Human Trafficking: State and USAID Should Improve Their Monitoring of International Counter-trafficking Projects
Fast Facts
Human trafficking victims are often held in slave-like conditions and forced to work in areas such as the commercial sex trade, factories, and agriculture.
The Departments of State and Labor, and the U.S. Agency for International Development managed 120 counter-trafficking projects in FY 2017. These projects were carried out by grantees and others, and overseen by the agencies.
We found some weaknesses in State’s and USAID’s monitoring of projects we reviewed, including the use of inconsistent and incomplete information to assess project performance.
We made 5 recommendations to improve monitoring.
A woman picks cotton in Uzbekistan.
This is a photo of a woman picking cotton.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Departments of State (State), Labor (DOL), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—through agreements with implementing partners—managed 120 international counter-trafficking in person projects during fiscal year 2017.
GAO reviewed a selection of 54 counter-trafficking projects (37 State, 3 DOL, and 14 USAID), and found that DOL and USAID had fully documented their monitoring activities, while State had not. All three agencies used similar tools to monitor the performance of their projects, such as monitoring plans, performance indicators and targets, progress reports, and site visits. GAO found, however, that State did not fully document its monitoring activities for 16 of its 37 projects (43 percent). GAO found that State did not have the monitoring plans or complete progress reports for one-third of its projects and often lacked targets for performance indicators in its final progress reports. State officials said they had not required targets for each performance indicator for the projects GAO reviewed, or had not set targets due to limited resources in prior years. State has taken steps to improve its monitoring efforts, including issuing a November 2017 policy that requires targets to be set for each performance indicator and developing an automated data system that would require targets to be recorded. However, because the pilot data system allows targets to be recorded as “to be determined” and does not have controls to ensure entry of actual targets, it is uncertain whether performance targets will be regularly recorded. Without full documentation of monitoring activities and established performance targets, State has limited ability to assess project performance, including project efficiency or effectiveness.
GAO reviewed the reliability of project performance information for 5 of the 54 counter-trafficking projects (2 State, 1 DOL, and 2 USAID) and found that State and USAID used inconsistent and incomplete performance information, while DOL used consistent and complete information. For example, some quarterly indicator results in State and USAID progress reports were inconsistent with annual total results, and narrative explanations for significant deviations from performance targets were sometimes not present in quarterly reports. According to agency officials, performance information from these projects is regularly used not only for direct project oversight but also for internal and external reporting, program decisions, and lessons learned. GAO found that State's and USAID's processes lack sufficient controls to ensure the reliability of project performance information, but did not find inadequate controls in DOL's process. For example, neither State nor USAID consistently used automated checks on indicator results to ensure consistency and completeness of performance indicator result calculations. In contrast, DOL used automated checks as part of its process. Without implementing controls to ensure that performance information is consistent and complete, State and USAID officials cannot fully or accurately understand what projects are, or are not, achieving, and how their efforts might be improved.
Why GAO Did This Study
Human trafficking is a pervasive problem throughout the world. Victims are often held against their will in slave-like conditions.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 includes a provision for GAO to report on the programs conducted by specific agencies, including State, DOL, and USAID, that address trafficking in persons. Among other objectives, this report (1) identifies the recent projects in international counter-trafficking in persons that key U.S. agencies have awarded to implementing partners; and, for selected projects, assesses the extent to which key agencies have (2) documented their monitoring activities and (3) ensured the reliability of project performance information.
GAO reviewed State, DOL, and USAID project documents and interviewed agency officials. GAO reviewed monitoring documents for 54 of the 57 projects that were active from the beginning of fiscal year 2016 through the end of fiscal year 2017. Of these 54 projects, GAO selected a nongeneralizable sample of 5 projects, based primarily on largest total award amounts, for review of the reliability of project performance information.
