The UK Department for International Development (DFID), which leads the United Kingdom’s work to end extreme poverty, and IFAC, the global organization for the accountancy profession, have entered into an agreement to strengthen professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) in developing countries. Under this agreement, DFID will provide £4.935 million to IFAC over seven years. The funding will be used to strengthen PAOs in at least 10 DFID focal countries to play a greater role in furthering economic development. These focal countries are currently being selected by IFAC, in consultation with its regional organizations and DFID.
On September 30, 2014, IFAC invited organizations to indicate their interest in providing PAO capacity-building services under this agreement. IFAC will facilitate, coordinate, and supervise projects, including peer-to-peer support by more established PAOs, to build developing country PAOs’ managerial, financial, and technical capacity so that they are able to drive improvements in professional and ethical standards. Expressions of Interest can be submitted online prior to November 19, 2014. (Please note, the deadline for submitting an Expression of Interest has passed; there will be an additional Call in 2015.)
On October 17, 2014, IFAC held a webinar to answer questions regarding and clarify instructions for the Expressions of Interest to partner with IFAC to build the capacity of PAOs. An overview of the capacity-building program was also provided.
International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) Chair Andrea Bergmann, Deputy Chair Ron Salole, IPSASB Member Guohua Huang, and IFAC Board Member Ahmadi Hadibroto were featured speakers at an Asian Development Bank Regional Workshop on Public Sector Accounting held September 29-30, 2014, in Jakarta, Indonesia.