Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency fully implements the category management activity to develop and implement vendor relationship management strategies, by executing its vendor management plan. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that State involves federal agencies that contribute to cyber diplomacy to obtain their views and identify any risks, such as unnecessary fragmentation, overlap, and duplication of these efforts, as it implements its plan to establish the Bureau of Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of USAID, should develop performance indicators that would enable State to assess progress toward the strategic objectives and goal of the U.S. conflict minerals strategy going forward. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should require Chiefs of Mission at overseas missions that receive allocations for rule of law assistance to assess the sufficiency of their coordination methods to verify that this assistance is coordinated with all relevant interagency partners. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that State/INL establishes procedures that verify that monitoring officials for Mérida Initiative projects follow the key practices. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Trade Controls, in consultation with university representatives, provides additional or revises existing guidance and outreach to address university-specific export control issues to further support universities' understanding and compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State concurred with the recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Trade Controls revises existing export compliance guidelines to include information concerning periodic risk assessments to remind exporters that it is beneficial to periodically identify, analyze, and respond to new risks as part of an effective International Traffic in Arms Regulations compliance program. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State concurred with the recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer updates the telecommunications inventory to include all telecommunications assets and services in use at the agency, and updates State's process for ongoing maintenance of the inventory to include the complete inventory. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: he Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer completes efforts to identify the agency's future telecommunications needs using a complete inventory of existing telecommunications services; conducts and documents a strategic analysis to justify the sharing of telecommunications resources; and aligns State's telecommunications needs with its long-term IT plans and enterprise architecture. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies telecommunications transition roles and responsibilities related to (1) managing assets during the planning and execution phases of the transition and (2) providing legal expertise during the execution phase of the transition, and finalizes the responsibilities related to the information security management role for the transition; includes in State's transition communications plan the frequency with which transition status updates and meetings will occur throughout the transition, a description of how changes and disruptions related to the transition will be communicated to end-users, and the key local and regional agency transition officials responsible for disseminating information about the transition to employees and working with the vendor to facilitate transition activities; and establishes configuration management processes for the agency's transition. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer identifies all of the funding needed to support the telecommunications transition, justifies requests for resources related to transition program management staff, conducts an analysis to identify staff resources needed for the entire transition effort, and finalizes its analysis of training needs for staff assisting with the transition. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency's Chief Information Officer takes into account the agency's telecommunications transition risks, mission critical systems, and contingency plans in State's transition time line. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. We will continue to follow-up on the department's efforts to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, should commit to regularly scheduled, substantive briefings for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on all initiatives and negotiations related to nuclear cooperation in order to enhance transparency and establish greater confidence with Congress on nuclear cooperation matters. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: We will update this recommendation after receiving information from State regarding its plans to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation to include additional information about the expenditures it considers in its NEA-mandated reporting for Executive Order 12938.

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to develop a mechanism to facilitate the active sharing of information about democracy assistance projects between DRL and relevant staff at embassies.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should take additional steps to identify diversity issues that could indicate potential barriers to equal opportunity in its workforce. For example, State could conduct additional analyses of workforce data and of employee groups' feedback. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Department's relevant bureaus to work with Embassy Beirut to establish, as appropriate, and consolidate targets for each of the security-related performance indicators. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Department's relevant bureaus to work with Embassy Beirut to collect and review performance data for key security-related performance indicators. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency fully implements each of the seven key IT workforce planning activities it did not fully implement. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State, working with the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, should collaborate with the Departments of Defense and Agriculture and other Departments as necessary, to develop a comprehensive approach to the monitoring and evaluation of projects that directly support the objectives of prosperity, governance, and security, and incorporate this approach into the Strategy monitoring and evaluation plan.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State did not concur with the recommendation, indicating that it continues to collaborate with agencies regarding U.S. government activities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. However, in May 2020, State noted that, to the extent possible, it would seek to include agencies, such as the Departments of Defense and Agriculture, into the Progress Report for the U.S. Strategy for Central America's Plan for Monitoring and Evaluation. When we confirm what actions State has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of State's Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources conducts a review of the Section 653(a) process to identify process steps that can be streamlined or eliminated and determine the time frame needed to prepare the annual Section 653(a) report. If State determines that the time frame exceeds 30 days, the office should coordinate with other appropriate officials to submit a legislative proposal to Congress to extend the mandated time frame for submitting Section 653(a) reports. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: State indicated in their letter commenting on GAO-19-600 that they concurred with this recommendation. In their comments, State said they would determine a reasonable time frame for completing the report and will coordinate with appropriate officials regarding a potential legislative proposal to Congress.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of State's Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources improves the data collection from the many sources contributing to the Section 653(a) reports, such as by enhancing their data information systems. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State indicated in their letter commenting on GAO-19-600 that they concurred with this recommendation. In their comments, State said they are taking steps to modify their Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System database to improve the collection of relevant data.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should develop a plan to address vacancies within State's Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, consulting with the USAID Administrator as appropriate. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State indicated in their letter commenting on GAO-19-600 that they concurred with this recommendation. In their comments, State said they are developing a plan in coordination with USAID to fill existing vacancies, and are recruiting State and USAID employees to serve on details to fill existing staffing gaps.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, should develop a plan with a clear timeline for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of human rights training for foreign security forces provided under International Military Education and Training. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In December 2019, State wrote that it did not agree to separately conduct monitoring and evaluation of human rights training provided under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. GAO's recommendation does not call for a separate evaluation. State could meet the intent of the recommendation through evaluating the effectiveness of human rights training as part of its broader efforts to monitor and evaluate IMET. As of June 2020, State indicated they had no plans to evaluate the effectiveness of human rights training related to IMET.

