Emergency Food Assistance in Ethiopia: Gaps in USAID's Award Administration, Monitoring, and Incident Reporting Hindered Its Ability to Detect Widespread Food Diversion

Recommendation
11

We recommend BHA Update incident guidance to require (1) documentation of BHA's course of action for reported incidents, to include determinations that no additional action is necessary and (2) documentation of incident closure after BHA's response.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Close Date
Recommendation
3

We recommend USAID/Ethiopia's Office of Humanitarian Assistance fully implement the country monitoring plan for Ethiopia in accordance with recommended guidance.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Close Date
Recommendation
2

We recommend BHA develop and implement a process to regularly assess the completeness of required award documentation in ASIST and address identified gaps.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
5

We recommend BHA establish a mechanism to enforce the use of guidance for monitoring in nonpermissive environments, to include assessing and determining the need for a third-party monitor and identifying and defining context-specific approaches to verify data.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
6

We recommend BHA assess BHA's third-party monitor contracting processes and timelines, determine if adjustments are necessary to strengthen BHA's acquisition of third-party monitor support, and update BHA guidance accordingly.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
7

We recommend BHA establish a mechanism to enforce BHA's use of internal guidance for Response Team Staffing to develop a DART staffing strategy for disaster responses.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
8

We recommend BHA update BHA award language to clarify (1) the relationship with incident reporting requirements in USAID standard provisions and (2) ambiguous terminology related to reporting timeliness and incident impact.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
10

We recommend BHA develop and implement a process to ensure the storage and transfer of incident documentation between team files, Abacus, and ASIST, in accordance with BHA guidance.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
9

We recommend BHA develop and implement a framework to address implementer noncompliance with BHA incident reporting requirements that defines response options and identifies triggers for escalation.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
4

We recommend BHA update guidance for monitoring in nonpermissive environments to include criteria that trigger an assessment by BHA at the start of a response whether a country monitoring plan is necessary, and perform and document this assessment periodically, as applicable.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0
Recommendation
1

We recommended BHA develop and implement a process to determine the appropriate number of AORs needed for a given award portfolio based on factors including, but not limited to, the number of awards, amount of funding, and operating environment.

Questioned Cost
0
Funds for Better Use
0