At the time of development of the 2018-2022 Country
Strategic Plan (CSP), Afghanistan ranked 169th of 188
countries in the Human Development Index. It had low
levels of economic growth, high unemployment rates and
over 54 percent of the population living below the poverty
line. Years of conflict and widespread insecurity had
exacerbated social, ethnic and cultural divisions, further
contributing to instability. 2021, the year that the audit
was conducted, saw a drastic change in the needs and
conditions of implementation of WFP’s assistance. Audit
work was carried out remotely from March to May 2021,
prior to the declaration of a Level 3 emergency in
Afghanistan on 30 September 2021. Focus was on:•
beneficiary management;• cash-based transfers;•
monitoring;• supply chain; and• finance. The field mission
could not be carried out due to the evolving situation in
Afghanistan from August 2021 and related
constraints. The extent of work that could be completed remotely on Monitoring and Cash-based Transfers did not permit conclusions to be reached in these areas; nevertheless, reportable issues identified from the limited testing and assessment carried out were not extensive. Given the constraints described above and consequent limitations, it was not possible to arrive at an overall rating for the audit report on the basis of the work carried out.
constraints. The extent of work that could be completed remotely on Monitoring and Cash-based Transfers did not permit conclusions to be reached in these areas; nevertheless, reportable issues identified from the limited testing and assessment carried out were not extensive. Given the constraints described above and consequent limitations, it was not possible to arrive at an overall rating for the audit report on the basis of the work carried out.