Recommendation: The Department of State's U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, in collaboration with HHS and other implementing agencies, should update the PEPFAR monitoring and evaluation policies to require these agencies to conduct impact evaluations on all pilot programs before replicating or expanding, or conduct performance evaluations for those programs and provide a justification for not conducting an impact evaluation. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State agreed with the intent of the recommendation (see appendix V for written comments). State explained that impact evaluations are often not feasible in the context of assistance provided under PEPFAR and described its alternative approach to evaluating new initiatives. State indicated it would update appropriate PEPFAR policies to clarify when agencies should conduct impact and/or performance evaluations. These clarifications will reflect how State evaluates PEPFAR programs in practice in accordance with OMB guidance and legislation, according to State.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with IAEA and its member states through the Board of Governors to develop detailed guidelines for prioritizing nuclear security activities. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation and it has identified several actions it has taken to implement this recommendation. State also has identified some progress resulting from its actions. Among other actions, State reported in its January 2020 letter to GAO that it is: working with the IAEA to identify ways to better develop and implement strategic planning across the Division of Nuclear Security, potentially including through dedicated staff; conveying to IAEA that it should do more to synthesize information from donor areas of emphasis, member state requests, and the contents of Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plans into a set of inputed priorities; and doing more to coordinate among the larger donors to the Nuclear Security Fund (NSF) to optimize and enhance the way the Division of Nuclear Security prioritizes and carries out its nuclear security activities funded via the NSF. State noted several positive results stemming from these actions, including: (1) an increased emphasis in IAEA's most recent Nuclear Security Report on internal coordination and a more collaborative approach within the IAEA in the implementation of its nuclear security activities, which State believes will help reduce duplication, streamline Agency activities, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and maximize the benefits to IAEA member states; and (2) participation by number of donors to the NSF in a series of informal coordination meetings with the IAEA that included discussing how the Agency views its priorities for its nuclear security activities, which State believes are more likely to result in positive outcomes than priorities negotiated at Board of Governors meetings. GAO will follow up with State in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to determine the extent to which these efforts lead to more concrete prioritization guidelines for IAEA's nuclear security program.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with IAEA and its member states through the Board of Governors to improve the nuclear security program's performance measures by developing baselines and measurable targets. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation and agreed that more could be done by IAEA to define nuclear security program baselines and targets, especially on activities that are mostly or fully within the IAEA's remit. In its January 2020 letter to GAO, State noted that it has advocated for improved program management within the Division of Nuclear Security. State believed the advocacy is having an impact, as is evident in the most recent Nuclear Security Report, which included reference to the continued application of a results-based approach to nuclear security activities which help drive positive outcomes from Agency assistance. State also noted in its letter that it continues to pursue better performance measures during negotiations of the next IAEA Programme and Budget (for 2022-2023) and in the development of the next IAEA Nuclear Security Plan (for 2022-2025). State said that it will continue to encourage IAEA to apply program management best practices, including comprehensively establishing performance measures, documenting baselines, setting clear goals, and measuring outcomes. GAO will follow up with State officials in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 and review the next IAEA Programme and Budget and the 2022-2025 Nuclear Security Plan (which should be issued in September 2021) to assess whether IAEA has improved nuclear security program performance measures, including by incorporating baselines and measurable targets.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with IAEA and its member states through the Board of Governors to improve how the Division of Nuclear Security (DNS) reports to member states by consistently including the results of performance measures in at least one of the reports. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation and its January 2020 letter to GAO it indicated that it is working with the IAEA to improve its reporting. Specifically, State reported that in conjunction with its efforts to address recommendation 2, to improve nuclear security program performance measures, it has seen IAEA's Division of Nuclear Security make improvements in an effort to be more consistent and diligent about providing performance measures and reporting results to IAEA member states. In fiscal years 2020 and 2021, GAO will review available IAEA nuclear security reports and will follow up with State to clarify improvements it has observed in IAEA's nuclear security program reporting.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with IAEA and its member states through the Board of Governors to analyze options to stabilize DNS's funding within current fiscal and political constraints to enhance the sustainability of IAEA's nuclear security program. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation, and in its January 2020 letter to GAO, State noted that the sustainability of the Division of Nuclear Security's budget remains a major area of focus. State noted that many IAEA member states maintain a position of zero real growth in IAEA's budget and are reluctant to reapportion funding to nuclear security activities from other IAEA programs. State reported that it will advocate for priority areas in IAEA budget negotiations, such as nuclear security, to gain a greater share of any agreed budget increases as an alternative to shifting funds from other programs. State noted that this remains a challenge, but that it will continue to identify options to enhance the sustainability of the IAEA's nuclear security program, including how best to also strengthen governance of the Nuclear Security Fund. GAO will follow up with State in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 regarding the options it has identified and pursued to improve the sustainability of the nuclear security program and its funding.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with IAEA and its member states through the Board of Governors to strengthen the agency's central coordinating role by following key practices for collaboration. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The State Department (State) agreed with this recommendation, and in its January 2020 letter to GAO it generally stated that it is working with IAEA and its member states to improve collaboration among nuclear security stakeholders and strengthen the Agency's central coordinating role. However, State's letter did not specify actions that State is undertaking in this regard. Instead, State's letter reiterated coordinating actions that IAEA had already been undertaking at the time of our report. GAO will follow up with State in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to better understand the actions, if any, it is taking or has planned to strengthen IAEA's central coordinating role, as well as any actions IAEA is taking independently to improve its coordinating role consistent with key practices for effective collaboration.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should update the department's policies to require (1) an organization-wide risk assessment, (2) an organization-wide strategy for monitoring control effectiveness, (3) system-level risk assessments, (4) the use of risk assessments to inform security control tailoring, and (5) the use of risk assessments to inform POA&M prioritization. (Recommendation 24)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State concurred with this recommendation. As of January 2020, the department stated that it is actively working to update the applicable policies and procedures. Once the department has provided evidence of these actions, we plan to verify whether implementation has occurred.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should establish and document a process for coordination between cybersecurity risk management and enterprise risk management functions. (Recommendation 25)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of State concurred with this recommendation. As of January 2020, the department stated that it is actively working to update the applicable policies and procedures. Once the department has provided evidence of these actions, we plan to verify whether implementation has occurred.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs should provide additional training or related resources to consular officers and locally employed staff on adjudicating E-2 visas, to cover topics that include the E-2 eligibility requirements and understanding business- and tax-related documents. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: Department of State officials stated in January 2020 that the department plans to address this recommendation by increasing the frequency and specificity of E-2 content through webinars, workshops, and cables. The Department of State also plans to develop subject matter experts on business and tax related documents that can provide consultative services on an as-needed basis. As of July 2020, Department of State officials said that they had not yet implemented these actions. