The Department of State’s semiannual report describes an active OIG in the oversight of Embassy and broader State activities and responsibilities. They continue to examine Afghanistan, including lessons learned and the Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program that many implementing partners continue to support. An audit of PIOs funded by State’s PRM Bureau found that the awards did not have measurable objectives and had inadequate risk assessment and mitigation plans.
State’s semiannual report includes numbers on their hotline, which USAID OIG’s does not. State received 1, 277 hotline reports during the 6-month reporting period, of which 503 required no action, 730 were passed to other offices and 43 were acted upon by OIG. Note that 13 investigations were opened by the OIG. They also had 7 debarments, 6 of them associated with a bribery scheme involving embassy staff and local vendors.
The report also notes that State’s Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) hotline received no reports, and they conducted no TIP investigations during the reporting period. This is not a barometer of TIP activity. A recent article in Reuters cites a UN report that the number of known victims worldwide rose 25% of (2019) pre-pandemic levels. No reports to a TIP hotline should at least generate recommendations to generate publicity and enhance transparency on how reports their outcomes so that those with potential reports will be aware of this avenue to raise concerns and more confident that their report will be handled appropriately.
