Recommendation Dashboard

USAID/Central Asian Republics finalize and approve a project monitoring and evaluation plan that contains suitable indicators attributable to the project's activities and meets the requirements of Automated Directives System Chapter 203.

USAID/Central Asian Republics implement a plan to require technical staff to design future programs in accordance with Automated Directives System Chapter 200.

USAID/Central Asian Republics issue guidance requiring work plan approval by the beginning of the implementing period.

USAID/Central Asian Republics conduct and document training to equip contracting officer's representatives, activity managers, and contracting officers to manage development projects effectively as required by Automated Directives System 202.3.4.5.

USAID/Central Asian Republics issue guidance requiring contractor performance reviews to be completed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 42 and USAID Acquisition Regulation 742.15.

USAID/Haiti complete its staffing plan by hiring the appropriate number of technical and contracting staff with engineering and construction expertise to manage the mission's infrastructure program properly.

USAID/Haiti consolidate the infrastructure activities under the Office of Infrastructure, Engineering, and Energy.

USAID/Haiti issue a mission order to provide specific guidance on mission policy and procedures for the design, procurement, implementation, and oversight of all infrastructure projects with engineering and construction activities.

USAID/Haiti, in collaboration with the Haitian Government, develop sustainability plans for each of the infrastructure projects that include mechanisms to confirm that the Haitian Government formally commits funds in its official budget that cover the projected costs (both financial and human resources) to maintain and use the project, and include targets that the Haitian Government must meet to indicate progress toward meeting its commitment to fund, maintain, and use the projects.

USAID/Haiti develop a monitoring plan to assess regularly the Haitian Government's progress in meeting the targets in the sustainability plan and a plan of action should targets not be met.

USAID/Haiti update the project implementation letters and Foreign Assistance Act, Section 611 (e) certifications as necessary based on the revised projected operations and maintenance costs and completion of the sustainability plans for each project.

USAID/Haiti develop a mission order that requires the development of detailed sustainability plans for all significant infrastructure projects that include mechanisms to confirm that the Haitian Government formally commits funds in its official budget that cover the projected costs (both financial and human resources) to maintain and use the project, include targets that the Haitian Government must meet that indicate progress toward meeting its commitment to maintain and use the project, and requires the completion of monitoring plans to track the Haitian Government's progress in meeting its targets in the sustainability plans and a plan of action should targets not be met.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement written risk assessment procedures documenting roles and responsibilities of mission staff, and periodic review for the Geo-Management Information System in accordance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Banks and Gaza document a risk assessment of the Geo-Management Information System in accordance with federal information processing standard 199 and National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-30, and categorize the system as low-, moderate-, or high-risk.

USAID/Office of Security implement procedures to conduct and document periodic risk assessments for the Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal to comply with the guidance of National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza prepare a written security assessment of the Geo-Management Information System in accordance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

Based on the results of the security assessment, we recommend that USAID/West Bank and Gaza document its plan of action and milestones for the Geo-Management Information System in accordance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/Office of Security update the Partner
Vetting System Nongovernmental Portal plan of action and milestones to include estimated completion dates for its established milestones.

Once the estimated completion dates are in the Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Portal's plan of action and milestones, we recommend that
USAID/Office of Security conduct periodic reviews and document updates of actions taken to address any security control weaknesses by the completion dates.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza obtain a certified authorization to operate the Geo-Management Information System from the Agency's Chief Information Security Officer in accordance with Automated Directives System 545.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement a security plan in accordance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publications 800-53 and 800-18 for the Geo-Management Information System.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement comprehensive contingency plan procedures in accordance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publications 800-53 and 800-34 for its information systems including the Geo-Management Information System.

Upon completion of the Geo-Management Information System contingency plan, we recommend that USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement procedures to test its plan annually and update the contingency plan as needed based on the results.

