Recommendation Dashboard

USAID/Caucasus, in consultation with the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia's environmental officer, reconsider its decision not to mitigate asbestos in the eight school sites identified above and document that decision.

USAID/Caucasus communicate cost-sharing criteria and acceptable examples of cost-sharing to the BAVSHVI implementing partner, CHF International.

USAID/Caucasus write CHF International to highlight the implications of failing to meet its $2.5 million cost-sharing obligation, and solicit written reassurance that the obligation will be met.

USAID/Pakistan develop and implement a process to collect information about changes in beneficiaries' sales and incomes. The information should be stored in a standardized format in a database and be updated routinely so that well-timed project assessments can be performed.

USAID/Pakistan develop and implement an action plan to increase the pace of development in the honey sector or redefine or revise the activity objectives.

USAID's Office of Food for Peace establish and implement a plan to provide more oversight to partners throughout the baseline survey process.

USAID's Office of Food for Peace make a management decision on the allowability of the ineligible questioned cost of approximately $36,171 for the program baseline survey and collect from Counterpart any amounts determined to be unallowable.

USAID's Office of Food for Peace establish
and implement a plan to require a new Bellmon determination that provides clear information on the use of specific types of commodities before awarding any new programs in Mauritania.

USAID's Office of Food for Peace address the use of realistic shipping rate estimates in program proposals and budgets in its upcoming revision to the Monetization Field Manual.

USAID's Office of Food for Peace work with the partner to develop and implement a system of periodic, documented inventory counts for all warehouses where program commodities are stored.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Vice President of Compact Operations assure that the $750,848 of unused Nicaragua compact funding be deobligated.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Vice President of Compact Operations add information to Guidelines for the Program Closure of Millennium Challenge Compacts on closing bank accounts.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Vice President of Compact Operations provide consultation to MCA-Nicaragua on closing bank accounts.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Vice President of Compact Operations revise Guidelines for the Program Closure of Millennium Challenge Compacts to require that all accountable entities assure that expenses incurred or paid after compacts end are exempted from taxes.

We recommend that Millennium Challenge Corporation's Assistant General Counsel for Administration in the Office of the General Counsel finalize and issue the Millennium Challenge Corporation "Policy for Responding to Inspector General (IG) Audits" in order to provide guidance on responsibilities for recommendation follow-up to audit follow-up officials and provide a date by which the policy will be issued.

We recommend that Millennium Challenge Corporation's Assistant General Counsel for Administration in the Office of the General Counsel review final action notifications transmitted to the OIG during fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to verify whether the notifications were accurate with regard to actions taken on the recommendations.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Assistant General Counsel for Administration in the Office of the General Counsel, before finalizing its draft "Policy for Responding to Inspector General (IG) Audits," incorporate a procedure that requires an analysis of the timeliness of recommendations and a commitment to best efforts to implement recommendations on a more expedited timeline if the recommendation is time sensitive, such as recommendations intended to assist the Millennium Challenge Accounts' actions during the compact closure period.

We recommend that Millennium Challenge Corporation's Assistant General Counsel for Administration in the Office of the General Counsel, before finalizing its draft "Policy on Responding to Inspector General (IG) Audit," incorporate a requirement that Audit Follow-up Officials provide a justification for any final action that will not be completed within 12 months from the date of the audit report.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade develop a performance management plan in accordance with USAID guidelines that includes the new performance indicators.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, in coordination with the American Council on Education and Higher Education for Development, review and revise its targets as appropriate and communicate with partners regarding established targets.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade conduct a more thorough and rigorous data quality assessment, verifying source data and data acquisition methodologies, on all standard performance indicators that Higher Education for Development is required to report on.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade work with USAID's Office of Acquisition and Assistance to establish a plan to transfer any Washington-based awards to the mission where the activity is occurring or to devise a plan to aid in monitoring the activities.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade work with the American Council on Education to develop and implement procedures for regular monitoring of Higher Education for Development activities and data acquisition methods and verification of data quality.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade work with the American Council on Education to develop a more realistic reporting time frame for reporting data for Higher Education for Development's performance indicators and to minimize the need for estimates.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade develop and implement procedures to verify data included in its sector's Performance Plan and Report and USAID's Performance Accountability Report.

USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade fully disclose any data limitations in its sector's performance plan and report and USAID's performance accountability report and their implications for assessing the measurement and achievement of intended results.

USAID/Mexico develop and implement procedures to better communicate with USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, and seek participation to evaluate jointly the progress and problems that impede progress of Higher Education for Development and come up with steps to address those problems.

USAID/Mexico review the unauthorized commitment and ratify it or take other action as deemed necessary, and document the deposition.

USAID/Mexico implement procedures and issue instructions that all communication regarding changes that directly affect the award amount or other budgetary changes to the associate award, and the subawards under it, come directly from the agreement officer.

