Recommendation Dashboard

USAID/El Salvador work with the Government of El Salvador Ministry of Health and University Research Corporation to assess the contract accomplishments to date and design and schedule critical activities that University Research Corporation is required to accomplish in order to contribute to the goal of sustainable results.

USAID/El Salvador work with the Government of El Salvador Ministry of Health to assess the project accomplishments to date and design and schedule critical activities that Abt Associates needs to accomplish in order to contribute to the goal of sustainable results.

USAID/El Salvador reassess the feasibility of the public/private alliance component of the Abt Associates cooperative agreement with the assistance of the mission public/private alliance advisor, and modify the award as appropriate.

USAID/El Salvador work with Abt Associates and University Research Corporation to establish performance indicators that directly reflect program activities and measure the program's intended goals.

USAID/El Salvador revise the reporting requirements specified in the Abt Associates and University Research Corporation awards to better reflect the timeframe for reporting on the selected indicators and require implementer compliance with the revised requirements.

USAID/El Salvador establish and implement procedures to improve the oversight of its maternal and child health activities and to verify the data reported by its implementing partners in their progress reports.

USAID/El Salvador develop and maintain a schedule for the completion of Data Quality Assessments that complies with the requirements of Automated Directives System chapter 203.3.5.2.

USAID/El Salvador and Abt Associates host a user forum for the Sistema Nacional de Abastecimiento to discuss improvements to the system and reach agreement on which improvements are to be implemented.

USAID/El Salvador and Abt Associates work with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement a plan to adapt the Sistema Nacional de Abastecimiento to incorporate the lower levels of health care units (Equipo Comunitario de Salud).

USAID/El Salvador and University Research Corporation perform a site visit to verify that the end users of the fumigation equipment are safely operating the fumigation equipment, which includes verifying that operators have personal protective equipment and that procedures are in place to notify residents in spray areas prior to fumigation activities.

USAID/El Salvador modify the contract with University Research Corporation to include a clause stating its responsibility concerning USAID environmental compliance requirements.

IT Governance Recommendation: We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer update the information technology strategic plan to reflect current enterprise strategic goals.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a formal process for managing risk and updating the information technology strategic plan accordingly. Risk management must drive enterprise architecture decisions, providing secure information system environments for critical applications. The plan should be reviewed at a minimum annually and when major events occur that have an impact on strategic goals. When updating the information technology strategic plan the Chief Information Officer should verify compliance with the Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-130, Management of Federal Information Systems, with regard to the capital planning and investment control process which includes the information resource management strategic plan and the information technology capital plan which is required to be updated twice yearly.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer complete the enterprise information architecture planning and implementation project as discussed in the Executive Level Notional OCIO 2 Year Portfolio in order to maintain an information architecture that reflects the business requirements.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a project plan for leveraging data as indicated in the authoritative data source process and methodology in order to provide business users access to detailed information to aid in analysis and decision making by June 30th, 2012.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief of Staff develop and implement a formal process that must be consistently applied for the Enterprise Architecture Steering Committee to prioritize information technology enabled-investment programs.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief of Staff formally document and implement a process requiring the Enterprise Architecture Steering Committee to consider risk management when discussing strategic direction and approval of information technology investments.