USAID/Office of Security review the Partner
Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal contingency plan and make corrections as necessary in accordance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/Office of Security complete its annual testing of the Partner Vetting System and the Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal, and update the contingency plans based on the results.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza coordinate with USAID/Office of Security to identify an alternate processing site for the Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal and incorporate the site into its contingency plan.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza include recovery of the information systems once normal operations return in its Geo-Management Information System contingency plan.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza modify the Geo-Management Information System to include a transaction recovery system, such as transaction rollback or transaction journaling, to assist in the recovery of the database in the event of a failure, as required by National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza modify its Geo-Management Information System access control procedures and include the topics required by National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement procedures defining and requiring periodic review of user accounts and roles, and deactivating invalid user accounts within the Geo-Management Information System, Partner Vetting System, and Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization
Portal as required by National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/Office of Security incorporate audit trails for creation of user accounts, last user log-ons, role modifications, and disabling of user accounts to the Partner Vetting System as required by National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53, and give USAID/West Bank and Gaza access to the audit trails.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza incorporate audit trails for creation of user accounts, last user log-ons, role modifications, and disabling of user accounts to the Geo-Management Information System as required by National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement procedures requiring written access requests for all authorized Partner Vetting System and Geo-Management Information System users.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza review and document the review results on roles assigned to Geo-Management Information System and Partner Vetting System administrators, and correct any separation of duties weaknesses noted, or document reasons for not correcting noted weaknesses.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza review and document the results of the review on users with system administrator rights and other privileged roles in the Partner Vetting System, and remove these roles as needed to enforce least privilege.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza document the acceptable number of user log-on attempts before a Geo-Management Information System user account is locked and incorporate this control into the Geo-Management Information System application.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza modify its Geo-Management Information System user notification to comply with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza define and document its session lock criteria for the Geo-Management Information System in management-approved procedures.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza modify the Geo-Management Information System to prevent the display of data once the system locks the session.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza provide training to the system administrators of the Partner Vetting System, Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal and Geo-Management Information
System on information system security and security requirements for federal information
systems.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement a comprehensive identification and authentication policy and procedures for the Geo-Management Information System to comply with the guidance of National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

Following the implementation of the identification and authentication policy and procedures for the Geo-Management Information
System, we recommend that USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement procedures to conduct periodic reviews and document the review results to comply with the guidance of National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication
800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza incorporate authenticator management controls in the Geo-Management Information System to enforce minimum password complexity, minimum number of changed characters when new passwords are created, encrypted representations of passwords for storage and transmission, password minimum and maximum lifetime restrictions, rules governing recycling of passwords, and the use of a temporary password for system log-ons with an
immediate change to a permanent password, in compliance with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/Office of Security incorporate authenticator management control in the Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal to enforce minimum password lifetime
parameters for user accounts to comply with National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement controls in the Geo-Management Information System so the system does not retain user log-ons after it terminates a communication session.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza use a secure session for transmitting data from its implementing partners.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza, in coordination with USAID/Office of Security, implement necessary changes to the Partner Vetting System Nongovernmental Organization Portal to eliminate
restrictions on age limits in the birth date fields in the Partner Information Form and allowing changes made to be reflected in the form.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza review and document the frequency and level of certification required by the contracting officer's representatives and agreement officer's representatives in the Geo-
Management Information System.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza implement a policy to periodically validate contracting officer's representatives and agreement officer's representatives compliance with Geo-Management
Information System certification requirements.

USAID/Haiti determine whether the current targets are realistic or need to be adjusted and document revised estimates of completion dates for the remaining houses and sites.

USAID/Haiti require contractors to include detailed instructions in their quality control plans to make sure that construction projects meet the quality standards set forth in the contracts.

USAID/Haiti require its contractors to document all test results and make them available on request.

USAID/Haiti require its contractors to document and resolve identified deficiencies, and use punch lists before asking USAID to accept completed houses.

USAID/Haiti correct the problems noted with finishing the completed houses.

