Inspection of the U.S. Mission to the African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

What OIG Inspected
OIG inspected the executive direction, program and policy implementation, management controls, and resource management operations of the U.S. Mission to the African Union.

What OIG Recommended
OIG made 3 recommendations to enhance oversight of foreign assistance programs, develop a social media strategy to guide public diplomacy online engagement efforts, and improve grants management.

In its comments on the draft report the Department concurred with all 3 recommendations. OIG considers all recommendations resolved. The Department’s response to each recommendation, and OIG’s reply, can be found in the Recommendations section of this report. The Department’s formal written responses are reprinted in their entirety in Appendix B.

What OIG Found

• Since their arrival in September 2016, the Ambassador and the Deputy Chief of Mission have led the U.S. Mission to the African Union in advancing Integrated Country Strategy goals.
• The mission could not implement a strategy that encompassed all U.S. Government foreign assistance programs and funding priorities because it did not have insight into foreign assistance funding provided to the African Union by other Department of State and U.S. Government entities.
• Public Affairs Section staff did not have a common understanding of the key audiences it wanted to reach in the mission’s multilateral operating environment.
• The U.S. Mission to the African Union did not provide sufficient oversight and documentation in administering its public diplomacy grants.