Report Contents
Summary of Review
OIG conducted a review of the Department of State’s (Department) foreign assistance tracking capabilities.1 In a 2017 report, 2 OIG found that Department efforts to improve its tracking of foreign assistance funds had yielded limited progress and lacked executive guidance and support. Moreover, OIG assessed that the Department’s proposed approach to addressing deficiencies in foreign assistance tracking would not produce the full range of data needed by senior policymakers, bureaus that manage foreign assistance, or external audiences. The objectives of this current review were to: (1) determine what progress the Department has made in improving its ability to track and report on foreign assistance since OIG’s 2017 report; (2) assess the sufficiency of the Department’s proposed solutions; and (3) determine the effects of any shortcomings in the Department’s ability to track foreign assistance funding.
OIG found that the Department took several steps to improve its ability to track foreign assistance funds since the issuance of the 2017 report. At the time of this 2020 review, the Department planned to begin collecting more detailed data for each accounting transaction involving foreign assistance funds in FY 2021. Department staff told OIG this action would further improve the accuracy of the Department’s foreign assistance data, allowing it to better comply with its public reporting requirements and meet the data needs of senior Department officials. Despite this plan to collect more detailed data, OIG found the Department did not assess the full range of potential effects its changes would have on bureaus that manage foreign assistance, nor did it identify sufficient measures to mitigate such effects. OIG also found that the Department did not adequately communicate and train bureaus on how to implement its proposed changes to improve foreign assistance tracking. Such a lapse risks the continued production of unreliable data on the Department’s foreign assistance portfolio. OIG made three recommendations to the Office of Foreign Assistance to address these issues. In its comments on the draft report, the Department concurred with all three recommendations. OIG considers all three 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 response is reprinted in its entirety in Appendix B.
1 This review addressed the Department’s tracking of transaction-level foreign assistance financial data, which the Department is required by law and policy to make publicly available. The Department maintains additional types of foreign assistance data, including data holdings related to foreign assistance budgeting, strategic planning, performance monitoring, and evaluation. These additional foreign assistance data holdings were not included in the scope of OIG’s review.
2 OIG, Compliance Follow-up Review: Department of State Is Still Unable to Accurately Track and Report on Foreign Assistance Funds (ISP-C-17-27, June 2017).
Report Terms
Report Recommendations
The Office of Foreign Assistance, in coordination with the Bureaus of Administration and the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, should consult with bureaus that manage foreign assistance funds to assess potential effects and resource implications of their changes to IT systems and develop and implement an action plan to mitigate adverse effects.
The Office of Foreign Assistance, in coordination with the Bureaus of Administration and the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, should clearly communicate foreign assistance tracking requirements for bureaus that manage foreign assistance and provide the training necessary to implement these changes.
The Office of Foreign Assistance should develop and communicate a plan and process to monitor bureaus that manage foreign assistance to ensure compliance with any new foreign assistance tracking requirements.