As part of its annual work plan, the Office of Internal
Audit conducted an audit of WFP operations in Ukraine that
focused on end-to-end delivery processes, including
programme set-up and beneficiary management; programme
implementation ‒ cash-based transfers; programme
implementation ‒ in kind assistance; and monitoring and
reporting processes, as part of the limited emergency
operation. WFP’s work in Ukraine, as defined in the
limited emergency operation (February‒December 2022)
document, aimed to temporarily amplify the capacity of the
in-country humanitarian system. Interventions included
providing (a) immediate food assistance through a
combination of cash-based transfers and in-kind
modalities, and (b) logistics and
telecommunications-related support, as well as other
on-demand services to the humanitarian community. The
nature of the emergency in Ukraine is complex and
unprecedented in WFP. Before the conflict, Ukraine was a
highly digitized, middle-income country with structured
social security frameworks and tight data protection
regulations. WFP had not had a permanent presence in the
country since 2018. The situation is further challenging
in that humanitarian access to non-government-controlled
areas had not been granted (at the time of audit
fieldwork). Based on the results of the audit work
performed for the period in scope (March to September
2022) and given the programmatic set-up in place, the
Office of Internal Audit reached an overall conclusion of
some improvement needed.