Running up to the first WGEI meeting, the WGEI Chair and Secretariat had conducted a survey amongst WGEI members confirming that knowledge and experience sharing, networking, and also outreach to stakeholders outside the INTOSAI community are seen as priority objectives. The WGEI Activity Plan mirrors these needs with a wide range of capacity building and networking activities within and beyond the INTOSAI community. The WGEI meeting in Kampala acknowledged that some of these activities expand the current mandate and resource capacity of the WGEI and Secretariat.

The meeting therefore underscored the need to establish a Community of Practice as an operational tool to achieve specific WGEI objectives, and as a platform for interaction both within and beyond INTOSAI. The CoP will be headed by a CoP Coordinator who manages activities.

The objective of the CoP will be to strengthen SAIs’ role in fostering accountability and transparency in Extractive Industries, in line with the overall objective of the WGEI.

Whilst the WGEI represents the overall umbrella forum to convene SAIs and promote Extractive Industries as a focus area within the INTOSAI framework, the CoP should function as the operational and technical arm of the WGEI linking it with extractive industry community outside INTOSAI. For a brief overview of the respective roles and responsibilities of various entities within the WGEI, see the organogram and role description attached.

The CoP will be international and open to all interested SAIs in all INTOSAI regions. It will also invite participation by other institutions and individuals working in and with the Extractive Industries and affiliated with the objectives outlined above.

CoP functions include: