TCU Advances Proposal to Establish a Poverty Audit Network

What if Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) audited anti-poverty policies looking beyond income alone? This question inspired, in 2023, the proposal to create an index capable of measuring and assessing poverty in dimensions.

The Audit Department for Social Security, Welfare and Labor (AudBenefícios), with support from the Department of International Relations (Serint), presented on September 4 to the heads of department and public agents from other technical units of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) the progress of the initiative, from the launch of the concept to the results achieved. The proposal was initially presented during the SAI20 meeting, the G20 engagement group for SAIs, in 2024.

Later in 2024, the TCU expanded studies on the subject, leading to the development of the Multidimensional Poverty Index for Audits (MPI-A) and an analysis of the relationship between government expenditures and variations in the MPI-A.

As part of this effort, the team also found that the MPI-A can serve as a powerful audit tool, identifying locations or population groups facing the greatest deprivations and determining which dimensions contribute most to their poverty situation.

Addressing a Gap

The head of the AudBenefícios, Jorge Mendes de Oliveira Castro Neto, emphasized the potential use of the MPI in audits, as evidenced by the analysis of findings from other Supreme Audit Institutions, but pointed out a gap in the sharing of this knowledge. Therefore, it led to the proposal of jointly developing, with several SAIs, guidelines for conducting audits through a multidimensional poverty perspective, using a MPI as a support tool.

The project, still in its early stages, was presented to the Working Group on Evaluation of Public Policies and Programs (WGEPPP), an INTOSAI group dedicated to the development of public policy evaluation practices.

The next steps include finalizing the guidelines currently being drafted in collaboration with 12 other Supreme Audit Institutions and conducting pilot audits in several countries to assess whether the methodology supports the development of audit activities. "This would be the institutional legacy of the Federal Court of Accounts," said Raisa Ojala, who has been involved in the project team since 2023. "Our second objective is to generate global impact," she added.

At a later stage, the initiative foresees the creation of a Poverty Audit Network, a platform designed to foster greater interaction among specialists and auditors working on poverty-related issues.

Collaborative Effort

The head of SecexContas, Bruno Martinello, highlighted the project's cross-sectoral and cross-cutting nature. "It is very encouraging to see the project gaining momentum and bringing more people to think together, as we are dealing with a complex problem," he said. He pointed out that complex problems require equally complex and long-term strategies.

Timeline

The project will be presented at the WGEPP meeting in Morocco on September 15 and 16. Between November 9 and 13, the TCU will promote a workshop to plan the pilot audits. The guide is expected to be officially launched on November 10.