USAID/Haiti address the inconsistencies in environmental reporting between its contractors and implement a plan for more vigorous enforcement of environmental mitigation at the construction sites.

USAID/Haiti complete the required contractor performance evaluations for all new settlement construction contracts in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and USAID's Acquisition Regulation.

USAID/Haiti document its actions with regard to branding plans in accordance with USAID regulations and obtain appropriate waivers if necessary. 11

USAID/Afghanistan deobligate the remaining agricultural funds from the Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan Project.

USAID/Afghanistan modify the results that it expects Chemonics to achieve under the Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan Project, in light of the relationship with the central bank.

USAID/Afghanistan conduct an analysis to determine whether mobile solutions are appropriate in Afghanistan and modify accordingly the expected results for the Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan Project.

USAID/Afghanistan award a contract for an audit of costs incurred in Afghanistan by Chemonics under the Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan Project.

USAID/West Africa implement a corrective action plan that describes the initiatives to be implemented to improve performance, the milestones and timelines, the monitoring process, and the remedial actions that will be taken if the program is not making progress as planned.

USAID/West Africa implement a plan to increase activity managers' monitoring of the program to measure and verify progress against performance milestones.

USAID/West Africa require International Relief and Development to select local partners in Chad and Niger to carry out activities for the third and fourth objectives.

USAID/West Africa conduct a review of International Relief and Development's systems of budgetary control and liquidity management for the program and document the results.

USAID/West Africa consult with activity managers to confirm that cost estimates for particular items (such as rent and equipment) included in the realigned budget reflect current market costs in each of the three Peace through Development II countries, and, to the extent possible, verify with activity managers that country-level budgets properly include expected costs given planned future activities and document the results.

USAID/West Africa ask International Relief and Development to provide financial reports on a quarterly basis that analyze line-item expenditures against the budget and highlight and discuss any significant variations.

USAID/West Africa require International Relief and Development to hire local partners and comply with the terms of the subagreements.

USAID/West Africa require International Relief and Development to implement a plan to provide adequate oversight, support, and training to local partners.

USAID/West Africa work with International Relief and Development to fill vacant monitoring and evaluation positions with qualified staff and provide hiring documentation.

USAID/West Africa conduct a thorough follow-on data quality assessment of Peace through Development II activities during the first quarter of the 2014 calendar year once its monitoring and evaluation system has been fully implemented and tested.

USAID/West Africa follow up with International Relief and Development to confirm in writing that the specified training from the internal auditors' report has been provided and that the program has implemented a plan to address these training needs regularly.

USAID/West Africa require International Relief and Development to clarify and document responsibilities and procedures for activities that follow on from Salam Institute training workshops and curriculum development activities, clearly setting out the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, including the institute, and allocating appropriate financial resources for those efforts.

USAID/Afghanistan determine the allowability of $16,283,163 in unsupported questioned costs representing $16,013,318 in overtime expenses that were missing required approvals by USAID supervisors, $193,805 in overtime expenses for which justifications were missing completely, and $76,040 that were too vague to serve as a basis for approvals, and recover the amounts determined to be ineligible for payment under applicable regulations or USAID or mission policies.

USAID/Afghanistan determine the allowability of $24,617 in ineligible questioned costs, representing overtime paid for time in training or in travel status, and recover the amounts determined to be ineligible for payment under applicable regulations.

USAID/Afghanistan implement more effective training, control activities, and monitoring related to control of overtime compensation.

USAID/Afghanistan provide periodic reports, at least quarterly, to the mission director on its monitoring of control activities related to overtime compensation until it can demonstrate an acceptable degree of compliance with applicable regulations and policies.

USAID/Peru work with Centro de Informacion y Educacion para la Prevencion del Abuso de Drogras to create a written sustainability plan for the technological centers.

USAID/Peru work with Centro de Informacion y Educacion para la Prevencion del Abuso de Drogras to reevaluate and document what indicators should be tracked for all three components and report on the progress of these indicators.

