Regional partnerships as a blueprint for maximising impact on strengthening national sustainability reporting practice and infrastructure
The objective of the workshop is to share the experience of the African and Latin American Partnerships for the promotion of sustainability reporting with a view to identify best practices and lessons learned in building Partnerships and maximizing the benefits of its members.
The 11th Tranche Development Account Project implemented by UNCTAD from 2018 to 2022 aimed at enabling policy frameworks for enterprise sustainability and SDG reporting in Africa and Latin America as well as at strengthening the capacities of Governments to measure and monitor the private sector contribution to the SDGs. In particular, the Project also envisaged regional collaboration and experience sharing of lessons learned and best practices from beneficiary countries through the organization of regional workshops and the establishment of two regional partnerships, in Latin America and Africa. The partnerships have been developed to guarantee long-lasting support to African and Latin American countries beyond the project’s completion, to provide a communication channel among peers for sharing experience and good practices and to enable countries to learn from each other. The partnerships also intend to support members in their efforts to develop national strategies and policies for establishing or strengthening national infrastructure for high-quality sustainability reporting and enabling the measurement of the private sector contribution to the SDGs.
The Partnerships brought together main stakeholders in the field of sustainability reporting in the region, including government entities, regulators, national financial reporting standard setters, professional accounting and auditing organizations, stock exchanges and academia. They provided countries a means to share tools, experience, and best practices, as well as to discuss the latest trends and knowledge on sustainability reporting, facilitating consistency and harmonization throughout the regions.
Since their launch, the partnerships have continued to grow and gathered 50 members and 6 observers from 25 countries in Africa and 28 members and 3 observers from 14 countries in Latin America. In the case of the Latin American Partnership, Mexico is the first Chair represented by the Mexican Council for Financial Reporting Standards (CINIF) with the support of the National Banking and Securities Commission of Mexico (CNBV), and the Mexican Institute of Public Accountants (IMCP). The African Partnership is chaired by the Ministry of Finance of Cameroon, while the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) of South Africa as well as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) were elected as Vice-Chairs.
To foster the dialogue among countries, the partnerships hold 3 annual meetings. These meetings are organized in the format of capacity building activities and virtual panel discussions. The regional groups, with the support of UNCTAD, implemented electronic platforms to serve as a complementary space for the exchange of useful resources and materials related to sustainability reporting, with a forum that fosters dialogue and best practice sharing among Partnerships members.
The experience of the Latin American and African partnerships is a result of cooperation among multi-level stakeholders that can be scaled up and replicated in other regions to advance sustainability reporting practices. In this regard, the workshop will promote the exchange of partnership experience on how to establish efficient cooperation platforms to maximize the impact of the member states’ collective effort towards strengthening sustainability reporting practices and infrastructure at the national level.
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Elsa Beatriz García Bojorges is the President of the Mexican Financial Reporting Standards Board – CINIF (Mexico). She also was Chair of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR Group) 38th Session and Chair of Latin American Regional Partnership for the promotion of sustainability and SDG reporting in 2022. She is a CINIF representative at the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) of ISSB – IFRS Foundation and at the Emerging Economies Group of IASB – IFRS Foundation, a Board Member of Group of Latin American Standards Setters (GLASS), an Independent Board Member of several public and private companies.
Executive Director and Legal Representative of the Center for the Action of Corporate Social Responsibility in Guatemala (CENTRARSE), has been appointed as Intergovernmental Expert on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR) by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and is the representative in Guatemala of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Academic and Consultant, with more than fifteen years of experience in sustainability strategies development for both national and multinational companies; International speaker with several publications, including "Vision: Current State of CSR in Central America" and "IndicaRSE: CSR Indicators System for the Central American region” Guatemala, Central America.
