Oaxaca-Declaration-2022_Eng.pdf

20th Dec 2022

OAXACA DECLARATION

AUDIT ING DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE: AUDITS TO
REDUCE ACTS OF CORRUPTION, BUILD RESILIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL
RESTORATION , AND ACCELERATE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
September 23, 2022

The Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of OLACEFS, meeting at the XXXI Ordinary
General Assembly, in the City of Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, review the technical
issues related to the “Supervision of disaster risk reduction in the face of multiple
threats in poverty, education and health programs” and “Contribution of SAIs to
the fight against climate change .”
CONSIDERING what is stated in the Human Development Report 2020. The Next
Frontier. Human Development and the Anthropocene of the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) that “the Earth has entered a completely new
geological epoch: the Anthropocene, the era of human beings (…) an era defin ed
by human choices, in which the dominant risk to our survival is ourselves.”

OBSERVING that the Inter -American Court of Human Rights has recognized the
existence of an undeniable relationship between the protection of the
environment and the realization of other human rights, insofar as environmental
degradation and the adverse effects of climate change affect the effective
enjoyment of the human rights referred to in the Additional Protocol to the
American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Econo mic, Social and
Cultural Rights.

DEFERRING to advisory opinion OC -23/17 of November 15, 2017, of a binding
nature for the member states, in which it provides in its section IX to the States “….
the duty to respect and guarantee the rights to life and in tegrity of persons under

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their jurisdiction, States have the obligation to prevent significant environmental
damage, within or outside their territory, for which they must regulate, supervise
and audit activities under their jurisdiction that may produce s ignificant damage
to the environment; conduct environmental impact studies when there is a risk of
significant damage to the environment; establish a contingency plan, in order to
have safety measures and procedures to minimize the possibility of major
env ironmental accidents, and mitigate the significant environmental damage that
would have occurred…”

HEEDING the calls of the 2022 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk
Reduction: Our World at Risk : Transforming Governance for a Resilient Future.
(GAR2022 ) of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction which notes
that “human action is creating greater and more dangerous risk, and pushing the
planet t owards existential and ecosystemic limits.

Risk reduction must be at the heart of action to accelerate action against climate
change and achieve the SDGs” and recognize that “nothing undermines
sustainable development more than disasters”.

AWARE that sys temic risk cannot be completely eliminated, but can be reduced
and addressed more effectively, that existing knowledge on risk reduction can be
harnessed as well as improved approaches developed to address the
characteristics of systemic risk, such as its cascading effects and the inherent
complexity and uncertainty (GAR2022) and that audit findings can make a
substantial contribution to this knowledge and institutional strengthening .

CONSIDERING that the spillover effects of disasters can also have broad
cascading impacts on other aspects of structural or social inequality. There is a
correlation between the number of people affected by disasters and the increase
in violence against women and girls, in extreme cases . (GAR2022)

RECOGNIZING that Latin Ameri ca and the Caribbean is one of the regions in the
world most affected by climate change and extreme weather events that cause
damage to health, life, food, water, energy , and socioeconomic development
(WMO, 2020), Central America is one of the most vulnera ble areas in the world
according to the UNFCCC catalog and that the Caribbean is “ground zero” of the
global climate emergency ( UN Secretary General of the United Nations.

ACCEPTING the mention of the “integration and empowerment of supreme audit
organizations in the follow -up of changes and reforms in risk management
systems, as well as transparency in budgets and accountability” of the Regi onal
assessment report on disaster risk in Latin America and the Caribbean . Challenges
for disaster risk reduction and progress in meeting the Sendai Framework targets

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in Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nati ons Office for Disaster Risk
Reduction (2021) .

ACCOMPANYING the Mid -term Review of the application of the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 -2030 in the Americas and the
Caribbean by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction , w hose scope
includes, the retrospective review of the progress achieved so far; assessment of
context ual changes and emerging problems or issues; as well as a forward –
looking vision with recommendations for action that promote sustainable and risk –
informed d evelopment to 2030 and beyond; and creating consistency with checks
and balances of other frameworks, conventions , and agreements.

RECALLING the Declaration of Asunción on Environment and Sustainable
Development of the XIX Ordinary General Assembly on the challenges o f SAIs in
the face of climate change and energy development within the framework of the
environment and sustainable development as one of the concerns and topics of
common interest, since natural resources are part of the heritage of the Nations .