Recommendations
GAO is making four recommendations to State and one recommendation to USAID, including that both agencies establish additional controls to improve the consistency and completeness of project performance information, and that State maintain monitoring activity documentation and establish targets for each performance indicator. State and USAID concur with GAO's recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) establishes targets for each performance indicator. (Recommendation 1) |
State concurred with GAO's recommendation and has taken corrective action in response. State's TIP Office has updated its guidance documents for program officers and grantees to provide clear direction on setting targets for indicators. Specifically, the TIP Office revised its standard operating procedures, updated May 2019, to remind program officers that grantees must set targets for all indicators before activities begin. It also revised its notice of funding opportunity and progress report template for grantees to include a target setting requirement--grantees must set targets for each indicator and if a target cannot be set, the grantee must clarify what date the target will be set. GAO reviewed an example of an instance in which a target was not set at the beginning of the project but was set at a later date by the program officer and grantee. Because State's TIP Office now sets targets for project indicators, it is in a better position to determine if project implementation is on track or if corrections need to be made.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of the TIP Office maintains documentation of all required monitoring activities, including monitoring plans, progress reports, and performance targets. (Recommendation 2) |
State concurred with GAO's recommendation and has taken corrective action in response. State's TIP Office has established policies and procedures for maintaining required monitoring documentation for its projects. The TIP Office updated its standard operating procedures in May 2019 to reflect that (1) copies of all official award documents, including monitoring plans and progress reports, must be stored electronically in State's new grants management database, and (2) targets--which are documented in grantees' quarterly progress reports--must be set for all indicators before implementation of the activity begins. In addition, the TIP Office informs new grantees of the requirement to complete and electronically upload quarterly progress reports in the notice of funding opportunity and mandatory award provisions of the award agreement. GAO reviewed evidence showing that the State TIP Office used its new database to maintain monitoring plans on file for projects. GAO also reviewed evidence showing that the State TIP Office used the new database to maintain the latest quarterly progress report for a project, and documented targets for all performance indicators in the project's latest quarterly progress report. Because State's TIP Office now maintains documentation of its monitoring activities, it is in a better position to assess project performance, including project efficiency or effectiveness.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of the TIP Office establishes additional controls to improve the consistency and completeness of performance information that the TIP Office uses to monitor counter-trafficking in persons projects. (Recommendation 3) |
State concurred with GAO's recommendation and, in response, has implemented several new controls. First, State's TIP Office implemented a portfolio review control, in which program staff must meet with their supervisor and Grants Officer for a quarterly status review of their portfolios. According to State TIP Office officials, goals for these meetings include discussing the accuracy of performance monitoring data. Additionally, State's TIP Office has revised its policies to require that State's centralized data system tracks logic models-a visual representation showing the linkages among the project's goals, objectives, activities, outputs, and outcomes-that include project indicators. As a result, State TIP Office officials can analyze and revise logic models that implementing partners submit, as well as examine performance indicator results over time because standardized data will be available in a centralized location. Finally, State has implemented a new review of performance submissions by a Performance Measurement Specialist. According to State TIP Office officials, a database system automatically notifies this specialist about overdue reports and report reviews, and also allows the Performance Measurement Specialist to generate reports about all overdue reports and reviews. With these newly-implemented changes, State's TIP Office has established additional controls to improve the consistency and completeness of performance information and can better understand and report on the achievements of its counter-trafficking in persons projects, and adjust projects as needed to strengthen their performance.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of the TIP Office establishes a process to review and update performance indicators, with the participation of implementing partners, to ensure that project monitoring remains efficient and effective. (Recommendation 4) |
State concurred with GAO's recommendation and, in response, has established a process to review and update performance indicators, with the participation of implementing partners. This process, which was finalized in October 2019, requires project officers to conduct a documented annual review of each project, including performance indicators and targets. State officials also informed GAO that State requires that the TIP Office work with all implementing partners to revise all performance indicators if required based on the outcome of the annual review and document any changes. With this newly implemented process, State TIP Office has established additional controls and is better able to ensure that project monitoring remains efficient and effective.
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| U.S. Agency for International Development |
Priority Rec.
The Administrator of USAID should establish additional controls to improve the consistency and completeness of performance information that USAID uses to monitor counter-trafficking in persons projects. (Recommendation 5) |
USAID concurred with GAO's recommendation and has taken corrective actions in response. As of October 2020, USAID announced that the agency piloted its information management system, the Development Information Solution (DIS), in 10 USAID missions, rolled out DIS performance monitoring module across the Bureau for Asia beginning in June 2020, and considered a strategy to deploy the DIS agency-wide by the end of 2021. According to USAID officials and documents, work has been completed to build DIS features that will help to improve the consistency and completeness of performance information, such as the ability to create and centrally manage customized indicators within DIS as well as centrally track and manage project activities, targets, and results. A document that GAO reviewed shows that DIS will provide a standardized electronic form for creating indicators and targets , as well as the capability to automate some calculations, error checks, and formatting standards. USAID officials will be able to generate performance reports related to goals and milestones and track data quality assessments within the same system. USAID has also updated its performance monitoring policy to require the completion of Performance Management Plans, within 3 months of completion of the mission's Country Development Cooperation Strategy, instead of the previously required 6 months. As of March 2021, USAID has scheduled planned dates for its global roll-out strategy for DIS. According to USAID officials, the introduction of new standard indicators across projects will also help to improve consistency and completeness of performance data. With these changes, USAID can better understand and report on the achievements of its counter-trafficking in persons projects, and adjust projects as needed to strengthen their performance.
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