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs should develop minimum standards for E-2 company registration programs, such as standards for how often companies are to be re-vetted. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: Department of State officials stated in January 2020 that the department plans to address this recommendation by incorporating into policy a 5-year mandatory review of companies registered at any post using a company registration program. As of July 2020, Department of State officials said that they had not yet implemented these actions. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs should develop and implement a process to ensure that posts maintain required E-2 visa application documentation. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: Department of State officials stated in January 2020 that the department plans to communicate a reminder to posts abroad that there is a requirement to scan required E-2 documentation into each visa applicant's record. Department of State also plans to provide regular policy guidance to consular managers at posts that adjudicate E-2 visa applications. Further, Department of State officials stated in July 2020 that the department plans to incorporate the supplemental E-2 visa application (DS-156E) into the standard online application for all nonimmigrant visa applicants (DS-160). However, the officials stated that they experienced technical challenges in doing so, and was still working to resolve the challenges as of July 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation as the Department of State works to address the technical challenges.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should take action to meet the data center closure targets established under DCOI by OMB. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In comments on our report, the Department of State (State) agreed with our recommendation and began taking action to implement it. After the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the updated Data Center Optimization Initiative policy in June 2019, the department established a new data center optimization closure target. The department subsequently reported meeting its closure goal for fiscal year 2019. However, given the short time to evaluate implementation efforts between when OMB released the updated policy in June 2019 and the end of fiscal year 2019, we will continue to monitor State's efforts to implement this recommendation through fiscal year 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should take action to meet the data center optimization metric targets established under DCOI by OMB. (Recommendation 18)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In comments on our report, the Department of State (State) agreed with our recommendation and began taking action to implement it. After the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the updated Data Center Optimization Initiative policy in June 2019, the department established new data center optimization targets. Subsequently, the department reported meeting its targets for the virtualization, advanced energy metering, and server utilization metrics. However, given the short time to evaluate implementation efforts between when OMB released the updated policy in June 2019 and the end of fiscal year 2019, we will continue to monitor State's efforts to implement this recommendation through fiscal year 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the CIO of State establishes a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. (Recommendation 23)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) concurred with our recommendation and stated that the department would develop a prototype tracking system ready for testing by the beginning of fiscal year 2020. As of May 2020, we have not received a more recent update from State regarding its implementation of our recommendation. We will continue to monitor State's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and Commissioner of Social Security, should establish a formal means to collaboratively address ongoing issues—including issues accessing financial services and employment and obtaining SSNs—that U.S. persons living abroad encounter from implementation of FATCA reporting requirements. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) has taken several steps to implement GAO's April 2019 recommendation. In September 2019, State worked with the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Social Security Administration (SSA) to develop and post online frequently asked questions on how to obtain a Social Security number, renounce U.S. citizenship, and comply with U.S. tax obligations. Additionally, State officials participated in an October 2019 webinar hosted by IRS regarding newly approved tax relief procedures for certain former citizens who have renounced U.S. citizenship and seek to be federal tax compliant. State also established procedures with SSA for its embassies and consulates abroad to help U.S. citizens apply for a Social Security number during the passport application process without SSA permission, thus removing a significant barrier in serving U.S. citizens abroad. However, as of December 2019, State lacked a collaborative interagency mechanism with Treasury to address ongoing FATCA implementation issues related to access to foreign financial services and denial of employment and promotion opportunities overseas. Treasury is responsible for leading efforts to establish such a mechanism; however, State's participation in such a mechanism on a continuing basis will help agencies address remaining issues Americans living abroad experience from FATCA.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should continue to work with the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that UN peacekeeping operations fully meet principles of effective peacekeeping. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation and stated that, as the report details, the United States has achieved significant successes increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of UN peacekeeping operations. According to State officials, the five peacekeeping principles provide a framework for honest, strategic reviews of peacekeeping operations in order to continue working to ensure that the UN is performing at its highest level in-country, and that the United States and United States taxpayers are receiving the best value for our financial contributions. U.S. leadership and effective collaboration within the UN Security Council has led to smart reductions of over $800 million in the UN peacekeeping budget since July 2016. In response to analysis of conditions on the ground, State has worked with the UN to reconfigure missions in Haiti and Darfur, bolstered the mission in the Central African Republic, made the mission in Lebanon more relevant to the challenges to peace presented by Hizballah, closed the mission in Cote d'Ivoire, and more. The United States will continue to engage in close interagency cooperation, as well as strong advocacy within the UN Security Council to continue improving UN peacekeeping. GAO will continue to monitor State's actions related to this recommendation and update information accordingly.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that the United Nations provides information to member states on the estimated costs of mandated peacekeeping tasks to provide better cost information when the Security Council adjusts peacekeeping mandates. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation, noting that the report correctly states that there is a need for better financial information related to UN peacekeeping operations. While the UN Secretariat provides a large volume of financial information to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, that information does not correlate well with changes that the Security Council makes to specific peacekeeping mandates. Instead, the financial information represents the totality of resources that the UN Secretariat estimates needing to accomplish a given peacekeeping mission's overall mandate. Achieving the desired level of detail will require changes to UN financial management practices and reporting to the Fifth Committee. The United States will work to advance these changes, which may require adoption through a resolution by the UN General Assembly. In the meantime and in the absence of that structural change, the United States will continue to closely scrutinize all proposed UN peacekeeping budgets to ensure to the extent possible that approved resource levels are realistic and afford missions the ability to implement their mandates, based in part on historical forecasting and expenditure patterns. With the implementation of the UN reform agenda and the expected and related UN cultural shift to one that is results based in 2019 and beyond, the United States will continue to advocate for greater transparency and accountability in the use of peacekeeping resources. GAO will continue to monitor State's actions related to this recommendation and update information accordingly.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should continue to work with the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that the United Nations takes additional steps to address member states' concerns about complete and timely information on the performance of United Nations peacekeeping operations. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation, noting that the United States has been a leader on the UN Security Council in order to create a "culture of performance" in UN peacekeeping. The United States drafted and achieved Security Council approval of resolution 2436 in September 2018, the first-ever resolution focused on improving the performance of UN peacekeeping, and implementing a system of accountability. This resolution calls for a timely and transparent reporting process for performance failures, real accountability measures for when these failures occur, and the application of objective criteria - data, not politics - to match the right police and troops with the right peacekeeping roles. The United States will continue to work with the UN Secretary-General, the Security Council, General Assembly, UN Secretariat, as well as troop- and police-contributing countries in order to ensure effective implementation of resolution 2436 going forward. GAO will continue to monitor State's actions related to this recommendation and update information accordingly.

