Inspection of Embassy Singapore, Singapore

You are subscribed to Reports for Department of State OIG. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Inspection of Embassy Singapore, Singapore 03/01/2024 10:22 AM EST What OIG Inspected OIG inspected the executive direction, policy and program implementation, resource management, and information management operations of Embassy Singapore. What OIG Recommends OIG made 23 recommendations: 21 to Embassy Singapore, 1 to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and 1 to the Bureau of Information Resource Management. In its comments on the draft report, the Department concurred with 22 recommendations and disagreed with 1 recommendation. OIG considers all 23 recommendations resolved. The Department's response to each recommendation, and OIG's reply, can be found in the Recommendations section of this report. The Department's formal responses are reprinted in their entirety in Appendix B. What OIG Found The Ambassador did not model some Department of State leadership and management principles. The Ambassador twice committed to consulting services for the embassy without following Department acquisition guidance and processes, leading to unauthorized commitments totaling $9,900. The embassy had approximately $48,000 in outstanding travel vouchers, extending back to December 2021, related to the Ambassador's travel that either had not been submitted for reimbursement or lacked sufficient supporting documentation to pay the travel claim. Multiple embassy sections noted that the Ambassador developed poor relationships with some Singaporean ministries and that his actions, in some cases, hurt progress on Integrated Country Strategy goals and objectives. The Ambassador's many projects frequently were unattainable, diverted the embassy's limited resources, and detracted from the staff's ability to perform core duties. Staff also questioned the utility of some projects in promoting U.S. interests in Singapore. The Economic-Political Section did not consistently meet Department deadlines for mandatory reports and cable reporting. Information management operations had internal control shortcomings related to information security practices, management of printers and non-enterprise laptops, and emergency and evacuation radios. Spotlight on Success: The Public Diplomacy Section teamed with 50 alumni to develop a program to mentor underserved students from Singapore's Institute of Technical Education to enable them to compete more effectively in the workforce. Stay connected with the Department of State OIG:   External links found in this content or on Department of State OIG websites that go to other non-Department websites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.    Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com. This email was sent to ignoble.experiment@arconati.us using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Department of State OIG · 2201 C Street NW · Washington, DC 20520