We recommend that Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer (1) conduct an analysis to determine whether the information technology function has sufficient resources to adequately support the business goals and objectives of the organization and (2) through the organization's budgeting process, submit a written request for additional resources to address any shortfalls identified in the analysis.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Deputy Chief Financial Officer revise the budget policy and procedures to account for the change from line item budgeting to project budgeting.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop a process and implement a tool for monitoring project plans and work completed to determine earned value, providing an early warning of performance issues impacting project budgets.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer define quality requirements, criteria, and key performance indicators for evaluation of quality management for key IT processes.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer identify and document standards, procedures, and practices for key IT processes to guide the Agency in defining and evaluating criteria for quality management.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer implement a process to incorporate the following components into its projects:
A project governance structure that includes the roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities of various key players in project management.
Project sponsors assigned for the execution of each project.
Project office and project manager.
Elements such as approving the initiation of phases, communicating to all stakeholders the status of projects, establishing an integrated project plan, project quality plan, and defining the responsibilities of project team members.
Project risk management through the process of planning, identifying, analyzing, responding to, monitoring and controlling risk.
Project change control.
Lessons learned.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer implement a process to verify that risk management plans and Exhibit 300 business cases are consistently used, monitored and updated annually for an IT projects as required.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer finalize and implement the system development life cycle.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a policy to fully address the maintenance of software applications.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a process for ensuring the integration of software into the current infrastructure is properly planned and executed.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Director of Contracting develop and implement information technology acquisition instructions that provide a methodology to evaluate the components of information technology acquisition contracts.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a process to ensure end user testing and evaluation of developed applications.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a process to ensure personnel are trained in the use of developed applications.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer document and implement policies and procedures for data conversion, testing of applications and infrastructure migration.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Director of Contracting develop and implement a process to enforce the creation of service level agreements for all endeavors requiring contract support.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Director of Contracting develop and implement a process for periodic review and feedback of performance for all contractors to improve service delivery and support early detection of potential problems.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Chief Information Officer develop and implement a monitoring process to ensure that all IT projects are provided a priority level commensurate with the direction and goals of the Agency as a whole, not with the goals of individual leaders within the Agency.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Chief Information Officer develop procedures for reviews of its personal digital assistants bills, including -
Requirements to maintain documentation that bills were reviewed, including certifications from those responsible for reviewing the bills.
A description of how the reviews should be conducted, including what items to focus on and organization-wide thresholds for when to conduct detailed reviews of an individual's charges.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Chief Information Officer document and implement procedures (a) describing the required documentation that supervisors must submit for program officers and above and full-time personal service contractors to receive personal digital assistants and (b) requiring supervisors to periodically recertify (in a predefined time frame) staffs' continued need for personal digital assistants.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Chief Information Officer review and revise the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Policy on Personal Digital Assistants to reflect the Corporations current management position regarding the issuance of personal digital assistants to staff who are program officers and above and full-time personal service contractors.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Chief Information Officer prepare and implement documented procedures to (a) define what information is required to justify the need for a personal digital assistant for staff below the program officer level, contractors, and intermittent personal service contractors and (b) require supervisors to periodically recertify (in a predefined time frame) staffs' continued need for personal digital assistants.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President of Compact Operations require the Millennium Development Authority to require China Railway Wuju to timely submit a report of all serious injuries occurring on the worksite to the supervisory engineer as required in its contract.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President of Compact Operations require the Millennium Development Authority to implement a process that requires the supervisory engineers for the Ferry Project and N1 Highway to perform and document periodic health and safety reviews in order to ensure that all employees wear their personal protective equipment.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President of Compact Operations require that the Millennium Development Authority conduct a periodic review of China Railway Wuju's employee record-keeping system to ensure that it is organized and up-to-date.

We recommend that Millennium Challenge Corporation document and report its action plan to the Office of the Inspector General that outlines the steps by the respective parties to: (a) identify a new source of bitumen, (b) ensure that the bitumen is tested and meets quality standards and is approved by the supervisory engineer, and (c) ensure that Sinohydro revises its work plan to show how it will complete the project on time.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to make sure that new MCC school structures and latrines are constructed in an appropriate area on existing school sites and are protected from typical seasonal flooding. New structures should require some site-specific grading designs be included in future school infrastructure to alleviate concerns regarding water damage and seasonal flooding.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to develop and implement a plan to correct pre-existing building code, safety, and health violations identified during the renovation of school structures.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to remediate the roof of the community-built classroom under renovation at the Hashiyana School to make it comply with applicable South African National Building Standards, as required by the contract.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to improve their quality control processes on-site at the various schools, to improve all subcontractors work and to make sure that China Jiangsu International provides reasonably good worksmanship

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations develop an action plan to implement corrective measures to address the deficiencies noted in the Independent Engineer's Report dated January 24th, 2011.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to conduct periodic health and safety reviews and document in a report any risks to worker health and safety on the sites and institute a system of financial penalties and stop work orders as necessary to safeguard workers.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations requires Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to conduct site inspections to ensure that the contractor is in full compliance with the environmental requirements.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Namibia to conduct periodic reviews of China Jiangsu International's payroll system and determine whether workers are receiving the wages specified in the 2009 Memorandum of Agreement.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation require the Millennium Challenge Account-Mali to ensure that Sinohydro (1) regularly inspects its vehicles for safety compliance, and (2) performs routine maintenance on the vehicles to keep them in good operating condition.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require the Millennium Challenge Account-Mali to ensure that Sinohydro institutes a process to substantiate that all employees receive health and safety training.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation Vice President of Compact Operations require Millennium Challenge Account-Mali to ensure that Sinohydro replaces, as needed, health and safety equipment such as masks and gloves, and installs first aid kits at the airport construction site.

