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Open Recommendations

Human Rights: State Can Improve Response to Allegations of Civilians Harmed by U.S. Arms Transfers
GAO-25-107077
Apr 24, 2025
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Directors of the Political Military Bureau and the Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau develop a mechanism to incorporate external parties' allegations of civilian harm using U.S. defense articles into its CHIRG reporting process, such as an online gateway similar to its human rights reporting gateway. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Directors of the Political Military and Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor—as they review the CHIRG process for efficiency improvements—develop and implement a strategy to identify appropriate staffing and resources for the process. Such a strategy could include the use of staff development, flexibilities, and other human capital strategies and tools that can be implemented with available resources. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Ukraine: DOD Can Take Additional Steps to Improve Its Security Assistance Training
GAO-25-107923
Jan 28, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in coordination with the Director of DSCA, issues guidance that requires the combatant commands to identify resources necessary for training when proposing a security assistance package, including situations that require rapid execution of PDA. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Defense (DOD) disagreed with this recommendation and stated it already provides guidance regarding a "total package approach" as part of security cooperation in DOD Directive 5132.03. We agree that DOD provides some guidance regarding the inclusion of training in security cooperation activities. However, our report describes gaps in DOD's existing guidance that hindered the department's ability to plan and identify training needs for defense articles delivered to Ukraine. Specifically, DOD did not have detailed guidance to assist planners in applying a total package approach when using PDA in a crisis security assistance scenario. In particular, the expanded size, scope, and speed of equipment delivered under PDA since 2022 contributed to unanticipated challenges for U.S. Army units delivering training to Ukrainian forces. The lack of guidance resulted in training-related challenges that were not fully identified and resolved until after the security assistance package was approved and sent to the service components for execution. Therefore, we believe this recommendation is warranted.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Commander, U.S. European Command provides clear guidance to subordinate organizations on documenting approaches for assessing training provided to Ukrainian forces. Such guidance should include data elements and standards to ensure data quality. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Defense concurred with this recommendation and noted that it is committed to addressing it in a timely manner.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Commander, U.S. European Command directs subordinate organizations to capture and share relevant observations from ongoing efforts to train Ukraine's forces through the Joint Lessons Learned Information System in a timely manner. These steps could include emphasizing the importance of recording observations in the Joint Lessons Learned Information System and requiring subordinate commands to develop clear implementing guidance that directs personnel to record observations in the Joint Lessons Learned Information System. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Department of Defense concurred with this recommendation and noted that it is committed to addressing it in a timely manner.

Cuba Democracy Assistance: USAID Should Improve Collection of Security Risk Information to Help Awardee Mitigation Efforts
GAO-25-107712
Jan 02, 2025
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
U.S. Agency for International Development The Administrator of USAID should ensure that the Office of Cuban Affairs works with USAID's Office of Security to develop a process to gather and document known Cuba democracy assistance security risks based on USAID's and implementers' experience prior to award implementation in order to review and, as appropriate, inform the actions of implementers. (Recommendation 1)
Open
USAID concurred with the recommendation. In January 2025, USAID stated that it had initiated several steps in response. For example, USAID stated that it had initiated a review of existing protocols and practices for gathering and documenting known security risks and had begun incorporating dedicated security sessions into post-award briefings for new awards. In the future, USAID stated that it planned to work with USAID's Office of Security to assess the feasibility of establishing a Partner Liaison Security Officer (PLSO) for implementers to report and share security-related incidents and risk information. In the future, USAID also plans to conduct quarterly risk analysis meetings with USAID operational teams and to update relevant program guidance for implementers. USAID has targeted completion of its responses to our recommendation by the end of fiscal year 2025. We will continue to follow-up with USAID on its course of action in response to our recommendation during fiscal year 2025.
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