ASSUMING the commitments of the OLACEFS Official Declarations previously
signed: Cusco Declaration on SAIs and Public Governance ; Declaration of Punta
Cana on the Promotion of Citizen Part icipation in the Follow -up and Audit of the
SDGs ; Buenos Aires Declaration: the role of SAIs in the face of the new informa tion
technologies of the 21st century , Declaration of San Salvador on the fight against
transnational corruption , and the Cartagena Declaration on the promotion of the
human rights -based approach in control activities in SAIs .

REAFFIRMING the commitment of SAIs to global agendas such as: Transforming
our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , the Paris Agreement ,
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , the
Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development , the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 -2030 and the United Nations
Convention against Corru ption .

HIGHLIGHTING the public audit pronouncements of the International
Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) that establish internationally
recognized professional principles and standards in the appl ication of the
methodology and support the effective functioning of SAIs, in particular , those
related to the Value and Benefits of SAIs INTOSAI – P12 , Transparency , and
accountability INTOSAI – P20 ; Public Sector Audit ISSAI 100 , Code of ethics ISSAI
130 , Environmental Audit GUID 5200 , Sustainable development GUID 5202 ,
Audits of International E nvironmental Accord s GUID 5203 , Corruption Prevention
GUID 5270 , Audit of Development and Key Indicators GUID 5290 , and, Disaster
Management Audit GUID 5330 ; Evaluation of Public Policies GUID 9020 .

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REAFFIRMING the value of joint work with stakeholders and civil society and/or
victims and/or those affected by emergency crisis processes.

ENDORSING the adherence of our SAIs to the declarations of the INTOSAI
Congresses (INCOSAI) such as the Abu Dhabi Declaration on transparency and
accoun tability of SAIs, as well as the fight against corruption, and the Beijing
Declaration on Good Governance, and the conclusions and recommendations of
the 24th United Nations /INTOSAI Symposium on digitization, open data and data
mining: relevance and implications for SAI s’ audits and for enhancing their
contribution to the foll ow -up and review of the SDGs.

DECLARING that SAIs have the mandate to audit compliance with standards , the
management of national policies , and the international commitments of our
countries, so it is necessary to reflect on the level of influence we exer t on reality.

CONSIDERING that the SAIs, in accordance with their leaders, verify whether the
budget planning of our countries has achieved a balance between social,
economic , and environmental aspects since , beyond the review of the application
of public resources, it is necessary to evaluate its impact. The performance audits
carried out on social and economic programs to overcome poverty and health
include a review of their impact in the face of the climate emergency and the
intensification of disasters .

RECOGNIZING that SAIs audit the progress of the SDGs and that our findings are
consistent with what is indicated by the GAR 2022: “risk reduction needs to be at
the core of the measures to accelerate action against climate change and achieve
development .”

DECLARING that these issues constitute fundamental challenges faced by our
countries because they impact the development of people and the full validity of
Human Rights.

MAINTAINING that in order to carry out these activities, adequate technical
preparation of the audit teams in matters of integrity and the fight against
corruption is necessary. Likewise, identify attempts to directly influence the
formulation of policies, rules , and regulations of society, favoring particular
interests over the public interest.

RECOGNIZING that SAIs must allocate adequate personnel and resources to
these issues to promote the use of knowledge and the dissemination of good
practices since skills and preparation are required in technical areas related to
economic, environmental, social, cultural , and key poli cies .

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RECOGNIZING that in government auditing, evidence is evaluated to determine
whether the information or conditions of a given project o r program carried out
with public resources comply with the criteria established by the applicable
regulations, so SAIs must ensure that relevant and reliable information is available.
This implies that in addition to the existence of quality disaggregated data, these
must be: accessible, comprehensive, timely, verifiable, meaningful , and reliable,
to help measure progress, enable follow -up, and support monitoring .

UNDERSTANDING that government auditing must be based on a solid
understanding of the audited policy, which must be based on quality information,
which must be based on robust, official , and reliable evidence and data, since SAIs
contribute to strengthening the financial management systems of public
institutions with their findings, knowing that c ontinuous accountability within the
government will create a preventive environment against corruption .

VALUING that the audits carried out on climate change and disaster risk reduction
make it possible to contribute to the strengthening and evolution of governance
by evaluating the consistency of regulatory frameworks and their congruence with
the powers of the actors and with the objectives established in the deadlines
indicated in each legal instrument.

INDICATING that the audits should check that the public exercise has been
oriented towards increasing the preparation of governments in the event of a
disaster, in order to provide an effective response, and rebuild better in the area
of recovery, rehabilitation , and reconstruction. When concretizing th e recovery, it
is necessary to incorporate a vision of improving the condition prior to the
occurrence of the phenomenon that led to the disturbance in the shortest possible
time, which allows an efficient recovery at all scales and develops the institutio nal
capacity for the effective management of the consequences .