Recommendation: To complete the appropriate assignment of codes to their positions performing IT, cybersecurity, or cyber-related functions, in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act of 2015, the Secretary of State should take steps to review the assignment of the "000" code to any positions in the department in the 2210 IT management occupational series, assign the appropriate NICE framework work role codes, and assess the accuracy of position descriptions. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Department of State concurred with the recommendation. In January 2020, we confirmed that State had assigned National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) framework work role codes to its positions in the 2210 IT management occupational series. However, the department has not yet provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that it has completed its efforts to assess the accuracy of position descriptions. To fully implement this recommendation, State will need to provide evidence that it has assessed the accuracy of position descriptions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should, in consultation with USAID and other stakeholders as appropriate, create an initiative-wide planning and reporting mechanism for CBSI that includes the ability to monitor, evaluate, and report the results of their collaborative efforts (Recommendation 1).

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In their formal response to the report, State agreed with the recommendation and noted that they plan to develop an updated Results Framework for CBSI that will provide the basis for initiative-wide planning and reporting. As of November 2019, State indicated that they are developing this updated CBSI Results Framework.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that INLs Office of Western Hemisphere Programs develops and implements a data management system for centrally collecting reliable program monitoring data for all INL-funded CBSI activities through its current program monitoring contract or by some other means (Recommendation 2).

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State agreed with the recommendation, noting that INL's Office of Western Hemisphere Programs is working through its existing monitoring and evaluation contract to improve centralized data collection and is developing plans for an enhanced data management system that will facilitate the collection and management of both strategic and implementer-reported data. In addition, State reported that INL is developing complementary bureau-wide monitoring and evaluation guidance and procedures to ensure the consistency and reliability of collected data across INL programs, which include CBSI activities. As of November 2019, State has not yet completed these efforts.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources provides missions with guidance that clearly documents the department's process for climate change risk assessments for integrated country strategies. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, the Department of State has revised its integrated country strategy guidance to inform posts that they have the option to include a climate risk assessment annex when they change or update their strategies. State noted that they plan to disseminate this guidance to posts in 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should, in consultation with other U.S. agencies involved in counternarcotics efforts in Colombia, conduct an evaluation of the long-term effectiveness of eradication and interdiction in reducing the cocaine supply. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State generally agreed with our recommendation. As of February 2020, State reported that, working with the Department of Defense, it had signed a contract with RAND for an evaluation of counternarcotics efforts in Colombia. The evaluation will, among other things, asses the effectiveness of U.S. government-funded counternarcotics assistance programs in Colombia from 2000 through 2018. RAND plans to complete the evaluation within 16 months of the contract's execution. We will continue to monitor progress on the evaluation and State's efforts to implement our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should, in consultation with other U.S. agencies involved in counternarcotics efforts in Colombia, undertake a comprehensive review of the U.S. counternarcotics approach in Colombia and identify what changes, if any, should be made to the types and combination of U.S. activities, taking into consideration how the relative benefits and limitations between eradication, interdiction, and alternative development may impact the effectiveness of these efforts. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State generally agreed with our recommendation. As of February 2020, State reported that, working with the Department of Defense, it had signed a contract with RAND for an evaluation of counternarcotics efforts in Colombia. The evaluation will include, among other things, a comprehensive review of the U.S. counternarcotics approach in Colombia that considers the relative benefits and limitations between eradication, interdiction, and alternative development efforts. RAND plans to complete the evaluation within 16 months of the contract's execution. We will continue to monitor progress on the evaluation and State's efforts to implement our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should determine the estimated effects of cost inflation on planned CSCP embassy construction capacity and time frames and update this information for stakeholders on a regular basis, such as through the annual budgeting process. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2020, State/OBO had developed a worldwide construction inflation rate and had integrated this rate into its bureau budget request for fiscal year 2021. According to OBO officials, OBO is working to update its budget guidance to ensure the inflation rate is updated and integrated into future bureau budget requests on a regular basis. We will continue to monitor State's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director of OBO conducts an OBO-wide workforce analysis to assess staffing levels and workload capacity needed to carry out the full range of OBO's mission goals, to include the CSCP. Such an assessment could provide a basis for broader stakeholder discussion of OBO's human capital needs and potential prioritization of activities. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2020, State/OBO was working with the Institute for Defense Analysis to conduct an OBO-wide workforce analysis, with initial findings and recommendations planned for early 2020. We will continue to monitor State's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) designs internal control mechanisms to ensure human rights content is included in INL-funded police training for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as appropriate. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation in its official comment letter included as an appendix in GAO-18-618, published in September 2018. State noted that it intends to amend templates for relevant implementing documents to address human rights as appropriate. In February 2020, State officials indicated that they had expressly included requirements for human rights components in new police training agreements established since we made our recommendation, and in May 2020 provided some examples of those requirements. We continue to work with State to learn about internal control mechanisms they may have established to help ensure they continue to include human rights content in police training as appropriate.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) develops and implements a process to collect more reliable data on the number of police trained through INL-funded efforts in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation in its official comment letter included as an appendix in GAO-18-618, published in September 2018. State commented that, partly in response to our report, it was developing specific indicators related to INL-funded police training. In February 2020, State officials indicated that contractors hired to work on developing measures to track the impact of INL efforts would be developing a database to store results, including the number of police trained. In addition, State told us that INL's implementing partner working in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras also keeps a list of individuals who attend training. In May 2020, officials noted an effort to pilot the implementation of improved data collection was underway in Honduras. We continue working with State officials as they make progress developing and implementing their new process to collect and maintain police training data. As we confirm actions taken by State in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct State's members of the interagency working group for protection of Native American cultural property to implement selected leading collaboration practices, such as taking steps to agree on outcomes and objectives, clarify roles and responsibilities, and document these decisions. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: Since August 2018, the Department of State shared a statement of its roles and responsibilities with other working group members. However, the statement does not include outcomes and objectives for the group's work. GAO made the same recommendation to each of the four agencies covered in the review because implementing leading collaboration practices will require the collective participation of group members. GAO will keep the recommendation open until further collaborative actions are taken.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct State's members of the interagency working group for protection of Native American cultural property to collaborate with the interagency working group members from other agencies to assess, in consultation with Indian tribes, whether and how amending the U.S. legal framework governing the export, theft, and trafficking of Native American cultural items would facilitate the repatriation of these items from auctions overseas and report its findings to Congress. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In November 2019, the Department of State, in conjunction with other interagency working group members, circulated a draft legal assessment and draft legislative options. The interagency working group members conducted a listening session with tribal members in November 2019, and conducted a tribal consultation in January 2020. GAO will continue monitoring the agencies' efforts toward implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that the department's IT management policies address the role of the CIO for key responsibilities in the six areas we identified. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The department has begun changing its policies to address this recommendation. When we review those changes, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should ensure that IT acquisition plans or strategies are reviewed and approved according to OMB's guidance. (Recommendation 22)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The agency agreed with our recommendation, and in a December 2019 update provided information on the agency's CPIC process and a template for IT acquisition strategies. However, it is not clear whether the CIO is reviewing and approving IT acquisitions plans through the CPIC process and the template does not provide a place for the CIO review and approval. In addition, we have requested evidence of CIO approval of selected IT acquisitions. We will continue to monitor the implementation of this recommendation