I am Maria Ria Nonyana-Mokabane LLD, Chief Director - Legislative Drafting in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), South Africa; a member of the Access to Justice Programme with the South African Human Rights Commission; a Judge for the Africa Regional Manfred Lach's Moot Court Competition of the International Institute of Space Law; the representative of the dtic in the Inter-governmental Working Group at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Entities on Business and Human Rights; and the focal coordinator to UNCTAD’s Technical Cooperation Development Account project on <em>Enabling policy frameworks for enterprise sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals SDGs Agenda 2030, reporting in Africa and Latin America</em>.
Ms. Jelena Misita is Chair of the IFAC PAO Development & Advisory Group, having been a member since January 2018 nominated by the Union of Accountants, Auditors and Financial Workers of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (UAAFWFBH).
Ms. Misita is a member of the Board of the UAAFWFBH and also serves on various profession-focused boards, committees and represents her country in international organizations. In March 2020, she became a member of the state-level Accounting and Auditing Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina that is involved in regulation of the accountancy profession, including education matters. Ms. Misita has vast experience in PAO development and strengthening the accountancy profession in jurisdictions that require both strategic and practical assistance in adoption and consistent implementation of high standards of professionalism. For over 10 years Ms. Misita has served as the CEO of Revicon, a company concerned with business consulting, research and development.
Mr. Hernán Casinelli serves as the Chair of the Accounting, Auditing, and Assurance Standards Board of the FACPCE, the Accountancy body profession in Argentina.
Mr. Casinelli is a representative member of the FACPCE in the IASB’s Emerging Economies Group (EEG), and he is a member of the technical advisory group of the Group of Latin American Accounting Standard-setters (GLASS), having conducted several GLASS’ technical working groups over the last ten years. Mr. Casinelli is also a member of the Reference Group of the IAASB for the “Audit for LSEs project”.
Mr. Casinelli is a former member of the IASB’s SME Implementation Group (2010 – 2016) and played a key role in the adoption processes of the IFRS for SME Accounting Standard and the IFRS Accounting Standards in several Latin American countries.
In his own practice, Mr. Casinelli spent his time as a consultant on IFRS Accounting Standards matters.
He combines his professional career and his standard-setting activities with a large academic activity. Since 2013, he has served as a director of the IFRS Certificate Program at the Universidad Austral, a partner in learning of ICAEW in Argentina, the best-ranked non-governmental University in Argentina, and one of the best-ranked in Latin America.
Cliff Nyandoro is a professional accountant, trainer, and consultant with over 20 years of experience in financial management, accounting, and financial reporting. He is in charge of Standards and Technical Services at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) where he oversees the adoption and implementation of accounting and auditing standards in the country. He is the Secretary to the Professional Standards Committee of ICPAK, the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Award Secretariat and the ICPAK IFRS Panel.
Cliff is also a member of the global IFRS Advisory Council which provides strategic support to the IFRS Foundation, the Trustees, and the two Standards Setting Boards under the Foundation – the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
He is an active member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD’s) intergovernmental group of experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), and Vice-Chair of the African Regional Partnership on Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reporting. Cliff holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Finance from the University of Nairobi where he is currently undertaking his PhD studies in the same specialisation.
Mardi McBrien is Director Strategic Affairs at the IFRS Foundation where she is currently playing an active role in setting up the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Prior to the IFRS Foundation, Mardi spent over a decade leading the global ESG standard setter, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB). She is a trustee of one of the oldest environmental NGOs, the International Tree Foundation, a founding Board member of WOCAN – Women Organising for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management / W+ Standard, a former member of the UK Financial Reporting Council Advisory Panel, a school governor and a member of the ICAEW Sustainability Advisory Committee. In 2021 Mardi was selected as one of the ESG Foundation’s ones to watch.
Olga Bernatskaia is а Chair of the International Committee on Sustainable Development of the professional organizations of accountants and auditors of the Eurasian region (Accountancy EURASIA), Vice-President of Non-for-profit partnership «CPA», UNCTAD Consultant. Olga has extensive experience in corporate governance and corporate reporting, including ESG reporting.
