adopt this approach. local governments, in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics, undertake to build up a statistical database and make it available to the public authorities and citizens, for use in drawing up public policies, development plans and various research, taking into account the legislation on the protection of personal data. Citizens also have the right to oversee the city's financial management, but are currently not involved or consulted in this process, and ethical compliance must be formalized in written procedures.
Action
Establish an internal audit and control system to ensure transparency in the management of the Municipality's resources
Establish an independent joint ethics, governance and audit advisory committee structure, composed of citizen volunteers and members of Council and the administration.
How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?
The implementation of an internal audit and control system will enable the Municipality to better manage its financial resources and thus make the right decisions to correct budget imbalances. With this system of internal audit and control, as well as the Ethics, Governance and Audit Advisory Committee, which will take into account the opinion of citizens on issues related to governance, the Municipality will strengthen its transparency and integrity and increase its trust with its public and its partners.
What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?
With better management of its financial and material resources, in a transparent framework with the various stakeholders, and the involvement of active citizens in the decision-making system through the Advisory Committee on Ethics, Governance and Audit, this commitment will strengthen the action of the municipality. on the following axes:- Strengthening accountability, with the creation of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the work in the administration (Dashboards)- Transparency with access to information and direct communication on the assets of the city and the performance of the municipal service.
Primary Policy Area
Audits & Controls, Conflicts of Interest, Regulatory Governance
Primary Sector
Policing & Corrections, Public Services (general)
What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?
| Public Accountability | The audit and internal control system will help the Municipality implement corrective actions in its financial management and manage its performance through dashboards.The audit and internal control system will help the Municipality implement corrective actions in its financial management and manage its performance through dashboards. |
| Access to information | Advisory Committee will be carried out in a fully transparent and open framework for the public. In this way, the right to access to information will be guaranteed for all relevant stakeholders.Advisory Committee will be carried out in a fully transparent and open framework for the public. In this way, the right to access to information will be guaranteed for all relevant stakeholders. |
| Civic Participation | The Ethics, Governance and Audit Advisory Committee relies on the involvement of citizen volunteers to give their opinions and recommendations to the municipal council on all ethical and governance issues submitted to it by themThe Ethics, Governance and Audit Advisory Committee relies on the involvement of citizen volunteers to give their opinions and recommendations to the municipal council on all ethical and governance issues submitted to it by them |