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to identify and address factors that affect the reliability of its democracy assistance data, such as miscoded or missing data. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: Department of State concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. As of January 2020, State reported that its Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services and Bureau of Administration is expected to complete analysis in 2020 with an associated action plan to address the issues encountered by State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and other bureaus understanding the importance of timely, accurate, complete, and quality data being reported to Federal Procurement Data System- Next Generation and USASpending.gov. State also provided GAO with an overview of its newly established processes in its accounting system to improve data reliability, including ensuring that current and future transactions would maintain coding integrity. State has taken a number of steps to identify and address factors that affect the reliability of its democracy assistance data, such as miscoded data. However, State needs to provide information on steps taken to identify and address other factors, in particular missing data, which affect the reliability of its democracy assistance data. When we confirm what further actions State has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources to implement a process to improve the reliability, accessibility, and standardization of democracy assistance data across the geographic regions of the Bureaus of European and Eurasian Affairs and South and Central Asian Affairs, such as utilizing a centralized database for award data. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: Department of State concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. In January 2020, State reported taking actions to implement the recommendation and we have requested documentation of these actions. In March 2019, Department of State reported that democracy assistance data for all bureaus, including the Bureaus of European and Eurasian Affair (EUR) and South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA), are being tracked and its quality is being improved through the Department's Foreign Assistance Data Review (FADR) process, an ongoing process chartered in September 2014 to understand and document the Department's challenges with capturing all foreign assistance activities from budget planning and allocation through obligation and disbursement in multiple State-owned budget, financial, and program management systems. State reported that through the FADR process, the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (F) has been working with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services (CGFS), the Bureau of Administration (A), and bureaus that administer Foreign Assistance to better capture transaction data for all types of foreign assistance-including democracy, human rights, and governance data. State also reported that 13 U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Sections in EUR that receive assistance funding to carry out democracy programs and all 11 posts in SCA are recording their assistance funding awards in the centralized State Assistance Management System (SAMS), which is one of the Department's financial management systems that is used for reporting foreign assistance transactions to ForeignAssistance.gov.

Recommendation: To enhance management attention to closing out contracts, the Secretary of State should develop a means at the agency level to track data on the entirety of the number and type of contracts eligible for closeout, where the contracts are in the closeout process, and establish goals and performance measures for closing contracts. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State agreed with the recommendation and is upgrading its system to improve data quality and enable the tracking and sharing of contract closeout information. The enhancements to the contracting system would allow the Department to establish a baseline and develop metrics to measure progress on closing contracts. The Department anticipates that the upgrades and data utilization will continue into fiscal year 2021.

Recommendation: The Director of the Office of Allowances (ALS) should clearly document how the conditions at relevant posts meet the criteria for Director Points to ensure that hardship pay rates for overseas posts are consistently determined across posts and tenures of ALS Directors. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In commenting on our report, State concurred with our recommendation. As of January 2020, the Director of ALS has not granted any Director Points since the subject GAO review was completed. According to State officials, should points be necessary in the future, ALS will document why the conditions at relevant posts require the use of Director Points connected with hardship pay rates. We will continue to follow-up on this.

Recommendation: The Undersecretary of Management should assess the cost-effectiveness of State's policies and procedures for stopping and starting hardship pay for employees who temporarily leave their assigned overseas posts. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation, and reported that the department is taking a two-pronged approach to reviewing the issue. First, the Department is conducting a comprehensive review of all costs associated with the processing of hardship and other associated allowance and differential cables through reviews of post-level and central expenditures. This review is expected to be complete by October 2020. Second, the Department is costing out alternative methods of addressing allowance and differential costs that reduce the manual effort on the Department but address the need to support costs incurred by Foreign Service Officers overseas. Meetings with Foreign Service Officer staff to understand variances in the current model were held in the summer of 2019. Highlights from those sessions are being incorporated into a proposal to coincide with the review of costs from the first phase. The final proposal is expected to be complete by the end of 2020.

