The Chairman of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending Veroljub Arsic addressed the participants of the two-day regional conference ”Strategic Dialogue and Coordination of Joint Audits of Sustainable Development Goals”, organised by the State Audit Institution.
As national parliaments play a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending said that the National Assembly had set up a Focus Group for Sustainable Development Goals back in 2017, which was the first group of this kind in the Western Balkans. We were also among the first parliaments in the world to conduct a self-assessment of readiness to monitor the achievement of sustainable development, and an evaluation of the achieved results in 2019, said Arsic. He added that the State Audit Institution had conducted a review of the Sustainable Development Goals and made recommendations for further work on their achievement, as the goals on the 2030 Agenda are not only an obligation to the world, but also an obligation to our citizens.
"Our role is to ensure, through the budget process, that public finance reforms directly support the priority sustainable development goals that we have set together with the UN. The Republic of Serbia has signed a new framework for cooperation with the UN for the period from 2026 to 2030 and defined our path, with an emphasis on environmental protection and more efficient healthcare, which is closely linked to Serbia's EU accession process. The UN Global Goals are being adapted to national priorities in order to improve the living standards of citizens, and this is an opportunity for parliaments and MPs to demonstrate their commitment to improving the life and health of the planet. The Sustainable Development Goals represent a solid framework on which parliaments can base their strategic plans and conduct their own oversight and accountability," said Arsic.
He also said that the task of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending, as well as the State Audit Institution, is to ensure that public money is spent where it will have the greatest impact on the quality of life of our citizens. Wishing the participants of the regional conference success in their efforts the next two days, Arsic concluded that the Committee supports the State Audit Institution’s recommendations, and that in cooperation with the UNDP, it will continue to improve audit and control mechanisms, because sustainable development has no alternative if we want Serbia to be economically strong and socially just.
The conference was officially opened by the President of the State Audit Office and Auditor General Ivica Gavrilovic, and the participants were also addressed by the Deputy Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Serbia Katarina Konsvaldova and the UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia Yakup Beris.
The two-day regional conference "Strategic Dialogue and Coordination on Joint Audits of the Sustainable Development Goals" brings together supreme auditors and chief state auditors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, partners from Slovakia who are donors to the regional project "Smart Finance for Accountable Local Governance", representatives of UNDP offices in the participating countries and the UNDP Regional Centre in Istanbul with the aim of considering opportunities for joint work on joint audits of the Sustainable Development Goals within the framework of the aforementioned project.
Photo gallery: © National Assembly / Milos Miskov
