Audit of USAID/West Africa's Peace Through Development II Program

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.