Audit Reports

WFP provides services on-demand to augment national capacity and support governments and the humanitarian and development community in the areas of transport and logistics, procurement, cash-based transfers, administration, infrastructure, digital solutions, and data analytics. The audit assessed the extent to which management has established governance, risk management and internal controls for the effective delivery of on-demand services to external clients. The audit covered the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023. Over this period, over half of WFP country offices provided on-demand services for a total value of USD 842 million. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of some improvement needed.

As part of its Annual Assurance Plan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an internal audit of IT third-party risk management in WFP. The audit covered the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. With over 163 long-term agreements with Information Technology service providers and five major private sector technological partnership agreements, third-party risk management is critical to WFP in managing risks along the life cycle of a third-party vendor, from the sourcing through the due diligence, monitoring of risks to the termination of the contract relationship. Third-party risk management outlines how an organization assesses, selects, and monitors its vendors to ensure that they meet the organization’s requirements and standards for quality, security, and compliance. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit has come to an overall conclusion of some improvement needed.

As part of its annual workplan, the Office of Internal Audit audited digital advisory and solution services (DASS) project management in WFP. WFP country offices see digital support to national systems as a critical pathway to achieve country strategic plan outcomes and contribute to broader national and global goals. In recent years, WFP received requests to provide digital technology support to host governments,including national social safety and assistance programmes. As of July 2023, the Technology and Programme Humanitarian and Development Divisions reported approximately 180 ongoing or closed projects to provide or support the development of technology capabilities in all six WFP regions. This level of engagement indicates a great need for digitalization and technological innovation in digital assistance services and provides an opportunity for WFP to support the changing lives agenda of national governments. The present audit assessed the extent to which management has established project management governance, processes and controls for the effective delivery of digital advisory and solution services to governments. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit has come to an overall conclusion of major improvement needed.