Recommendation: The Department's Comptroller should analyze available diplomatic cable data from overseas posts to identify posts at risk of improper payments for hardship pay, identify any improper payments, and take steps to recover and prevent them. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. According to State, it continues to identify and seek repayment of improper payments and communicate the importance of timely actions to the regional bureaus and posts to ensure improper payments do not occur. In addition, the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services (CGFS) supports the roll out of the Overseas Personnel System, which will centralize the collection of arrival and departure data for the calculation of improper payment notification and risk analysis. To fully implement the recommendation, the Bureau of Human Resources (HR) must complete worldwide deployment of the Overseas Personnel System, and both HR and CGFS would need to complete integration work to enable arrival and departure data to flow in an automated fashion between the two systems. CGFS would then need to provide documentation that the system allows it to more easily identify and prevent improper payments. Preliminary development of the integration will begin in the summer of 2020 while the OPS roll-out continues.

Recommendation: The Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Energy, HHS, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and VA; the Attorney General of the United States; the Administrators of EPA, GSA, and SBA; the Director of OPM; and the Chairman of NRC should take action to, within existing OMB reporting mechanisms, complete plans describing how the agency will achieve OMB's requirement to implement automated monitoring tools at all agency-owned data centers by the end of fiscal year 2018.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State agreed with our recommendation and described completed and planned actions to address it. Specifically, the department stated that it performed an analysis of tools, including shared services and commercial-off-the-shelf products. The department also stated that it was developing an acquisition strategy based on its research and planned to pursue a commercially available product. However, the department noted that budgetary constraints may delay the acquisition until fiscal year 2019 or later. In October 2019, staff from State's Office of the Chief Information Officer reported that 3,897 of the department's 4,137 servers (94.2 percent) had monitoring tools installed. In January 2020, the staff indicated that the department planned to continue installing tools as funds were available, with the goal of completing installation by the end of fiscal year 2020. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: To provide reasonable assurance that USRAP applicant fraud prevention and detection controls are adequate and effectively implemented, the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State should conduct regular joint assessments of applicant fraud risk across USRAP.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of State and DHS's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have not jointly assessed applicant fraud risks across the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), consistent with federal internal control standards and leading practices for fraud risk management. Specifically, we reported that although State and USCIS perform a number of fraud risk management activities and have responded to individual instances of applicant fraud in the program, these efforts do not position State and USCIS to assess fraud risks program-wide for USRAP or know if their controls are appropriately targeted to the areas of highest risk in the program. Therefore, we recommended that the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State conduct regular joint assessments of applicant fraud risk across USRAP. USCIS concurred with our recommendation. In response, State reported that it will work together with USCIS to conduct joint risk assessments by jointly developing a risk assessment framework. According to DHS and State documentation, the departments finalized a joint framework in January 2018. In February 2019, DHS and State provided us with the interim progress report on their efforts to conduct an assessment of applicant fraud risk across USRAP. In June 2019, USCIS reported that DHS and State have completed the planned analysis and the draft report is being prepared for leadership review and clearance. DHS estimated that the report will be completed by September 30, 2020. To fully address the recommendation, State and USCIS should jointly conduct regular fraud risk assessments across USRAP.

Recommendation: To better assess OBO's performance, the Secretary of State should finalize the mechanisms OBO will use to centrally manage project management data (to include project cost and schedule information), currently termed the Ideal Operational State, and document through appropriate policies, procedures, or guidance.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, OBO reported the development of an Integrated Master Schedule template that will serve as a single source for project schedule information for all new capital projects, from inception to occupancy. OBO also reported a bureau-wide effort to develop a holistic Data Management Strategy, including project management data among additional categories of data such as portfolio, program, property, and human capital. GAO continues to monitor State's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: To ensure that all relevant U.S. agencies have information on the effect of changes in U.S. policy related to Cuba, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other relevant agencies, should take steps to identify and begin to collect the information that would allow them to monitor changes in economic engagement, including with the Cuban private sector.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State concurred with this recommendation. In April 2017, State reported that it was taking steps to identify and collect information that would enable it to monitor the Cuban economy and changes in the economic environment, including with the Cuban private sector. For example, State noted that Embassy Havana had developed a plan for in-country travel and reporting by identifying key sectors and provinces that could provide additional insights on the Cuban economy. As of July 2017, State reported that the U.S. government had paused most bilateral engagement with the Cuban government while the incoming presidential administration conducted an interagency policy review. However, State noted that during this time the U.S. embassy in Havana produced several analytic cables discussing developments in the Cuban economy. With the release of the administration's National Security Presidential Memorandum "Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba" in June 2017, State reported that it would work to implement this policy and would monitor developments in U.S. engagement with the private sector and Cuban economic trends. As of November 2017, State said that it was consulting with interagency partners on developments impacting the Cuban private sector and that it was working with other U.S. agencies to determine how to most effectively redirect resources away from the Cuban government and towards the private sector as called for in the administration's Cuba policy. However, State also noted that operations at Embassy Havana had been significantly affected by Hurricane Irma and the health attacks against U.S. diplomats in Cuba. According to State, the Secretary of State's September 2017 order for all non-emergency U.S. personnel to depart Cuba had limited the ability of Embassy Havana to report on developments there, but that the department would continue to monitor and report on Cuba's private sector to the greatest extent possible and as resources permitted. As of November 2019, State had shared with GAO reporting it had conducted related to Cuba's economy. GAO is in the process of reviewing this documentation and will be making a final decision about whether State has taken sufficient steps to implement GAO's recommendation.

Recommendation: To improve the transparency and clarity of the Trafficking in Persons Report and improve its usefulness as a diplomatic tool to encourage countries to address trafficking, the Secretary of State should improve explanations in narratives for Tier 1 rankings, including using consistent language, as feasible, in the Trafficking in Persons Report.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In comments on the draft report, State concurred with this recommendation and said that it seeks to make the Trafficking in Persons Report as useful as possible to a broad array of stakeholders and will continue its commitment to ensure each narrative better serves this purpose. GAO analyzed State's 2017, 2018, and 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report and found improvements in the explanations in narratives for Tier 1 countries. However, narratives for some Tier 1 countries did not clearly explain their placement, including language that seemed contradictory to certain standards and criteria and ambiguous language that meant we were unable to determine how State had determined whether certain standards and criteria were met. As of December 2019, GAO is continuing to monitor State's efforts to fully implement the recommendation. GAO will review State's upcoming 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report.

