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

ADS 200.6 defines an output as “[a] tangible, immediate, and intended product or consequence of an activity within USAID’s control.” - Examples of outputs include items such as people fed, personnel trained, better technologies developed, and new construction.

Outputs are important because they are critical to achieving results. Such outputs are specifically described in contract statements of work, and describing grant agreement program and monitoring the quality and timeliness of outputs produced by implementing partners is a major task of USAID technical officers and assistance objective teams, because delays in completing outputs or problems in output quality provide an early warning that results may not be achieved as planned.

Ensuring that the annual implementation plans (some partners refer to these plans as performance monitoring and evaluation plans)  of the mission’s implementing partners include targets for outputs is important because such targets enable USAID technical officers to monitor the partner’s progress on outputs effectively during the year.

Annual implementation plans are the blueprints for the specific tasks to be done and outputs to be achieved during the year. Without established, documented, and approved annual implementation plans and performance management plans, USAID officials do not have a reliable and sound basis for monitoring the performance of their partners during the year.

General Recommendations

• Require that partners’ annual implementation plans include targets for the outputs to be achieved during the year and (b) approve these implementation plans in writing.

Source: AUDIT REPORT NO. 4-663-10-003-P  MARCH 30, 2010

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.