Institutional Development and Capacity Building of the Office of Auditor General of Republic of Maldives The overall objective of the Grant is to assist the Audit Office (AO) of the Republic of the Maldives in its efforts to build a stronger Public Financial Accountability (PFA) framework by strengthening the institutional framework of the AO and increasing the auditors' skills.  The Components are : Component I - Assist in preparation of a 15 year strategic plan The Government of the Republic of Maldives has recently introduced a long term development strategy entitled "20/20 Vision" which requires all Government Departments and Agencies to prepare long-term strategic development plans. However the AO has not been able to formulate this plan due to lack of expertise. The Audit Office now recognizes that it needs additional expert assistance in developing and getting under way the plans that will enable the AO to support the recent and planned changes to public sector planning, and financial and accounting systems, and to achieve the benefits intended by the ADB project. For this component, consultant(s) would be required to : (a)review the extent of the actual benefits realized from the earlier ADB's TA and identify areas where further development is required for strengthening of capacity; and (b)assist in formulating a 15 year Institutional Development Plan for AO including a  human resource strategy aimed at ensuring the capacity of AO to recruit, train, retain and motivate its staff. Component II- Strengthen the institutional framework and operations of the Audit Office (a) Implementation of new audit Act:  Currently, there is no overarching legislative mandate in Maldives for public auditing. However a draft Audit Legislation, which was developed with the technical assistance from ADB, will be submitted to the Majlis for approval in a near future . This activity will review the draft audit legislation, and enable its effective implementation (by preparation and implementation of suitable rules and regulations) (b) Audit requirement for new centralized public accounting system: The Government of Maldives (GoM) is planning to implement a new computerized accounting system across the public sector to enable preparation of consolidated financial statements for the government . This will necessitate strengthening of AO's capacity to undertake financial and IT audit under international standards. This activity will assist the AO in building up the required skills for undertaking financial attest function and will include training of AO staff to perform auditing (financial and IT audit) in the new public accounting system. (c) Further strengthening of the institution is needed in all areas including organization structure, planning, implementation of standards and procedures, tools, other resources and staffing. The current second level in the SAI does not have adequate capacity to support the Auditor General and for this purpose, senior technical staff from a more experienced SAIs (e.g. Malaysia, India or Philippines) will be seconded to assist and train successors. Component III - Develop and implement a training and certification program for the audit staff At present, the staff of the AO do not belong to a professional cadre. Better pre-service and in-service training and staffing programs are needed to increase the domestic supply of qualified auditing specialists. This component will use "train the trainers" approach and local training institutes to build sustainability and ownership. Specific, immediate AO staff training needs and certification criteria will be addressed in this Component which will include: (a)review and document immediate, medium-term, and long-term training requirements for AO staff, (b)develop pre-service and in-service training strategy, and explore possibilities for professional accreditation, c)Specialized external training for immediate staff needs (by attaching staff to a more experienced SAIs with similar audit methodologies and better training facilities), and (d)Develop medium-term training modules in participation with local training institutes and deliver training to AO staff  (by using the service of an expert in public sector auditing, by identifying trainers in the AO and training them , senior staff seconded to AO office and in consultation with SAI with similar methodologies) The project DO remainde the same after restructuring