USAID/Peru direct Centro de Informacion y Educacion para la Prevencion del Abuso de Drogras to define in writing the criteria for reporting a person trained.

USAID/Peru work with CARANA Corp. and Centro de Informacion y Educacion para la Prevencion del Abuso de Drogras to update USAID's Training Results and Information Network to accurately reflect who has been trained.

USAID/Peru work with Centro de Informacion y Educacion para la Prevencion del Abuso de Drogras to implement policies and procedures on what and how information should be collected at the technological centers.

USAID/Peru develop in conjunction with CARANA Corp. a template for summarized reporting of expected target results and progress toward those targets.

USAID/Peru document a revised calculation for jobs generated from existing crops assisted and document a full-time equivalent multiplier, which is a coefficient for calculating jobs created through planting plantains.

USAID/Pakistan implement a plan to closely monitor construction and approval to avoid additional cost overruns.

USAID/Pakistan's Office of Financial Management require new local implementers to provide their office with a canceled check showing account name and number before requesting payment from the USAID disbursement office.

USAID/Pakistan implement realistic targets for improving literacy and numeracy under the Sindh Basic Education Program.

USAID/Pakistan deobligate the excess funding for Teachers' Resource Centre under the Sindh Basic Education Program and reprogram the funds for better use.

USAID/Pakistan determine whether to extend the Sindh Basic Education Program, and, if decides to do so, extend the program as soon as possible to mitigate future activity delays.

USADF review the Turkana portfolio of projects, and establish milestones and target dates for completing the remaining activities under each project.

USADF implement a process to confirm that a new country program has a partner organization in place before making awards.

USADF implement procedures for its Turkana program to verify that grantees' budgets correspond to planned outputs and deliverables before making awards.

USADF document lessons learned during the start-up of the Turkana program, including the appropriate selection of types of grants, and communicate those lessons to USADF and CEZAM and Associates Ltd. staff who are responsible for reviewing new grants under the program.

USADF implement a plan to build CEZAM and Associates Ltd.'s monitoring and evaluation capacity.

USADF, in coordination with CEZAM and Associates Ltd., help all grantees establish monitoring and evaluation systems and internal controls for accurate reporting.

USADF determine the allowability of $6,925 in questioned costs ($6,427 unsupported and $498 ineligible arising from Napucho's ineligible salary payments and unsupported cash withdrawals), and recover any amounts determined to be unallowable.

USADF determine whether to put the unspent balance of the Napucho grant to better use based on the results of its upcoming financial audit, and document its decision.

USADF terminate a portion of its award with the Turkana Pastoralist Development Organization for its work with the Lopur livestock marketing association and put the unspent funds (currently $42,696) to better use.

USADF determine the allowability of $4,805 in ineligible questioned costs arising from payments made to Excellent Operations Consultants for services provided to Eliye Springs beach management unit that were not in accordance with the agreement terms, and recover from Eliye Springs beach management unit the amount determined to be unallowable.

USADF determine the allowability of $4,379 in ineligible questioned costs arising from payments made to Excellent Operations Consultants for services provided to Longech beach management unit that were not in accordance with the agreement terms, and recover from Longech beach management unit the amount determined to be unallowable.

USADF implement a policy that requires CEZAM and Associates Ltd. to attend all tender evaluation meetings to monitor and assist grantees in the contractor evaluation and selection process, and require CEZAM to help grantees review all draft service agreements and contracts they prepare to confirm that they include all required provisions.

USADF identify key capacity-building indicators and the results to be achieved in its annual cooperative agreement with CEZAM and Associates Ltd., and implement procedures to verify that they are included in the annual work plan and assessed during CEZAM and Associates Ltd.'s annual performance evaluation.

USADF, in conjunction with CEZAM and Associates Ltd., help grantees implement a coordinated strategy through consultations with the Turkana County Government to help grantees capitalize on opportunities created by the presence of oil companies in the Lake Turkana region.