How WFP Demonstrates Accountability and Transparency

A young boy sits outside his school in a red vest WFP/Hugh Rutherford

Trust among donors, partners and supporters is key to the success of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)’s work – being an open book is how we maintain it. 

Transparency is fundamental to the U.N. World Food Programme. The U.N. World Food Programme is at the forefront of the United Nations system in sharing information with its donors and the general public, and is committed to demonstrating effectiveness and efficiency. The U.N. World Food Programme shares information through various channels, including its website and its Executive Board site.

Strategic Plan

The organization’s direction is mapped out in its Strategic Plan, which is renewed every four years. The 2017–2021 Strategic Plan aligns the U.N. World Food Programme with the 2030 Agenda, focusing on ending hunger and contributing to revitalized global partnerships to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. It sets out the U.N. World Food Programme’s vision to lift the most vulnerable and marginalized people out of hunger through all of us working together.

Country Strategic Plans

U.N. World Food Programme Country Offices prepare country strategic plans (CSPs) reflecting the local needs, the added value U.N. World Food Programme programming can bring, and the presence and capabilities of other actors. A CSP defines the U.N. World Food Programme’s entire portfolio of assistance within a country and specifies the strategic outcomes the U.N. World Food Programme will help achieve. The CSP formulation process is an open and transparent process.

Key fact: The CSP Data Portal delivers an informative overview of CSPs, providing U.N. World Food Programme Member States with the information to fulfill their governance and oversight roles and facilitate funding decisions by donor governments. It includes program, financial and performance-related information for approved plans.

Annual Performance Report

The Annual Performance Report (APR) measures the U.N. World Food Programme’s work against the Strategic Plan (a results matrix that outlines the U.N. World Food Programme’s Strategic Objectives and Management Results).

The APR details how the U.N. World Food Programme used the resources entrusted to it in any given year consistent with its mandate and in support of expected programmatic and management results.

Key fact: The APR dashboard shows a global overview of key results of the U.N. World Food Programme’s program performance in terms of people reached, food and cash-based transfers, capacity strengthening, service delivery and related direct expenditures.

Annual Country Reports

U.N. World Food Programme Country Offices produce Annual Country Reports (ACR) to inform donors on how their funds were used during the reporting year. Their purpose is to tell the U.N. World Food Programme’s performance story in an accurate, transparent and evidence-based manner by assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of our operations in our pursuit towards Zero Hunger.

Annual Accounts

The U.N. World Food Programme publishes consolidated audited financial reports, the Annual Accounts, that are audited by the auditor general (or equivalent position) of a state member of the UN or FAO. In addition to certifying the accounts of the U.N. World Food Programme, the external auditor has authority to report to the Executive Board on the efficiency of financial procedures and the general administration and management of the U.N. World Food Programme.

Internal Audit

The Office of the Inspector General of the U.N. World Food Programme conducts objective and independent assurance and oversight activities to protect the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of the U.N. World Food Programme’s programs and operations. The Office detects and deters fraud, waste and abuse through internal audit, advisory services, inspections and investigations.

Key fact: Internal audit reports issued by the Office of the Inspector General are publicly available. The Office of the Inspector General also publishes an Annual Report providing its assessment, based on the scope of the work undertaken, of the effectiveness of the U.N. World Food Programme’s governance, risk management and control processes.

Evaluations

The U.N. World Food Programme’s Evaluation Policy (2016–2021) sets the vision, strategic direction and model for the agency’s evaluation function. It embeds evaluation as an integral part of all the U.N. World Food Programme’s work and thereby helps strengthen the U.N. World Food Programme’s contribution to ending global hunger.

The status of evaluation recommendations is updated on annual basis and tracked. The results achieved towards the Evaluation Policy implementation are reported to the Executive Board through the Annual Evaluation Report.

Key fact: The publicly available Evaluation Library allows to browse past and current evaluations by country, type, year and topic.

Key Highlights:

This story originally appeared on WFP’s Stories on November 3, 2021.

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