MAINTAINING that auditing the public budget for comprehensive disaster risk
management and the climate emergency requires, in addition to understanding
the challenges, preparing an agenda of i ssues that allow SAIs to have a prioritized
list of matters subject to audit.

NOTING that audit findings provide resilience, environmental restoration , and
strengthen institutions when evaluating the implementation of public policies and
disaster risk red uction and climate emergency programs.

AS STATED ABOVE, WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO

FIRST. – Ensure that in the performance audits carried out on climate change and
disaster risk reduction issues, the audit teams have sufficient technical knowledge.
For this reason, we will strengthen the structures and capacities of each SAI to

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address in a sufficient and committed manner the knowledge of the commitments
acquired by national and local governments in this matter.

SECOND. – Generate spaces for dialogue with th e legislative branch of each
country, to analyze the impact on the cycle of budget elaboration, execution , and
accountability in these specific topics. This could be supported by the
documentation of the follow -up of the recommendations of the audit report s and
the good practices of the region.

THIRD . – Intensify and strengthen the audit of the SDGs and consider as priority
audits those that are linked to SDG 13 “Take urgent action to combat climate
change and its impacts ” and its targets such as strengthening resilience
processes, ecological restoration , and adaptive capacity to climate -related risks
and disasters, on climate change mitigation, adaptation, reduction of its effects
and early warning. As well as mechanisms to increase inclusive planning and
management .

FOURTH. – To convene the interested third parties that accompany and are related
to the work of OLACEFS to enrich the methodologies, approaches, and
technological tools that the audit teams require in their audit ing exercise.

FIFTH. – Generate alliances with the private sector, a cademia , and civil society to
incorporate perspectives and new approaches that enrich the scope of
government auditing in terms of disaster risk reduction and climate change.

SIX TH . – Promote the committees, commissions , and working groups of OLACEFS
to d evelop a common body of knowledge that leads to the strengthening of
capacities for the development of coordinated audits.

SEVEN TH . – Encourage the relevant OLACEFS committees, commissions , and
working groups to adopt and adapt GUID 5330 Guidelines on the Audit of
Disaster Management and to review corruption risks in the pre -disaster, disaster ,
and post -disaster phases.

EIGHT H. – Promote workshops SAINT in national an d international bodies
responsible for climate change and disaster risk reduction.

NINTH. – Convene and create an audit community with expertise in crises whose
contributions are shared with the other INTOSAI regions, in particular with the
Caribbean Orga nization of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI) in order to have
timely and efficient cooperation in the specific review of its insular context.

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TENTH. – Encourage regional cooperation, sharing good practices and
technological tools that allow improving the internal capacities of each SAI to play
an active role in the fight against climate change.

ELEVEN TH . – Strengthen the auditing role of SAIs in matters of climate change,
developing short – and medium -term plans to gradually incorporate national
audits into the different instruments and policies on mitigation and adaptation to
climate change.

TWELFTH. – Support the INTOSAI “Climate Scanner” initiative through active
participation, which allows technical, independent, and useful information at a
global level for decision -making on climate change.

Convinced of the transcendence and great value of what is stated here and in
honor of the auditing community in the region that died for COVID -19 , we signed
in Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, on the twenty -third day of September of the year
two thousand twenty -two.

“W E SIGN THIS DECLARATION WHICH IS OF FREE ADHERENCE SUBJECT TO
THE RESPECTIVE NATIONAL MANDATES AND LEGISLATIONS :”

Office of the Auditor General of
Argentina

Office of the Auditor General of
Belize

Office of the Comptroller General of
the State of Bolivia

Federal Court of Accounts (TCU)
Brazil

Office of the Comptroller General of
Chile

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Colombia

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Costa Rica

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Cuba

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Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Curazao

Office of the Comptroller General of
the State of Ecuador

Court of Accounts of the Republic of
El Salvador

Offic e of the Comptroller General of
Accounts of the Republic of
Guatemala

Court of Accounts of the Republic of
Honduras

Superior Audit Office of the
Federation of México

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Nicaragua

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Panamá

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Paraguay

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Republic of Perú

Office of the Comptroller of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Chamber of Accounts of the
Dominican Republic

Court of Accounts of the Oriental
Republic of Uruguay

Office of the Comptroller General of
the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela