Performance audits and evaluations | PEEV

Seminars for specialists and executives (SSC)

The last two decades of increasing interest in audits have gone hand-in-hand with the central role played by evaluation. This evolution is attributable both to an increased interest in the performance of public sector organisations and to the broadening scope of what can be audited by entities monitoring them.

Expanding the scope of audits to aspects involving performance has also modified perspectives on the evaluation of public policies. Thus, supervisory bodies increasingly contribute to the evolution of public policy and to reforms in how the public administrations under their remit function—challenges commonly linked to evaluation. This seminar will examine this evolution to help us understand the fundamental elements of performance audits and evaluations.

This four-day seminar will be led by Professor Pirmin Bundi, a policy evaluation specialist at IDHEAP, together with Daniel Aeby and Marius Féraud, audit and evaluation experts at the Swiss Federal Audit Office. They will help you to understand the basics of performance audits and evaluations in a setting where you will be able to exchange and interact with other professionals working for public authorities.

This seminar for specialists and executives can be combined with two other seminars taught jointly by IDHEAP and the Swiss Federal Audit Office to lead to the award of a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Public Sector Audit and Oversight from the University of Lausanne.

• Understand what performance audits and evaluations are and how they distinguish themselves from other approaches (e.g. monitoring, controlling, verificaitons of lawfulness and compliance);
• Be able to identify the risks threatening performance and define exactly which questions audits and evaluations need to answer;
• Know the principle methodological approaches used to analyse the economical use of resources, efficiency, and the efficacy of public interventions and actions;
• Be able to define the target indicators and values needed for performance audits and evaluations.

This seminar is aimed at anyone working at the policy or administrative levels who: 

• Is responsible for the financial oversight of public sector entities, programmes, subsidies or projects (particularly auditors);
• Is responsible for interacting or negotiating with oversight bodies (e.g. in units under audit);
• Uses the services provided by those bodies (the media, elected officials, political and administrative leaders, etc.).

• French and german are the main teaching language for this program
• More information available on the corresponding pages