The Serzedello Corrêa Institute for Capacity Building Successfully Delivers English-Language Training for the AuditaONU Project

Teams working on the AuditaONU project are engaged in an ongoing English-language training strategy essential to carrying out audits at the United Nations. Official documents, meetings, and institutional communications at the UN are conducted in English, making language proficiency a core requirement for audit activities.

Since the project's inception, the Department for Auditing United Nations Operations (SecexONU) has partnered with the Serzedello Corrêa Institute for Capacity Building (ISC) to deliver its training program. In 2024, all members of the permanent teams completed a three-month program focused on audit-related activities, such as negotiation and technical presentations.

In 2025, ISC continued the program and expanded it to include both permanent and temporary team members. Classes were taught by Guillermo Navas, a linguist from Chile's Office of the Comptroller General, who has extensive experience supporting Chilean teams at the UN Board. The training addressed practical situations, including interviews, inquiries, negotiations, and the drafting and review of technical documents.

The program also featured an intensive course prior to the start of the audit, with three one-hour classes per week held in the month preceding fieldwork, in groups of up to five participants. Activities were designed around typical scenarios encountered in audits of international organizations, with simulations based on real-world situations.

According to lead auditor Marcelo Leite Freire (AudElétrica), head of the audit management team for the UNICEF audit, the training made a direct contribution to the conduct of audit activities. This is not a simple English class, but a high-level audit interview strategy, he noted. Under the coordination of the ISC, the English intensive courses will continue in 2026.