Mrs. Bernatskaia is the author of the "Eco-Environment ICPA in the Field of Sustainable Development", "Code of Ethics on Sustainable Development "ECO behavior code (EBC)" and "Eurasian Regional Initiative for the Development of Educational and Certification Programs in Sustainability Accounting and Reporting (ERIEC) – CertCSA" initiatives nominated for "ISAR Honours".
Mrs. Bernatskaia has more than 30 research papers, including papers on sustainable development and is a PhD candidate in economics.
Ms Senne is a Technical Director at the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) and the Deputy Chairperson of the Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC) of South Africa. In her role at PAFA, Lebogang has been instrumental in developing and supporting the overall organisational strategy and has specifically been responsible for the organisation’s technical excellence strategic pillar.
Ms Senne is the Africa representative on the IFRS Foundation’s Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) and represents PAFA on the International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS). Additionally, she is co-secretariat for the Africa Integrated Reporting Council (AIRC), the vehicle through which PAFA and the World Bank, as co-convenors, seek to promote and support the adoption of sustainability reporting, integrated thinking and Integrated reporting in Africa.
Thomas played an integral role in the set-up of ASEAN Corporate Social Responsibility Network (ACN) in 2010 and as CEO, continues to provide oversight and strategic direction for the organisation. ACN was established to promote and enable responsible business conduct in ASEAN Member States.
ACN is the responsible and inclusive business champion with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council. They developed a Code for Responsible and Inclusive Business and is building up the ASEAN Responsible and Inclusive Business Alliance (ARAIBA) to be the region’s network of businesses supporting responsible business conduct. Thomas is driving this initiative.
Thomas has extensive experience in CSR and responsible business conduct, serving on various initiatives in the region and globally. He did research on sustainability related issues, including, sustainability reporting, business integrity and human rights.
He was the founding Executive Director of the Singapore Compact for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), now operating as the Global Compact Network Singapore.
Thomas had been active with trade unions, co-operatives, the consumer movement and social enterprises and also served as a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore.
CPA and Specialist in Financial Administration (University of Cuyo -Argentina)
<strong>Standards setters of Accounting and Auditing Standards of Argentina:</strong>
General Director (2002/2020) and Member of the commissions for the adoption of IFRS and Argentinian GAAP in listed Entities, in Banks and others.
<strong>GLENIF – GLASS (Group of Latin-American Accounting Standard Setters)</strong>
Actual president. He was vice president, director and advisor. Representative in various international organizations.
<strong>IASB:</strong>
Member of the Spanish Translation Review Committee.
He was member of:
<ul>
<li>EEG (Emerging Economies Group), </li>
<li>SMEIG (IFRS SMEs implementation group)</li>
<li>Representative of Argentina in the WSS (World standards setters)</li>
</ul>
<strong>Panelist about IRFS: </strong>
In many Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela).
<strong>IDB:</strong>
IFRS consultant for College of Public Accountants of Costa Rica and College of Public Accountants of Uruguay
<strong>World Bank:</strong> IFRS Consultant, for:
<ul>
<li>ROSC – Bolivia;</li>
<li>Contaduría General de la Nación, Colombia;</li>
<li>
IFRS Implementation in the Health Sector, Colombia.</li>
<li>
ROSC Report 1st part – Colombia.</li>
<li>ROSC Report 2nd part – Colombia.</li>
<li>IFRS Diagnosis in Peru – Peru</li>
<li>Training in IFRS for SMEs - Peru</li>
</ul>
<strong>Government of Colombia Consultant</strong> in adoption of IFRS, for:
<ul>
<li>Ministry of Finance and Public Credit</li>
<li>Superintendency of Companies.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Companies and others</strong>
Consulting and training in more than 110 companies in Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia.
Training for the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.
<strong>Universities:</strong>
Consulting and training in universities of Argentina and Latin America.
Professor at Argentine and Latin American universities.
Member of university work commissions.
Author of books and technical papers on IFRS and Argentine Accounting Standards
Author of book: “Deferred tax – IAS 12”.
Numerous articles published in Argentina and other Latin American countries.
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