During this reporting cycle, USAID’s Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG) had one training conference with expenses exceeding $100,000. USAID OIG’s policy states that “OIG-planned conferences with anticipated expenses exceeding $100,000, including travel expenses, must be approved by the Deputy Inspector General.” All other USAID OIG-planned conferences must be approved by the Assistant Inspector General for Management. To reduce conference spending, USAID OIG uses teleconferencing and video conferencing in lieu of face-to-face meetings whenever practical.
The following information is provided for this training conference:
Office of Audits, Inspections and Evaluations Training: Report Writing and Reviewing
- Total expenses incurred by USAID OIG for the conference: $179,595.55
- Location of the conference: Frankfurt, Germany; Pretoria, South Africa; and Washington, DC.
- Date of the conference: April 23–25, 2024 (Washington, DC); May 7–9, 2024 (Pretoria, South Africa); June 4–6, 2024 (Washington, DC); August 27–29, 2024 (Frankfurt, Germany); and September 30, 2024–October 3, 2024 (virtual).
- A brief explanation of how the conference advanced the mission of the agency:
Under the authority of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act), USAID OIG conducts independent audits, evaluations and investigations that promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness and prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse in USAID programs and operations. USAID OIG also provides oversight of the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), and the U.S. African Development Foundation (ADF).
In furtherance of the IG Act, the Office of Audits, Inspections and Evaluations (OAI&E) conducts oversight work for USAID, MCC, IAF, and ADF, examining agency operations, internal controls, and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and guidance—resulting in recommendations to improve the effectiveness, economy and efficiency of agency programs. Audits are conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (Yellow Book). Auditors performing work under government auditing standards must maintain their professional competence through continuing professional education (CPE).
OAI&E held three, 3-day, in-person trainings and one virtual session on Report Writing and Reviewing, which directly enhanced the professional competence of its audit staff. The training had seven learning objectives: (1) understand how audit objectives and findings shape the report message; (2) learn how to identify and assess messages emerging from data; (3) work effectively within the audit team and with other stakeholders in the audit organization to reach agreement on the report message, (4) learn to effectively and efficiently draft reports using best practices for deductive writing and relying on approaches for addressing issues with report development and writing, (6) understand how to review report drafts to recognize common problems, and (7) provide constructive written and oral feedback to achieve a quality draft report and coach writers for improved effectiveness on future report writing.
Alternatives to an in-person event were considered and determined not to be a viable for achieving the learning objectives given the number of field offices, various time zones, and experience levels of participants.
Training participants received CPEs for attending and completing the training.
Total number of individuals whose travel or other conference expenses were paid by the USAID OIG: 32