The Delegation of the European Union to Nepal organised training for Nepalese auditors and accounting officers in grant projects on the different aspects of auditing. This was the first time the European Union Delegation invited auditors and partner organisations dealing with grant contracts to provide a platform to discuss general rules related to auditing practices and the overall approach to ensure quality while carrying out the audits related to projects funded by the European Union.

During three successive days starting from 25 Feb, a senior auditor of Ernst & Young, Brussels, Mr Renaud Bolly, gave the training to around 120 auditors and accountants.

Addressing the final day of the training, Dr. Alexander Spachis, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation to Nepal said that the European Union has been assisting Nepal in different areas of development  such as education, peace building, food security, mitigation of negative impacts of climate change to mention a few.

"The European Union has been assisting Nepal's efforts for development and democratization despite the economic hardships that the EU Member States have been facing back home," Dr. Spachis said adding this makes additional attention to "value for money" and good governance in our projects even more important.

He hoped that the training for the auditors and accountants would help them understand better the auditing procedures of the European Union.

Addressing the training, Renate Stangl, deputy head of the Finance, Contract and Audit section of the EU Delegation to Nepal said that bringing together auditors, accountants and EU officials enhances the mutual understanding of the applicable rules. This is of particular importance given the multitude of actions of the EU programmes where rules might also change over time.  The general feedback from the participants was that the training had proved to be useful in strengthening the understanding of the trainees on EU rules and regulations applicable for the beneficiaries and that they are looking forward to participating in similar trainings of longer durations giving further insights into the auditing procedures for EU funded projects in the coming months.