Multilateral Assistance
Accountability for U.S. Contributions to the World Food Program Gao ID: T-NSIAD-94-174 May 5, 1994GAO testified that millions of dollars worth of U.S. commodities donated to the World Food Program through the Agency for International Development (AID) were lost, stolen, or mishandled. The losses went unchecked because AID relied on ineffective accountability procedures and did not effectively monitor the distribution and use of donations. The World Food Program's commodity loss reports to donors were incomplete and inaccurate and did not adequately highlight distribution problems or the need for corrective action. GAO also testified that the United States often did not respond quickly to emergency food requests from the World Food Program because the requests were not treated as emergencies. GAO found no evidence, however, that aid recipients suffered because of the slow U.S. response.