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Internal Audit of WFP’s Supply Chain Cash-Based Transfers, Retail and Markets Unit - October 2023

As part of its annual workplan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an audit of the Supply Chain Cash-Based Transfers, Retail and Markets Unit’s governance arrangements (including funding and systems), to assess whether they effectively support WFP’s market-based interventions.
As WFP increases its cash-based assistance, it also increasingly supports the development of markets where beneficiaries buy their food and other essential items.
The Supply Chain Cash-Based Transfers, Retail and Markets Unit was created in 2015 as WFP’s supply chain unit to assist in defining WFP’s supply chain roles and responsibilities related to the organization’s cash-based transfer and voucher operations, and to standardize them throughout all WFP operations, while also providing support to country office field operations. Initially covering both procurement and supply chain logistics activities, the unit has specialized over the years and now fully supports markets and retail activities.
The unit has developed market assessments and a retail onboarding and contracting system, as well as numerous guidance and manuals. In 2022, the unit successfully supported 10 country offices through oversight and support missions and trained about 230 WFP personnel.
As part of the audit, the audit team surveyed six regional bureaux and 40 country offices implementing market-based interventions at various levels of maturity.
The audit did not include a review of the implementation and operational delivery of retail activities in the field and therefore makes no related statements or assumptions about its effectiveness or efficiency.
Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of some improvement needed.