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Department of Defense: Changes Needed to the Humanitarian and Civic Assistance Program

NSIAD-94-57 Published: Nov 02, 1993. Publicly Released: Dec 07, 1993.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) program, focusing on whether the military services have the legal authority necessary to properly implement and monitor the program.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Office of Global Affairs to develop a cost-effective method for providing Congress with a more reasonable estimate of the costs incurred in providing humanitarian assistance.
Closed – Implemented
DOD's new policy directive emphasizes the need to properly account for costs incurred as a result of humanitarian assistance.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Office of Global Affairs to issue an implementing directive for conducting HCA activities as required by the law, which among other things, clarifies for the commands the relationship between the Stevens Amendment and title 10 legislation and establishes a dollar threshold for minimum assistance provided under title 10.
Closed – Implemented
On October 6, 1994, DOD issued a policy directive on the HCA Program and on January 27, 1995, issued implementing instructions addressing GAO's concerns.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Office of Global Affairs to ensure that projects contribute to U.S. foreign policy objectives and have the full support of the host country involved.
Closed – Implemented
DOD's new directive and instructions emphasize the need for coordination among foreign affairs agencies and that HCA projects contribute to foreign policy objectives.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Office of Global Affairs to ensure that commands are evaluating projects to determine their effectiveness.
Closed – Implemented
The new DOD Directive 2205.2 assigns HCA Program oversight responsibilities to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the service secretaries to ensure that the training soldiers receive from working on HCA projects will promote their military readiness skills.
Closed – Implemented
The new DOD policy directive emphasizes the importance of having the proper military occupational skills for meaningful training on HCA projects.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Civic actionCost effectiveness analysisDisaster relief aidForeign aid programsForeign military assistanceInteragency relationsInternational cooperationInternational relationsMilitary materielProgram evaluation