SIGAR

SIGAR OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES
COMPLETED SPECIAL PROJECTS
• Special Project Review 17-12-SP:
Schools in Herat Province: Observations
from Site Visits at 25 Schools
• Special Project Review Letter 17-13-SP:
Abandonment of OPIC Projects in Kabul
• Special Project Inquiry Letter 17-
16-SP: USAID Implementation and
Oversight of the Promoting Gender
Equity in National Priority Programs
(Promote) Initiative
• Special Project Review 17-17-SP:
Women’s Cricket Leadership Exchange
Grant: Efforts to Increase Women’s
Participation in Cricket Hindered by
a Lack of Support from Afghanistan
Cricket Board
• Special Project Review Letter 17-18-
SP: USAID-Supported Health Facilities
in Baghlan
• Special Project Review 17-21-SP:
Nonpayment to Afghan Subcontractors
Update
problems and questions. This quarter, SIGAR’s Office of Special Projects
wrote six products, including reviews, review letters, and inquiry letters,
expressing concern on a range of issues including: the abandonment of a
large OPIC-funded hotel and apartment building construction project in
Kabul, observations from site visits of 25 schools in Herat Province constructed
or rehabilitated by USAID, site inspections of 30 USAID-supported
health facilities in Baghlan Province, and a grantee’s unsuccessful efforts to
increase Afghan women’s participation in cricket.
Review 17-12-SP: Schools in Herat Province
Observations from Site Visits at 25 Schools
This report is the first in a series that will discuss SIGAR’s findings from site
visits at schools across Afghanistan. The 25 schools discussed in this report
were either built or rehabilitated using taxpayer funds provided by the
USAID. As of September 30, 2016, USAID has disbursed about $868 million
for education programs in Afghanistan. The purpose of this Special Project
review is to determine the extent to which schools purportedly constructed
or rehabilitated in Herat province using USAID funds were open and operational,
and to assess their current condition.
SIGAR was able to assess the general usability and potential structural,
operational, and maintenance issues for each of the 25 schools. SIGAR’s
observations from these site visits indicated that there may be problems
with student and teacher absenteeism at many of the schools SIGAR visited
in Herat that warrant further investigation by the Afghan government.
SIGAR also observed that several schools in Herat lack basic needs including
electricity and clean water, and have structural deficiencies that are
affecting the delivery of education.
SIGAR provided a draft of this review to USAID for comment on
October 7, 2016. USAID provided comments on November 2, 2016. In
its comments, USAID pointed out that it rehabilitated 21 of the schools
SIGAR visited and constructed four of them. USAID also stated that it
is no longer building new schools in Afghanistan and that it had transferred
these 25 schools to the Afghan Ministry of Education (MOE) by
2006. USAID also stated that “a single 1–2 hour site visit during only one
of two or potentially three shifts during a school day cannot substantiate
claims of low attendance.” As stated in the report, SIGAR agrees
and acknowledges that it “cannot draw any firm conclusions based on
[its] observations, because site visits only represent a snapshot in time.”
Additionally, USAID stated that it “will ensure that the MOE is notified of
the data issues identified by SIGAR for further analysis, and follow-up as
well on the other issues raised in the SIGAR review.” SIGAR conducted
its work in Herat and Kabul Provinces, and in Washington, DC from
November 2015 through September 2016 in accordance with SIGAR’s
quality-control standards.
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SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL I AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION