USAID has a process in place through with it can reasonably identify significant financial management vulnerabilities with recipients of U.S. funds in Pakistan, the agency’s inspector general has said, but it noted several weaknesses with in the Pakistan mission’s management of the pre-award process.
The IG found that the mission did not prioritize or follow up on significant vulnerabilities identified in pre-award assessments, made to determine whether potential fund recipients can adequately handle large sums of money.
The weaknesses were addressed in agreements as special award conditions only about 20 percent of the time, the IG said, prompting the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Susan Collins, R-Maine, to take the agency to task for what she described as a trend where audits of USAID assistance fail to show measurable results.
"U.S. aid to Pakistan is under review as a result of questions about whether or not elements of the Pakistan military and intelligence services were aware of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden,” she stated, signaling that the agency could find itself with more intense scrutiny going forward.