Recommendation: To improve federal agencies' efforts to rationalize their portfolio of applications, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development should direct their Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other responsible officials to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices we identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: We reported that the Department of State partially met the following software application inventory practices: (1) specifies basic application attributes; and (2) is regularly updated with quality controls to ensure reliability. Specifically, we reported that while the inventory included basic application attributes (e.g. name, description), it did not include the business function for the majority of inventory entries. Further, we reported that the agency did not provide evidence that quality control processes were in place to ensure the reliability of the data in the inventory. In July 2017, department officials stated that the department recently began a department-wide data call to obtain information on all IT assets and applications from each bureau, including aligning the assets and applications to a business function. Further, officials stated that they plan to analyze the results against their current data to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the IT asset inventory. In June 2019, the department provided evidence demonstrating that its inventory includes the business function for IT assets. In addition, State officials stated that the IT asset inventory that is posted internally for review is a high-level summary to facilitate monthly validation. However, as of January 2020, the department has not provided documentation showing that it has implemented the quality control processes to ensure the reliability of the data. We plan to continue to monitor the department's efforts to address the recommendation.

Recommendation: To ensure that the role of the CISO is defined in department policy in accordance with FISMA 2014, the Secretary of State should define the CISO's role in department policy for ensuring that the department has procedures for incident detection, response, and reporting.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) concurred with this recommendation. However, as of June 2020, the department has not yet provided sufficient evidence that it has implemented the recommendation. When we receive additional evidence from State, we will review it to determine whether the department has addressed the recommendation.

Recommendation: To improve the quality of the data published on ForeignAssistance.gov and help ensure consistency in published information, the Secretary of State should, in consultation with the Director of OMB and the USAID Administrator, develop additional guidance that takes into consideration current challenges to updating ForeignAssistance.gov with verified data.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: As of May 2020, State had taken some steps to coordinate with OMB and USAID to improve the quality of data reported for ForeignAssistance.gov. Notably, in May 2020, State and USAID submitted a joint report to Congress outlining a plan to consolidate the two federal websites reporting foreign assistance spending--ForeignAssistance.gov (managed by State) and explorer.usaid.gov (managed by USAID). As part of the plan, State and USAID will establish a joint data governance structure to reduce discrepancies in data, bolster the capacity of agencies to submit data, and ensure the accuracy and quality of data. Once the governance structure is finalized, they will send a copy to GAO. GAO will then review this information to assess if it sufficiently addresses GAO's recommendation.

Recommendation: To better ensure that the Dashboard ratings more accurately reflect risk, the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, the Interior, State, and Veterans Affairs; and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management should direct their CIOs to factor active risks into their IT Dashboard CIO ratings.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with the recommendation, and, in an October 2017 response, stated that it currently evaluates risk as part of its IT governance activities. In March 2019, State informed us that its Bureau of Information Resource Management was developing a new policy and associated guidance for calculating its CIO risk ratings; however, as of September 2020, we have not received this new documentation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: To better ensure that the Dashboard ratings more accurately reflect risk, the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, State, Transportation, the Treasury, Veterans Affairs; the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should direct their CIOs to ensure that their CIO ratings reflect the level of risk facing an investment relative to that investment's ability to accomplish its goals.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with the recommendation and has provided information on how investment risk is evaluated as part of its IT governance activities. In March 2019, State informed us that its Bureau of Information Resource Management was developing a new policy and associated guidance for calculating its CIO risk ratings; however, as of September 2020, we have not received this new documentation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Recommendation: To strengthen compliance with the Leahy laws and implementation of State's human rights vetting process and to help ensure that U.S. funded assistance is not provided to Egyptian security forces that have committed gross violations of human rights, as State works to implement a revised version of the International Vetting and Security Tracking system (INVEST) system that is expected to help facilitate equipment vetting, the Secretary of State should develop time frames for establishing corresponding policies and procedures to implement a vetting process to help enable the U.S. government to provide a more reasonable level of assurance that equipment is not transferred to foreign security forces, including those in Egypt, when there is credible information that a unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: State agreed with this recommendation. State acknowledged challenges identifying recipients of equipment across the range of assistance activities, but noted that it would continue to update its systems and procedures to facilitate human rights vetting for recipients of equipment. In April 2017, State reported that it had provided finalized guidance on vetting Egyptian recipients of Foreign Military Financing-funded equipment to Embassy Cairo and that these procedures had been incorporated into a revised version of Embassy Cairo's guide for conducting human rights vetting. At the time, State noted that Embassy Cairo had begun to implement these procedures. However, State subsequently reported that implementation of these procedures lapsed in 2018 due to staff turnover at Embassy Cairo. As of January 2020, State said that it intends to have new standard operating procedures in place for equipment vetting in Egypt later in 2020. In addition, State has not adopted procedures, similar to those in development for Egypt, to be used more broadly in other countries that also receive equipment through the Foreign Military Financing account or through other U.S. assistance programs. As of June 2017, State had added new features to INVEST, its human rights vetting system, to help facilitate vetting of equipment recipients, and published new vetting guidance requiring screening of equipment transfers. However, State has not established global requirements for posts to use the new equipment vetting system features to screen equipment transfers. As of February 2020, State reported that it had developed draft standard operating procedures for conducting equipment vetting globally; however, these procedures are being reviewed internally within the Department and are expected to be finalized later in 2020. We will continue to monitor agency efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: To help ensure that agency review processes provide frequent, regular opportunities to assess progress on agency priority goals (APG), and are conducted in a manner consistent with GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) requirements, OMB guidance, and leading practices, the Secretary of State should work with the COO and PIO to modify the Department's review processes to ensure that progress on each APG is reviewed in an in-person review meeting at least quarterly.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The State Department concurred with this recommendation. In October 2019, State Department officials described to us actions the agency has taken to conduct reviews consistent with what we recommended. For example, they provided a document confirming that officials reviewed one of the priority goals in an in-person meeting. However, they did not provide documentation to demonstrate that review processes for the agency's other priority goals are held in-person or at least quarterly. We have requested, but as of April 2020 have not received, this additional documentation. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress.

