U.S. Department of State Fiscal Year 2020 Agency Financial Report

poor leadership, and inexperienced and undertrained staff frequently contribute to the Department’s other management challenges. Workforce management issues are pervasive, affecting programs and operations domestically and overseas and across functional areas and geographic regions. Maintaining Adequate Staffing Levels to Meet Operational Needs OIG continues to encounter domestic offices and overseas posts that experience difficulty maintaining staffing levels. 61 Embassy Dhaka, Bangladesh, was among those posts that faced difficulty in filling mid-level positions. Many managerial positions had long staffing gaps that exacerbated workload pressures on the remaining staff. Meanwhile, Consular Section staff routinely worked long hours in an effort to manage a growing backlog of immigrant visa work. 62 Shortages of consular workers have also compounded the difficult situation for the Afghan SIV program mentioned above. A review of that program showed that staffing levels across various offices that process SIVs have generally remained constant since 2016 and are insufficient to reduce the SIV applicant backlog. Additionally, staffing levels during the interagency and security check process contributed to delays in processing the SIVs, and the Senior Coordinating Official position, which is intended to oversee and direct the Afghan SIV program, had been vacant since January 2017. 63 Providing Appropriate Training/Ensuring Staff Are Appropriately Qualified Underqualified staff is an issue that frequently intersects with the Department’s difficulties in managing and overseeing contracts. 64 For example, as outlined earlier, CORs in AF, who lacked the requisite technical knowledge, developed 61 AUD-MERO-20-35, June 2020; ISP-I-20-17, June 2020; AUD-MERO-20-26, April 2020; ISP-I-20-07, February 2020. 62 ISP-I-20-17, June 2020. 63 AUD-MERO-20-35, June 2020. 64 ISP-I-20-13, May 2020; AUD-MERO-20-29, April 2020; ISP-I-20-07, February 2020; ISP-I-20-08, December 2019; ISP-I-20-05, November 2019. 65 AUD-MERO-20-29, April 2020. 66 ISP-I-20-13, May 2020. 67 AUD-MERO-20-26, April 2020. 68 OIG, Additional Guidance Needed to Improve the Oversight and Management of Locally Employed Staff Serving at Remote Missions (AUD-MERO-20-40, September 2020). deficient performance work statements that led to multiple poorly designed projects and millions of dollars in wasted funds. 65 Similar deficiencies were found in the CT bureau, where OIG found the bureau had assigned an employee without substantive program knowledge to serve as the COR for the technical support contract to prepare the statistical annex to the Country Reports on Terrorism. 66 GEC also suffered from a lack of experienced personnel to issue, manage, and monitor its cooperative agreements. During an OIG audit, GEC hired additional staff members and planned to adopt internal policies, processes, and procedures. OIG noted that without adequate contract management staff, GEC will not be in a position to ensure award recipients are using funds as intended or be able to fully demonstrate that the awards being implemented are fulfilling GEC’s statutory mandate to coordinate efforts in countering propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining U.S. national security interests. 67 A report on remote missions found that, although the Department encourages locally employed (LE) staff to take courses and training to improve their ability to perform official duties, the Department does not offer guidance to supervisors on how to overcome some of the unique challenges LE staff face in accessing training opportunities. For instance, current and former Yemen Affairs Unit staff explained that while there are occasional opportunities for LE staff to attend training and conferences in other countries, it is difficult for them to obtain visas and passports for travel and to safely travel in and out of Sana’a. 68 Our FY 2020 work also found that First- and Second-Tour (FAST) programs at overseas posts that are meant to provide professional development training and opportunities for FAST officers did not always benefit from a formal, structured program. At Helsinki, Finland, OIG found the officers were 2020 A gency F inanci al R eport U ni ted S tates D epartment of S tate | 127 INSPECTOR GENERAL’S STATEMENT ON THE DEPARTMENT’S MAJOR MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE CHALLENGES | OTHER INFORMATION