Thursday, March 2, 2023

Pursuant to the Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) accompanying Division K of P.L. 116-260, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021 (“SFOAA”), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing you an update of the Agency’s progress in implementing an accountability mechanism . USAID continues work on designing an accountability mechanism that considers the existing statutory/regulatory requirements for accountability, such as the Office of Inspector General (OIG). This report includes progress towards developing the Agency accountability mechanism in 2022.

USAID notified Congress of funding to develop an accountability mechanism in CN #235, dated August 31, 2022. As USAID proceeds with creating a robust and comprehensive accountability mechanism, including drafting Standard Operating Procedures, we look forward to continued dialog with all partners.

Led by a full-time dedicated employee to serve as the Agency Accountability Mechanism Official (AMO), who’s hiring is in progress, USAID intends to implement its Agency Accountability Mechanism (AAM) Program consistent with international best practices, including features such as:

  1. a compliance review function to ensure project adherence to environmental, social, and other policies and standards;
  2. a dispute resolution function;
  3. an advisory function to report lessons learned;
  4. adequate staffing for the mechanism, and
  5. transparent status reporting.

The AAM program will be shared broadly with implementing partners, NGOs, and other international partners and posted on the USAID website to facilitate communicating and responding to concerns. Additionally, per USAID’s Agency Equity Action Plan, USAID is also considering a “Beneficiaries Bill of Rights,” which would help communicate the existence of the accountability mechanism.

Reports to Congress

Every year Congress asks the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to submit a series of reports on various matters of concern. In an effort to provide a maximum of transparency to the general public, these reports are now being made available at this web site.

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