Recommendation: To help ensure that agency review processes provide frequent, regular opportunities to assess progress on agency priority goals (APG), and are conducted in a manner consistent with GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) requirements, OMB guidance, and leading practices, the Secretary of State should work with the COO and PIO to modify the Department's review processes to ensure that the reviews are led by the agency head or COO.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The State Department did not agree or disagree with this recommendation and, as of March 2020, has taken limited actions to address it. In October 2019, State Department officials described to us how the Chief Operating Officer (COO) is involved in reviewing progress on one of the agency's priority goals. However, as of April 2020, the State Department has not provided documentation we requested to corroborate the COO's involvement in this review, or reviews for the agency's other priority goals. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress.

Recommendation: To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of State should ensure an inventory of mobile devices and services is established department-wide (i.e., all components' devices and associated services are accounted for).

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, the Department of State had not demonstrated that it has implemented this recommendation. The department has inventories of mobile device; however, the inventories do not include the services associated with each device. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement the recommendation.

Recommendation: To help the department effectively manage spending on mobile devices and services, the Secretary of State should ensure a reliable department-wide inventory of mobile service contracts is maintained.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, the Department of State had not implemented this recommendation. In June 2019, the department said it has a Telecom Expense Management System which can be used to document an inventory of domestic service contracts; however, the department did not provide the inventory. Furthermore, the department did not demonstrate that it has an inventory of international service contracts. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement the recommendation.

Recommendation: To enhance State's efforts to protect SWT participants from abuse and the SWT program from misuse, the Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to establish a mechanism to ensure that sponsors provide complete and consistent lists of fees that participants must pay.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation that the State Department (State) establish a mechanism to ensure that sponsor provide complete and consistent lists of fees that exchange visitors on the Summer Work Travel program must pay, State acknowledged it collected such fee information in 2016. As July 18, 2018, we are awaiting State's review and analysis of this information to ensure the price lists are consistent and comprehensive, as well as published guidance it is sending to sponsors on how fee and cost information must be listed on their websites so that there will be consistency among sponsors. State indicated its fee study will take place in 2019 to cover the period of 2018. As of August 2020, State indicated that it planned to complete the fee study following final Summer Work Travel rule, pending OMB approval.

Recommendation: To enhance State's efforts to protect SWT participants from abuse and the SWT program from misuse, the Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to establish a mechanism to ensure that information about these participant fees is made publicly available.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation that the State Department (State) establish a mechanism to ensure that information about Summer Work Travel participant fees is made publicly available, State noted that it had published a notice for proposed rulemaking on January 12, 2017. When finalized, this would require each sponsor to include in its recruiting material, and post on its main Web site (e.g., with a visible link to such a page on the sponsors homepage), examples of the typical monthly budgets of exchange visitors placed in various regions of the United States to illustrate wages (based on the required weekly minimum of 32-hours of work at a typical host placement) balanced against itemized fees and estimated costs. Until State finalizes this rule, they cannot enforce this requirement. State anticipated releasing the final rule in the middle of 2019, pending OMB approval. As of August 2020 State has not issued a final rule; and OMB approval is still pending.

Recommendation: To enhance State's efforts to protect SWT participants from abuse and the SWT program from misuse, the Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to establish detailed criteria that will allow State to assess the sufficiency and appropriateness of opportunities for cultural activities outside the workplace that sponsors provide to SWT participants.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation that the State Department (State) establish detailed criteria that will allow it to assess the sufficiency and appropriateness of opportunities for cultural activities outside the workplace that sponsors provide to Summer Work Travel participants, State published a notice for proposed rulemaking on January 12, 2017. When finalized, this would require sponsors and their host entities to create cultural opportunities at least once per month. The proposed rule also notes that State will issue guidance outlining best practices for cross-cultural programming. As of August 2020 this is not finalized.

Recommendation: To more effectively manage NDF's resources, increase program accountability, and ensure that NDF has the information necessary to improve program performance, the Secretary of State should direct ISN and NDF to periodically and systematically conduct and document program evaluations of NDF.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State concurred with the recommendation. As of September 2020, State had provided some evidence that State was going to conduct an organizational evaluation of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund as called for under the Department's evaluation policy. GAO is now in the process of reviewing the evidence that State has provided.

Recommendation: To enhance federal agencies' ability to realize enterprise architecture benefits, the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, the Air Force, the Army, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Homeland Security, the Interior, Labor, the Navy, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; the Attorney General; the Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Small Business Administration; the Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Social Security Administration; and the Directors of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Personnel Management should fully establish an approach for measuring enterprise architecture outcomes, including a documented method (i.e., steps to be followed) and metrics that are measurable, meaningful, repeatable, consistent, actionable, and aligned with the agency's enterprise architecture's strategic goals and intended purpose.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, the Department of State developed an enterprise architecture plan, which identified several benefits that may be achieved by executing the plan. These benefits included, for example, lower support and acquisition costs and reuse of technology and investments. However, the department did not demonstrate that it had established an approach for measuring the potential benefits in the plan. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement the recommendation.

Recommendation: To enhance federal agencies' ability to realize enterprise architecture benefits, the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, the Air Force, the Army, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Homeland Security, the Interior, Labor, the Navy, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; the Attorney General; the Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Small Business Administration; the Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Social Security Administration; and the Directors of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Personnel Management should periodically measure and report enterprise architecture outcomes and benefits to top agency officials (i.e., executives with authority to commit resources or make changes to the program) and to OMB.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2020, the Department of State developed an enterprise architecture plan, which identified several benefits that may be achieved by executing the plan. These benefits included, for example, lower support and acquisition costs and reuse of technology and investments. However, the department did not demonstrate that it had measured and reported outcomes attributed to its architecture. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement the recommendation.