Swaziland report summary

As the U.S. science-based public health and disease prevention agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays an important role in implementing the U.S. President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) under the direction of the Department of State Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. CDC uses its technical expertise in public health science and long-standing relationships with Ministries of Health across the globe to work side-by-side with countries to build strong national programs and sustainable public health systems that can respond effectively to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. All CDC global HIV/AIDS PEPFAR-related activities are implemented by the Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA) in CDC\u2019s Center for Global Health.CDC\u2019s Commitment to Accountability: CDC/DGHA launched the Country Management and Support (CMS) initiative in 2011 to identify any challenges resulting from the rapid scale-up of complex PEPFAR/CDC programming as part of CDC\u2019s commitment to transparency and accountability. This initiative serves as a basis for ongoing, monitored quality improvement of CDC/DGHA\u2019s programs and operations through internal programmatic and financial oversight. CMS is a proactive response on the part of CDC to ensure that CDC/DGHA is supporting the Presidential Initiatives, Department of State, and Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. The CMS strategy is designed to assess CDC/DGHA\u2019s accountability in the following key areas: Intramural Resources: Ensuring proper management and stewardship of financial resources, property, and human resources within CDC\u2019s overseas offices; Extramural Funding: Ensuring responsible and accurate management of financial and other resources external to CDC\u2019s overseas offices; Public Health Impact: Ensuring the delivery of consistently high quality interventions and technical assistance that positively impact the populations the program serves.Swaziland Country Management and Support Visit: CDC/DGHA conducted a CMS visit to the CDC country office in Swaziland from May 9-13, 2011. The principal objectives of this CMS visit were to: Perform a CDC/DGHA headquarters assessment of internal controls in the field to ensure the highest level of accountability; Provide clear feedback and support to the country office to improve current internal controls; Refine, systematize, and modify CMS methodologies, processes, and associated tools for full implementation of the CMS across all CDC/DGHA-supported programs in the field. CDC/DGHA headquarters (CDC/HQ) in Atlanta, Georgia assembled an intra-agency multidisciplinary team of six subject matter experts in the following areas to perform the CMS assessment: country management and operations, program budget and extramural management, procurements and grants, financial management, and key technical program areas.The CMS team conducted a five-day visit to the CDC/DGHA office in Swaziland (CDC/Swaziland), which included one- on-one meetings with staff, administrative and technical site visits with grantees, data quality spot checks, and reviews of internal financial documents and controls at CDC and grantee offices. A desk review was completed for financial documents (343 transactions for the 12 month review period of 4/1/2010 \u2013 5/19/2011 with transactions totaling $883,636). Assessment tools and checklists were developed by CMS leadership in consultation with subject matter experts at CDC/HQ. This methodology was designed to provide a \u201cpoint in time\u201d synopsis of CDC/Swaziland\u2019s operations.2013Prevention and Control667