International Development and Programs (Development Work) - International Development and Programs (Development Work)

ADS 203.3.4.5 states that baselines are needed to measure a project’s progress. A baseline should be included for each indicator before the implementation of the project’s activities. Additionally, ambitious but realistic targets should be set for the end of the project with annual targets for the interim years. The auditors note that reporting cumulative project activity results, along with definitions of how those results are to be measured, provides context and a pragmatic view of how the project is progressing.

Without baseline data, targets against which accomplishments can be measured, and cumulative accomplishments reported against life-of-project targets, it is difficult to determine whether progress is being made in accomplishing the project’s objectives and where potential weaknesses in implementation may be occurring.

General Recommendations

• Assign life-of-project targets to all performance indicators in the project’s monitoring and evaluation plan.
• Require indicator baselines, cumulative accomplishments, and life-of-project targets to be included in the project’s annual performance reports alongside annual results.

SOURCE: AUDIT REPORT NO. 5-442-  11-006-P MARCH 31, 2011

The recommendations are derived from audit reports of the Office of the Inspector General. The source refers to the audit report, which is available on this site as part of the Audit Database Project: an educational tool for compliance with USAID regulations.  Please see the disclaimer of this site before using recommendations.