USAID/Mexico implement procedures for the agreement officer to improve his or her supervision over the agreement officer's technical representative.

USAID/Mexico counsel staff members involved in providing inaccurate guidance to the implementer on the extent of their authority and the risks involved if that authority is exceeded.

USAID/Mexico assess the training needs of agreement and contracting officers' technical representatives and implement a plan to provide them and their alternates with refresher training as necessary to increase awareness of their roles and responsibilities.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President for the Department of Compact Operations review and clarify the Material Interim Amendment to the Program Procurement Guidelines that addresses government-owned enterprises and its applicability to subcontractors.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President for the Department of Compact Operations review and document the Millennium Challenge Account-Mongolia's procedures for identifying, reviewing, and approving all subcontracts in excess of $100,000 to confirm they are in accordance with the Program Procurement Guidelines.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President for the Department of Compact Operations develop a written plan for assessing the quality of data obtained from information management systems that is used during the due diligence phase of new compact development.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President for the Department of Compact Operations direct the Millennium Challenge Account-Mongolia to inspect all well houses to ensure that the generator exhaust fumes are properly vented and that no safety hazard exists and communicate the ventilation concern to the Government of Mongolia.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to provide and document training and advice to the Independent High Electoral Commission in developing an effective strategic plan to become a sustainable organization.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to include capacity-building activities in its work plans that would contribute to sustainability.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to work with the Independent High Electoral Commission to help it perform onsite needs assessments at each of the 19 Governorate Electoral Offices so that the assessment results can be incorporated into strategic and operational plans.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to perform and document onsite monitoring at the Governorate Electoral Offices to assess the effectiveness of training for electoral preparedness and capacity building.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to (1) coordinate with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq and the Independent High Electoral Commission to identify institutional gaps in writing, determine and document which gaps each organization will work on, and continually coordinate with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq to avoid any duplication of efforts.

USAID/Iraq work with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to prepare and use a performance management plan for the follow-on agreement to assess and report progress in achieving the program's objectives.

USAID/Iraq work with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to include capacity-building benchmarks, with targets and time frames, in its performance management plan.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to file all required paperwork immediately with the proper Iraqi Government office to become a legally registered nongovernmental organization in Iraq.

USAID/Iraq realign the follow-on agreement's budget by main program expected result and require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to provide quarterly financial reports to the mission showing funds expended by these categories.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to provide its organizational staffing chart with its budget to track and monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of labor costs proposed and budgeted for the follow-on agreement.

USAID/Iraq require the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to provide the data requested during the audit and compare current proposed and budgeted costs with recent actual costs to determine the reasonableness of the proposed costs as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of program funds.

USAID/Iraq obtain written commitment and buy-in from the Government of Iraq, including cost sharing, before investing any funds in information technology systems, and monitor the Government of Iraq's commitment throughout the implementation of the systems.

USAID/Iraq issue written guidance to implementing partners of programs with information technology components regarding the independent verification and validation review process so that it can be completed in a thorough and timely manner.

USAID/Iraq require sustainability and users' needs to be built into the design of USAID-funded information technology systems.

USAID/Iraq complete and transfer information technology systems to the Government of Iraq in sufficient time to confirm that the systems are fully functional and used for their intended purposes before programs end. The completion, transfer, and use of the system should be documented.

USAID/Iraq monitor the implementation of information technology systems and immediately stop funding them if they are found not to be usable, sustainable, or supported by the intended user.

USAID/Iraq work with the Government of Iraq to determine whether the Bill Tracking System and the Content Management System (Numbers 8 and 9 in the table) can be salvaged and used, and document the results.

USAID/Iraq establish and implement follow-up procedures to document that information technology systems have been transferred to the intended users and are in use.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad review its control environment and present the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance with a plan for successfully managing the program's grant portfolio and achieving its program objectives.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad clearly define grants management authorities and responsibilities and formally delegate them to appropriate staff to serve as agreement officer's technical representatives.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad, in conjunction with the Office of General Counsel, clearly determine which federal regulations and Agency directives apply to the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program and document any exclusions or exemptions.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad develop and implement policies and procedures that are consistent with applicable federal regulations, Agency directives, and best practices to promote adequate grants management.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad implement a grants information management system that will enable the office to capture accurate, timely, and useful information to facilitate proper grants management.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad develop and implement a plan for periodically validating the data in its grants information management system for completeness and accuracy.

The Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad develop and implement a monitoring plan that clearly outlines who can be designated as an agreement officer's technical representative and defines the roles and responsibilities of the representatives, systematically identifies the most appropriate grantees for site visits using programmatic and financial risk factors, and actively solicits help from overseas missions to monitor and evaluate grantee performance through site visits and liaison with the recipients.