Each year, in accordance with the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000,¹ the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) identifies the most significant management and performance challenges facing the agency and briefly assesses progress in addressing those challenges. The resulting report is included in the agency?s annual performance and accountability report.

OIG identified the following two management challenges in FY 2023:

• Information Security and Management
• Contract and Grant Management

Financial management was identified as a major management challenge in our FY 2022 report, which was based mainly on deficiencies related to unliquidated obligations (ULO). However, an audit of USAGM?s FY 2022 financial statements that was issued in November 2022 found that the amount of invalid ULOs decreased significantly from the prior year. USAGM modified its ULO monitoring procedures during FY 2022, which increased its oversight of ULOs. Therefore, OIG does not consider financial management to be a major management challenge for FY 2023.

The two remaining challenges cited go to the core of USAGM?s programs and operations. Continued attention to these concerns will improve USAGM?s operations and, accordingly, its ability to fulfill its underlying mission. This document includes examples of OIG reports and findings completed in FY 2023 that illustrate these challenge areas. In addition to publicly available work, OIG issues Sensitive But Unclassified and Classified reports throughout the year. Although we are unable to discuss these reports publicly, many of the findings in them reinforce our assessment of these management challenges. OIG provides this report so that, taken together with the work OIG produces throughout the year, USAGM can institute appropriate measures to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.

?

_{1 The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000, ? 3, Pub. L. 106-531 (amending 31 U.S.C. ? 3516).}