Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) has welcomed another experienced performance auditor, Karen Wong, to its Secretariat team as one of its program directors.
After a week of inductions in Auckland, Ms Wong will be responsible for PASAI’s performance audit and stakeholder management programs. She will also manage a portfolio of member audit offices that includes those of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau.
Ms Wong takes over these duties from Meegan Reinhard, whose secondment to PASAI from the Australian National Audit Office ended last week.
Ms Wong was most recently a manager at The Audit Office New Zealand. There she led the office’s performance audit methodology function, managed a team conducting performance audits of government agencies and co-coordinated the Pacific region’s Working Group for Environmental Auditing.
This experience followed a variety of research and evaluation roles in such public sector agencies as Statistics New Zealand, the then Department of Labour, the Ministry of Education and the Families Commission. This work included designing and collecting information for large social surveys, evaluating the effectiveness of public programs and policies, and implementing evidence-based improvements.
PASAI Chief Executive, Esther Lameko-Poutoa, is pleased that Ms Wong has joined PASAI’s cohort of program directors.
“Karen is already well known to many auditors from our member offices having played prominent roles supporting them in global initiatives to assess the effectiveness of governments’ climate change adaptation actions and whether they have appropriate structures, financing and policies to respond to climate change,” she said.
In joining the PASAI Secretariat, Ms Wong expressed enthusiasm about supporting Pacific Island audit offices.
“Performance auditors play an essential role in helping people understand how well public organisations are serving their communities.
“They identify what's working well, highlight where change is needed and recommend practical improvements.
“In doing so, performance auditors can strengthen accountability and help public organisations deliver better services and greater value for citizens,” she said.
Ms Wong has a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Statistics and a Master’s degree in Social Science Research, both from Victoria University in Wellington.
PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Karen Wong
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Contact information:
Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand
E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275
PDF version of this media release
