Supreme Audit Institutions and the promotion of gender equality: the case of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts-SAI Brazil

1 Introduction

Gender inequality represents a structural challenge for the vast majority of countries. The Global Gender Gap Report, produced by the World Economic Forum, shows that at the current pace it will take the world 132 years to reach gender parity, considering aspects of health, education, economic participation, and political empowerment. Gender gaps have been intensified by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also increased rates of violence against women.

Government action needs to be radically improved so that gender gaps are reduced and the world advances in the strategies necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and Goal 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries).

Besides being a fundamental and cross-cutting theme in the 2030 Agenda, the pursuit of gender equality is a commitment assumed by the international community, through conventions and multilateral agreements, among which stands out the Platform of the IV World Conference on Women promoted by the United Nations in 1995 (Beijing Platform for Action). Despite being over 25 years old, the Beijing Platform for Action continues to be one of the main references on the subject, as it highlighted the importance of addressing the situation of women from a human rights perspective, recognizing that gender inequality is not only the result of socioeconomic problems to be overcome, but rather a fundamental rights issue.

Considering that there is no doubt about the seriousness of the challenge as well as the responsibility and need for state action regarding gender inequality, it is necessary to reflect on the role of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in this context. This article aims to explore the possibilities of incorporating and/or strengthening a gender-sensitive stance by SAIs, highlighting the initiatives already implemented or underway in the Brazilian Court of Accounts (SAI Brazil) both in the internal organizational sphere, as well as in the audit processes.

2 Leading by example: promoting gender within the organizational framework of SAIs

From the data presented by the Global SAI stockingtaking report (IDI, 2020) it is possible to conclude that, at the global level, there is still a long way for SAIs to achieve gender equality at the organizational level. The report, which included a specific annex on gender equality, revealed that only 29% of SAI officers and 39% of SAI managers are women.

Overall, about one-third (34%) of SAIs report that they include institutional-level gender issues in their Strategic Plan. It was also found that only 31% of SAIs had a focal point or organizational unit responsible for gender-related issues (IDI, 2020).

It is known that SAIs must remain vigilant and adaptable to changes in the environment and emerging risks. This implies adopting appropriate responses to critical issues affecting society, such as gender, and serving as a role model as an institution. In this context and in view of the numbers presented above, it would be important that the SAI's top leadership act in an intentional way to contribute to the transformation of this reality.

In this sense, the implementation of initiatives that promote gender equality within SAIs can induce the adoption of good practices by the inspected agencies.

The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts, recognizing its responsibility in the fight against gender inequalities and aligned with OLACEFS Gender and Non-Discrimination Policy, adopted the following initiatives in the administrative sphere:

• Expansion of female representation in leadership positions: based on management guidelines from the body's presidency, the percentage of women in senior management positions rose from about 12% in 2020 to 30% in 2023. To pave this way and ensure that there are no setbacks, on the International Women's Day this year, the TCU actually institutionalized the guarantee of vacancies for women when the president of the TCU, Minister Bruno Dantas, signed the TCU Regulation No. 67/2023. This Ordinance establishes that leadership positions at the strategic and tactical level in the TCU must maintain, at least, the proportionality of gender in relation to the total number of the body's employees. The normative also defined that the composition of the tables of events should prioritize female representation.
• Integration of the gender and diversity issue in institutional strategic planning by including the equity dimension in the review of the TCU’s Strategic Planning, both as an internal value (Transparency, Integrity, Equity, and Efficiency in the Court's management), and from the control perspective (equity dimension incorporated into the external value Effectiveness of public policies).
• Structuring of a program to prevent and combat harassment in the Court: two internal surveys, awareness-raising actions and creation of a specific complaint channel in 2022. In 2023, the creation of a committee to prevent and fight against harassment is in process, as well as the training of the whole staff on the subject. It is also worth mentioning that the institutional code of ethics is explicit in relation to moral and sexual harassment.
• Introduction of a gender perspective in the policies of flexibilization of working hours and work modality, by prioritizing the concession of total teleworking to female servants who are mothers of newborn babies, for a period of up to 24 months after the birth of the newborn; fathers of newborn babies, for a period of up to six months after the birth of the newborn; and servants who adopt children up to eight years old, for a period of up to six months after the adoption (TCU Regulation No. 184/Dec 2022)
• Promoting training and awareness of gender equality, especially among leaders: as of 2022, the TCU intensified the holding of courses, seminars and workshops on the subject, bringing in professionals who are references in the market and academia. In the same period the internal newsletter brought several articles on the issue of gender inequalities, besides frequently addressing other issues of diversity and inclusion.
• Conducting a selection process (civil service examination) with gender parity in the examining board.
• Creation of the Technical Committee for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CTEDI), aiming to promote equal conditions and opportunities, respect for differences, and appreciation of diversity, considering the institutional performance in the TCU's internal, national, and international spheres (TCU Regulation No. 86/2022)
• Creation of the Equity Network of public institutions: in February 2022, the TCU was one of the founding bodies of the Equity Network, a technical cooperation between 11 federal public administration bodies, to implement joint inclusion and diversity actions with a focus on gender and race.

We must be aware that, given the complexity of the issue, there are no quick and final solutions. The path to be followed is long and continuous, but taking the first steps and having a long-term vision is essential. Thus, the TCU is aware that there is much to advance. For example, it is necessary to implement actions for a greater representation of women in the staff as a whole, to develop a gender sensitive budget, to make the use of gender disaggregated data commonplace in the planning and execution of organizational policies, to assertively integrate gender issues in the internal governance policy, to expand collaboration with international agencies as well as civil society organizations working for gender equality, and to evolve in the use of an inclusive and nonsexist institutional language.

3 Incorporating the gender perspective in inspections: focus and transversalization

In addition to applying a gender perspective to their organizational processes, another necessary, and sometimes more challenging, path for SAIs is to incorporate such a perspective into the audit work itself. According to the Global SAI Stockingtaking report (IDI, 2020), gender integration in audit work can be achieved by addressing gender equality as a specific topic in audits or by mainstreaming gender issues in audits that address other topics.

In the period from 2017 to 2019 only 24% of INTOSAI member SAIs conducted gender audits. It is noteworthy that in Latin America this number rises to 70%. The practice of integrating gender issues in selected audits, in turn, was reported by only 14% of the Entities at the global level and 30% in OLACEFS (IDI, 2020).

The following are the audits performed by the TCU on the theme of gender:

• Operational audit on actions to combat domestic and family violence against women (Court Decision No. 403/2013-TCU-Full Court). Assessment carried out from the perspective of the structuring of specialized services of the network of assistance to women victims of violence. It was observed a deficiency in the number of units and a concentration in metropolitan areas, a deficit in the number of human resources for support and multidisciplinary activities and a lack of awareness of the network operators regarding gender issues.
• Coordinated audit on SDG 5 within OLACEFS. With the purpose of evaluating the federal government's preparation to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the UN's Agenda 2030, the TCU audit identified the inoperability of articulation mechanisms, insufficient budgetary transparency of actions under the responsibility of sectoral bodies that work with the theme, and coordination problems between ministries/federal sectoral bodies and gender policy coordination bodies (Court Decision No. 2766/2019-TCU-Full Court).
• Audit on the main federal public policies for the prevention and confrontation of violence against women and reduction of feminicide. The work concluded that the feminicide rate is increasing in relation to intentional homicides against women, which shows the intensification of gender violence in Brazil (Court Decision No. 1884/2022-TCU-Full Court).
• Audit on the structure of the Call Center for Women victims of violence - "Ligue 180" system. The audit found the service to be accessible, as it is free of charge and has various channels, with adequate service and trained attendants. However, it identified a low return of information from the agencies to which the users' demands are forwarded (Court Decision No. 1520/2022-TCU-Full Court).
• Enforcement in systems for preventing and combating harassment. This study analyzed the prevention systems for bullying and sexual harassment of selected agencies, with the objective of disseminating good practices, assessing risks, and defining criteria for future inspections. Based on this analysis, a model to prevent and combat harassment was prepared and published. Based on this model, the TCU should include in future audits the analysis of the maturity level of federal public administration organizations regarding the implementation of initiatives to prevent and combat harassment (TCU Court Decision No. 456/2022).
• OLACEFS coordinated audit on gender violence. The work, which is in progress, analyzes the State's response to the prevention, punishment, and eradication of violence against women.

Considering that the gender issue should not be treated in isolation and that the intersectionalities with other social markers, such as sexual orientation, race or disability, are fundamental in shaping the socioeconomic contexts of individuals, the TCU has also invested in conducting inspections focused on other minority groups, such as the following:

• Audit on the quota policy of Federal Universities: Among the problems found, the TCU pointed out the absence of guidelines and directives from the Ministry of Education regarding the controls related to racial self-declaration. The audit also verified that the Ministry of Education neither monitors nor evaluates the quota policy, a failure that impacts the analysis of the results of the policy. (Court Decision No. 2376/2022 – Full Court)
• Audit on Policies, programs and plans specific to the LGBTQIA+ population (in progress). To date, the Court found that: Until 2022, there were no public policies aimed specifically at the LGBTQIA+ population in the ministries of Women, Family and Human Rights; of Citizenship; of Tourism; and of Justice and Public Security. The initiatives were only punctual; The National LGBTQIA+ Employability Plan, of the then Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, has limited territorial coverage and a small number of beneficiaries foreseen in the actions.

Regarding the transversalization of the gender perspective in inspections as a whole, the TCU has begun to organize itself to face this complex challenge, considering that the promotion of equity is one of the priorities of the new presidency of the Court. To this end, the Board of Oversight of Equity and Human Rights Policies, an organizational unit, was created with the mission of dealing with the theme in a strategic way. With a focus on intersectionality and taking into account the essence of the 2030 Agenda of "Leaving No One Behind", in addition to addressing issues related to gender, the directorate also covers topics such as racial equality, protection of indigenous peoples, the LGBTQIA+ population, and people with disabilities, among others.

The team responsible is preparing an action strategy that, besides the focused audits, will contemplate support or consultancy for inspections coordinated by other units of the Court, in order to transversalize a gender and diversity lens throughout the control strategy. The work will also involve training and the promotion of public hearings since the approximation with civil society is of great relevance in this type of work.

The purpose of sharing the TCU experience reported here is to strengthen international cooperation among SAIs on the issue of gender equality. While it must be recognized that the paths taken by oversight bodies in different countries are quite heterogeneous, there is no doubt that ensuring respect for the principle of equality and avoiding discrimination is a government responsibility, and Supreme Audit Institutions must play an active role in making this principle a reality.

4 References

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF SUPREME AUDIT DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. GLOBAL SAI Stocktaking Report 2020. Oslo: INTOSAI, 2021. ISBN 978-82-303-5211-3. Available at: https://www.idi.no/elibrary/global-sai-stocktaking-reports-and-research/2020-global-sai-stocktaking /1364-idi- global-sai-stocktaking-report-2020/file.

ORGANIZAÇÃO LATINO-AMERICANA E DO CARIBE DE ENTIDADES FISCALIZADORAS SUPERIORES. Política sobre Igualdad de Género y No Discriminación. Santiago: OLACEFS, 2021.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM. Global Gender Gap Report 2022: Insight Report – July 2022. Geneva. Available at https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022