Why We Did This Audit
For over two decades, Colombia has been a top recipient of U.S. foreign assistance in the Western Hemisphere. U.S.-Colombia relations have centered around counternarcotics and counterterrorism efforts to advance mutual security interests. In more recent years, USAID-managed foreign assistance has above all focused on supporting implementation of the 2016 Peace Accord, which ended Colombia’s 50-year conflict between the government of Colombia (GOC) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
U.S. appropriations laws dating back to the signing of the 2016 Peace Accord have included limitations for how foreign assistance funds could be used in Colombia. Specifically, the laws stated that no U.S. government funds could be used for the payment of reparations to conflict victims or compensation to demobilized combatants. In 2024, appropriators added a new limitation stating that no assistance to Colombia could be used for cash subsidies for agrarian reforms associated with implementation of the 2016 Peace Accord. These limitations applied to funds provided under each annual appropriations law as well as to unspent funds from prior appropriations laws.
Congress expressed interest in OIG oversight of the funding limitations in an early version of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations law. Accordingly, OIG initiated this audit to determine the extent to which USAID complied with specific statutory limitations for assistance to Colombia.
What We Found
USAID complied with statutory limitations for assistance to Colombia for selected awards but risked noncompliance in the future. USAID did not use U.S. foreign assistance to pay reparations to conflict victims, compensation to demobilized combatants, or cash subsidies for agrarian reforms for the sampled awards and period reviewed. However, the Agency risked noncompliance in the future because management activities related to the limitations, like policies and checklists, had not been documented. Documenting these activities would help ensure sustained compliance for future U.S. foreign assistance to Colombia.
What We Recommend
We made two recommendations to strengthen management activities for U.S. foreign assistance to Colombia. USAID elected not to provide comments on the recommendations.