Priority Open Recommendations: U.S. Agency for International Development
Fast Facts
Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List, and significantly improve government operations.
This letter to USAID outlines 4 open recommendations that it should prioritize. For example, we recommended that the agency ensure its guidance requires fraud assessments for its programs. We also recommended tracking staff participation in mandatory fraud awareness training.
USAID implemented both recommendations we identified as a priority last year.
We regularly update priority recommendations here.
Highlights
Why GAO Did This Study
In May 2023, GAO identified two priority recommendations for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Since then, USAID has implemented both of those recommendations by establishing goals and timeframes to assess the progress of Feed the Future, a global food security initiative.
In June 2024, GAO identified four additional priority recommendations for USAID. These recommendations involve the following areas:
- managing fraud risk; and
- improving workforce planning and management.
USAID's continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
What GAO Found
Priority open recommendations are the GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensure that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015 GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations.
For more information, contact Kimberly Gianopoulos at (202) 512-8612 or GianopoulosK@gao.gov.