USAID/Vietnam develop and implement a clear plan of action to expedite the approval process of the Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative Phase II with the Government of Vietnam.

USAID/Vietnam work with the contractor to finalize and approve a monitoring and evaluation plan that includes expected results with illustrative indicators, midterm milestones or benchmarks, and end-of-project results, as well as clear definitions, data sources, and collection methodologies for each indicator.

USAID/Vietnam revise its performance management plan to be consistent with the approved monitoring and evaluation plan.

USAID/Vietnam amend the Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative Phase II task order contract to require the contractor to submit periodic progress reports that clearly convey key activities/initiatives accomplished, achievements versus targets of program indicators, and outstanding issues and implementation problems and options for resolving them.

USAID/Iraq establish mechanisms to verify the contractor's significant reported results.

USAID/Iraq increase program oversight through the remainder of Option Period 1 to verify that the contractor focuses on expected results.

USAID/Iraq require its contracting officer's technical representatives to provide activity managers with copies of the applicable sections of contracts and agreements, such as the scope of work, and required deliverables to improve their ability to measure progress against expected results.

USAID/Iraq require the contractor to comply with its internal procedures by developing an adequate records system to support claimed subcontract costs and verify the contractor's completed actions.

USAID/Iraq suspend payments to the contractor for costs related to subcontracts until implementing actions are completed for Recommendation 4.

USAID/Iraq's Office of Acquisition and Assistance determine the allowability of and collect, as appropriate, $9,805,244 in questioned, unsupported costs for the 19 identified subcontracts.

USAID/Iraq (1) require the contractor to comply with its internal procedures and grant requirements within the contract by developing an adequate records system to support claimed grant costs and (2) verify the contractor's completed actions.

USAID/Iraq suspend payments to the contractor for costs related to grants until implementing actions are completed for Recommendation 7.

USAID/Iraq make a complete inventory of grants awarded by the contractor from program inception, review grant files to ensure that documentation is adequate to support required procurement and monitoring requirements, and question and collect amounts for those grants not adequately supported.

USAID/Iraq's Office of Acquisition and Assistance determine the allowability of and collect, as appropriate, $6,947,938 in questioned, unsupported costs for the five identified grants with special conditions.

USAID/Iraq's Office of Acquisition and Assistance determine the allowability of and collect, as appropriate, $6,296,758 in questioned, unsupported costs for the three identified grants to microfinance institutions.

USAID/Iraq review its evaluations issued during fiscal years 2009 and 2010 to determine whether they have all been appropriately shared with implementing partners, and if not, immediately share the evaluation results.

USAID/Iraq determine budget and financial reporting formats that will support its oversight role and instruct the contractor to provide budget and financial reports that meet this need.

USAID/Iraq (1) require the contractor to update the performance management plan so that it contains realistic targets and aligns with planned projects to clearly measure progress against expected results and (2) approve the updated performance management plan in writing.

USAID/Iraq conduct a data quality assessment of contractor performance indicators for increased gross sales and jobs created.

USAID/Iraq (1) require the contractor to submit its property accounting system for approval and (2) determine whether that system is acceptable for managing government property according to USAID Acquisition Regulation requirements.

USAID/Iraq require the contractor to submit annual property reports for government property for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 according to USAID Acquisition Regulation requirements.

USAID/Pakistan develop and implement a risk-assessment model to use in determining which of the weaknesses identified in the preaward assessments should be addressed before or after the disbursement of funds.

USAID/Pakistan develop and implement a comprehensive tracking system with benchmarks and time frames for measuring the progress on resolving weaknesses that are identified in the preaward assessment reports.

USAID/Pakistan develop and implement a comprehensive tracking system with benchmarks and time frames for measuring the progress on resolving weaknesses that are identified in the preaward assessment reports.

USAID/Pakistan develop and implement written procedures for reviewing the preaward assessment reports, including guidelines for testing the supporting documentation.