Program News

CAAF is excited to launch our new international program, Governance, Accountability, and Transparency for Inclusive Public Services (GATIPS). This program will run from 2025 to 2028 in nine countries in the Indo-Pacific: Fiji, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. We will be working with each country’s supreme audit institution (SAI) to strengthen their capacity and effectiveness, enabling them to make a greater difference to the lives of citizens, including vulnerable and marginalized groups.

This program is funded by Global Affairs Canada and supports Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. It will contribute to Canada’s efforts to strengthen civil society and democratic spaces in the region.

 

The program will enable the participating SAIs to improve their capacity in four key areas:

• planning and conducting performance audits;
• examining gender equality, human rights issues, and whether public services meet the needs of the most vulnerable;
• communicating, collaborating, and engaging with stakeholders, including civil society organizations and legislative oversight committees; and
• mainstreaming gender equality considerations in their internal systems, policies, and practices.

CAAF will deliver the program in collaboration with our network of Canadian partners, building on our 45-year history of capacity-building programs for SAIs. Like our previous international programs, GATIPS will include Fellowship placements at Canadian audit offices at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, as well as courses, workshops, and mentoring for auditors. The program will also feature a Leaders Program designed to help SAIs implement gender mainstreaming strategies within their organizations, as well as workshops with oversight committees.

 To kick off the program, this summer CAAF traveled to the region to meet with each of the participating SAIs. We learned more about their current practices and their specific objectives for the program, worked with each SAI on a memorandum of understanding, and interviewed candidates for the Fellowships. We also met with Canadian embassies to brief them on this new program. Special thanks to Syed Ali, Assistant Auditor General, IT and Strategy, from the City of Toronto Auditor General’s Office, for participating in the meetings in the Pacific Island countries.

“The energy and commitment shown by our partner countries during our visits was truly inspiring,” said Scott Loder, CAAF’s Director for International Programs. “I am excited to build on this momentum as we work together to enhance transparency, accountability, and inclusive public services."

The program’s capacity-building activities are beginning this fall. We are looking forward to holding our first courses in the region in November, ahead of welcoming the first class of Fellows to Canada in January 2026.

We are grateful to everyone involved for their support of the program. We look forward to working together with the nine participating SAIs, our Canadian partners, and Global Affairs Canada to contribute to more effective and inclusive public services in these countries.

 

Program undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.