The Citizen Audit is a tool, a mechanism (or process) to critically analyze debt policies conducted by the authorities of a country and the impact of them on the population. Not only financial data analysis applies, but a broader and deeper analysis ranging from cuts in the fundamental rights of citizens, the environment or the lack of transparency, to the right of control that citizens have over those who govern and, therefore, participate actively in public affairs.
Parallel to state debt audit research, other sectorial audits are being conducted (health, education, environment, gender, electric industry…) or of different scope (local, municipal [http://www.ocab.es/]…), making it more relevant to work in collaboration with other movements and join forces, resources and efforts. Every citizen movement is a first-hand source of information on the major impacts that austerity measures, caused by debt, cause in their respective areas.
To conduct a citizen debt audit is to examine and evaluate the processes that have originated such debt, not only in order to determine the fairness and reliability of accounting data but also if they are legal, legitimate and transparent, and if they have caused harm to the population based on the legal, accounting, financial, environmental and social standards in the State.