U.S. Department of States Community-Based Demining Projects in Afghanistan: Audit of Costs Incurred by Afghan Technical Consultants

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (State) awarded Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC) five grants to support community-based demining, humanitarian mine clearance, and conventional weapons destruction projects in Afghanistan. Under the grants, ATC performed a variety of tasks, including clearing landmines to reduce civilian casualties and provide safe land for farming, grazing, and human habitation. The budgets for all five grants totaled $6,376,420, and the period of performance was from December 2, 2015, through March 31, 2019. After nine amendments, the end date changed to May 31, 2019; the budget remained the same. SIGAR's financial audit, performed by Conrad LLP (Conrad), reviewed $6,376,420 in costs incurred for the five grants from December 2, 2015, through May 31, 2019. The objectives were to (1) identify and report on significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in ATC's internal controls related to the grants; (2) identify and report on instances of material noncompliance with the terms of the grants and applicable laws and regulations, including any potential fraud or abuse; (3) determine and report on whether ATC has taken corrective action on prior findings and recommendations; and (4) express an opinion on the fair presentation of ATC's Special Purpose Financial Statement (SPFS). See Conrad's report for the precise audit objectives. In contracting with an independent audit firm and drawing from the results of the audit, auditing standards require SIGAR to review the audit work performed. Accordingly, SIGAR oversaw the audit and reviewed its results. Our review disclosed no instances where Conrad did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards.