Audit Reports

As part of its annual work plan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Ukraine that focused on end-to-end delivery processes, including programme set-up and beneficiary management; programme implementation ‒ cash-based transfers; programme implementation ‒ in kind assistance; and monitoring and reporting processes, as part of the limited emergency operation. WFP’s work in Ukraine, as defined in the limited emergency operation (February‒December 2022) document, aimed to temporarily amplify the capacity of the in-country humanitarian system. Interventions included providing (a) immediate food assistance through a combination of cash-based transfers and in-kind modalities, and (b) logistics and telecommunications-related support, as well as other on-demand services to the humanitarian community. The nature of the emergency in Ukraine is complex and unprecedented in WFP. Before the conflict, Ukraine was a highly digitized, middle-income country with structured social security frameworks and tight data protection regulations. WFP had not had a permanent presence in the country since 2018. The situation is further challenging in that humanitarian access to non-government-controlled areas had not been granted (at the time of audit fieldwork). Based on the results of the audit work performed for the period in scope (March to September 2022) and given the programmatic set-up in place, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of some improvement needed.

As part of its revised 2022 annual workplan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Guinea that focused on a defined set of controls for small-sized country offices, covering governance, beneficiary management, supply chain, budget management, non-governmental organization management and monitoring. The audit also performed a limited review of gender and diversity. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit has come to an overall conclusion of ineffective/unsatisfactory.

As part of its annual workplan, the Office of Internal Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Sierra Leone that focused on a defined set of controls for small country offices covering governance, beneficiary management, cash-based transfers, supply chain, monitoring and non-governmental organization management. The audit also performed a limited review of fuel management as well as gender and diversity. The work of WFP in Sierra Leone, as defined through the six strategic outcomes of the Country Strategic Plan for 2020–2024, aims to provide life-saving assistance and nutrition to severely food-insecure people, support school feeding programs and smallholder farmers, strengthen capacity and improve the humanitarian response through the delivery of common services in-country. Based on the results of the audit, the Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of major improvement needed.