Marking the World Anti-Corruption Day, the Centers of Civil Initiatives and the Embassy of Sweden in BiH in a joint press release reminded of the importance of controlling the expenditure of public funds and the need for greater accountability of the institutions to implement audit recommendations in order to eliminate observed irregularities in financial operations of public institutions.

 

In his statement, Torgny Svenungsson, Head of the Department for Developmental Cooperation in the Embassy of Sweden in BiH highlighted: “Sweden gives high priority to combating corruption in all forms. It is a key element of our foreign policy and in our drive for democracy because transparent and accountable public institutions are an important element in this work. Adopting EU standards, as we see it, will improve Bosnia and Herzegovina’s performance and counteract bad practices and corruption. Eventually, it will mean improvement for the lives of people in this country.”

 

Jasmila Pašić, CCI Project Manager stated that corruption is the main threat to prosperous future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “As citizens, we have to demand that public funds are managed in a transparent and efficient manner. Public sector audit is one of the main control mechanisms of proper public funds expenditure and it is extremely important that the recommendations of the public sector Audit Office are implemented”, she said. 

 

That is why, even on the World Anti-Corruption Day, it is important to highlight the importance of public audit in the process of fighting corruption, which primarily starts from the prevention of corrupt practices and reducing the space for its occurrence within the institutions and through the implementation of audit recommendations. It is also important for the parliamentary bodies, the prosecutor's offices and the competent agencies to cooperate with the Audit Offices of the institutions in reviewing the findings of the audit reports as well as proposing manners for elimination of the observed irregularities.

 

Through a series of activities in the past period, CCI warned of the importance of the implementation of audit recommendations, which is current insufficient on all levels of authority in BiH, inviting the institutions to accept the duty of public funds expenditure in a more accountable and efficient manner. In addition, specialized web portal Revizije.info is publicly available and it focuses on audit, namely control of the public funds expenditure and operations of public institutions and companies in line with the law. Integral part of the web portal is a database on financial audits that took place in BiH in the past 4 years. 

 

Within the Project “More Efficient Public Audit for Less Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, implemented by the Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) financed by Sweden, the aim is to contribute to a more responsible spending of budget funds and reduction of corruption in public institutions in BiH.