Key Recurring Management Issues Identified in Audits of Iraq Reconstruction Efforts

Abstract : As of July 2008, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) and its predecessor have issued 122 audit reports. SIGIR has reported on the management and implementation of almost every aspect of reconstruction, including building projects, anticorruption programs, and the development of a financial management information system to support ministry decision-making. A number of these reports have identified important lessons learned to apply to future reconstruction efforts and recommendations to improve ongoing activities. To date, SIGIR has also issued three special reports presenting lessons learned in human capital management, contracting and procurement, and program management. After five years of reconstruction and during a critical year in which many completed reconstruction projects will be transferred to the Government of Iraq (GOI), SIGIR evaluated its overall body of audit work to identify additional steps to consider that would be useful to the Executive Branch and the Congress for managing reconstruction activities. Therefore, this report looks across the totality of SIGIR audit reports and identifies the broad, key, recurring management issues that if better understood may help guide improvements in the ongoing Iraq reconstruction efforts. Further, without adequate advance preparation to address them, these issues could continue to be problems if the U.S. government becomes involved in similar reconstruction efforts in the future.