Audit Reports

As part of its annual workplan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Liberia that focused on key controls under priority focus areas informed by a risk-based approach, covering governance, programme implementation, monitoring, budget management, and gender. The work of WFP in Liberia, as defined through the Country Strategic Plan for 2020–2023, aims to support the Government’s efforts to end hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2020–2024. The main activities include the School Meals Programme; the provision of emergency assistance to the vulnerable population during and in the aftermath of emergencies; country capacity strengthening initiatives; and delivering common services to the Government and humanitarian actors. In 2022, WFP expenses amounted to USD 6.7 million and the country office reached 671,000 beneficiaries. The audit focused on the implementation of activity #1 - Provide an integrated, inclusive and gender-transformative school feeding package to food-insecure and nutritionally vulnerable schoolchildren, including take-home rations for adolescent girls, in a way that relies on and stimulates local production, and activity #2 - Provide an integrated emergency food and nutrition assistance package to vulnerable households affected by disasters or other disruptions, under strategic outcomes 1 and 2. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of major improvement needed.

As part of its annual workplan, the Office of the Internal Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Ethiopia that focused on beneficiary management, management of cooperating partners, monitoring, donor relationship management, supply chain, service provision, and humanitarian access. Through five strategic outcomes, WFP in Ethiopia focuses on two goals in its Country Strategic Plan 2020–2025: continuity and strengthened focus in meeting the emergency, nutrition and resilience needs of targeted populations; and support for government policies, institutions and operational systems that deliver towards hunger reduction goals and targets. The Government of Ethiopia leads the humanitarian response at federal, regional and sub-regional levels. The audit focused on the implementation of activities 1, 2, 9 and 11 under strategic outcome 1 – Shock-affected populations in targeted areas and refugees in camps are able to meet their basic food and nutrition needs throughout the year, and strategic outcome 5 – Government, humanitarian and development partners in Ethiopia have access to and benefit from effective and cost-efficient logistics services. The activities in scope accounted for 79 percent of the total expenses during the audit period. The audit was subject to a scope limitation as the Tigray region was excluded, due to the lack of access and ongoing conflict at the time of audit planning and fieldwork. Allegations of significant post-delivery food aid diversion in the Tigray were made in March 2023, and later in other regions of Ethiopia, further to significant aid sale by the refugee community and potential fraudulent food diversion schemes in all regions. Pertaining to the period in scope, based on the results of the audit and in the context of the scope limitation, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of major improvement needed.

As part of its annual workplan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Benin that focused on beneficiary management, supply chain, monitoring, non-governmental organization management, finance, budget management and gender. Through its three strategic outcomes, the Country Strategic Plan 2019–2023 aims to enable WFP in Benin to reposition itself and transition from providing direct assistance to performing an advisory and enabling role, supporting the Government in the design and implementation of a national integrated home-grown school feeding programme. Following the Government’s commitment to scale up its coverage of the school feeding programme to reach 75 percent of all primary schools, in April 2022, WFP included an additional 1,729 schools in the programme to reach a total of more than 5,300 schools. Over the audit period, WFP expenses amounted to USD 25 million, and the country office reached over 1 million beneficiaries. The audit focused on implementation of activity #1 – Provide integrated, inclusive and gender-transformative school meals programmes in targeted communities in a way that relies on and stimulates local production, under strategic outcome 1 of the country strategic plan, which accounted for 95 percent of total expenses during the audit period. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of major improvement needed.