The President of the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia Jana Ahčin attended the first International Meeting of the Women Presidents of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) of the European Union and Ukraine which was held on 12 and 13 January 2026 in Madrid. The event was organised by SAI Spain in cooperation with SAI Portugal. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen women's leadership and promote the visibility of women in positions of high responsibility within international public management. At the same time, the event marked an important milestone since for the first time 40% of the SAIs in the European Union are chaired by women.
On behalf of the SAI Slovenia, the meeting was attended by the President of the Court of Audit Jana Ahčin and Secretary of the Court of Audit Tadeja Pušnar. Within the framework of working meetings and formal sessions aimed to share experience and to stimulate reflection on future joint initiatives, Ms Ahčin gave a presentation titled Promotion of Gender Equality and the Role of SAI Slovenia, thereby, among others, pointing out how the Slovenian Court of Audit can contribute to greater gender equality.
The meeting brought together renowned representatives of SAIs and other European institutions. In addition to the organisers of the event, the President of SAI Spain and EUROSAI Secretary General Enriquete Chicano Jávega and the President of SAI Portugal Filipe Urbano Calvã, the meeting was attended also by the heads of other SAIs, among them: Senior President of SAI Belgium Hilde François, President of SAI Greece Sotiria Ntouni, Auditor General of SAI Lithuania Irena Segalovičienė, President of SAI Austria and INTOSAI Secretary General Dr. Margit Kraker, member of SAI Romania Claudia Boghicevici, Secretary General of SAI Sweden Christina Gellerbrant-Hagberg, President of SAI Ukraine Olha Pishchanska and European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho.
This meeting provided an opportunity to exchange experiences, share joint initiatives and to establish an international network for cooperation among institutions led by women. Special emphasis was on the transformative role of women in public administration at the global level and to promote the exchange of experiences and methodologies in relation to the work of Supreme Audit Institutions in favour of equality between women and men.
At the event, participants adopted a joint declaration by which the women Presidents of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the European Union bound themselves to renew their determination to work together to build fairer, more transparent and more representative institutions that reflect the values of equality, integrity and public service for the benefit of European citizens.