Performance Auditing and Sustainable Development Goals: Linking Accountability to Outcomes

Abstract

This article examines how performance auditing contributes to accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how this accountability is linked to outcomeoriented public sector results. Using a descriptive qualitative systematic literature review, the study consolidates evidence across auditing, public finance, and sustainability governance to clarify what performance audits evaluate, how audit influence occurs, and which conditions shape effectiveness. The synthesized findings indicate that performance auditing most often affects SDG outcomes indirectly by improving governance capacity, including role clarity across agencies, alignment between plans and budgets, stronger monitoring systems, and more reliable follow-up on recommendations. The article discusses these results by integrating recurring mechanisms (learning and corrective action, agenda-setting and oversight leverage, and data credibility and assurance) with constraints that frequently limit impact, such as contested indicators, attribution challenges, and uneven institutional uptake. Overall, the review finds that performance auditing strengthens SDG accountability when audits are methodologically credible, supported by robust performance data, and embedded in institutions that can translate findings into coordinated action.