Foreign Assistance

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed an Agency for International Development (AID) cooperative agreement with a family planning foundation to determine: (1) whether AID made the award in accordance with applicable procurement policies and procedures; (2) the foundation's efforts to obtain additional AID funding since fiscal year 1985; and (3) the delay in the evaluation process.

GAO found that: (1) AID followed its procedures for awarding a sole-source cooperative agreement; (2) AID determined that the foundation was capable of performing the required services and that its proposal was critical to foreign assistance program objectives; (3) AID delayed project evaluation so that the foundation could complete educational materials and conduct additional training; (4) problems in selecting the evaluation team and providing necessary information to AID further delayed the evaluation process; and (5) AID did not officially evaluate project proposals because the foundation failed to submit them to the umbrella organization, as required. GAO also found that the: (1) foundation failed to provide uniform and technically accurate materials; (2) amount of staff time required to monitor and assist the foundation's activities was more than anticipated; and (3) the foundation's efforts to obtain AID funding for additional projects were unsuccessful.