Detailed Information on the
Anti-Terrorism Assistance Assessment

Ensuring countries develop a FY budget to finance proposed training plan to meet goals for program sustainment.

The Administration will continue to expand the ATA program including additional proposals to complete and sustain in-country training capabilities in several key countries. The increased focus on in-country training programs and use of regional coordinators is part of a larger effort to increase the efficacy and efficiency of the program.

Develop efficiency measures and incorporate into the PART for the FY 2007 budget.

Measure: Strengthening the bilateral ties of the U.S. with friendly foreign governments by offering concrete assistance in areas of mutual concern

Explanation:Target:Measure will assess level of cooperation of countries engaged with the US in anti-terrorism assstance programs. Actual Progress achieved toward goal:Rating system and targets for each country to be established

Measure: Increasing respect for human rights by sharing with civilian authorities modern, humane, and effective antiterrorism techniques

Explanation:Consistant with the Leahy amendment, human rights training will be included in all training courses, and the degree of such training will be consistent with the level of "Use of Force" instruction.

Measure: Percentage of United Nations (UN) member states implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1373 that requires all states to take sweeping measures to combat terrorism.

Explanation:Performance Target: For FY 2003, Performance Target is to have 96 states implement UNSCR 1373 and to complete 25 bilateral and multilateral consultations Actual Performance:In 2001, the UN established a Counterterrorism Committee to monitor and assist members in implementing UNSCR 1373 and the Department completed 9 bilateral and multilateral consultations.

Measure: Develop and implement more effective programs to facilitate successful institutionalization of a training capability for knowledge and skills gained by partner nations receiving USG CT training.

Explanation:Identify the frequency of usage of participant nations training venues for training delivered by ATA, or in collaboration with participant nations.

Measure: Perform consistent and timely reviews of groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) pursuant to US law.

Explanation:Performance Target: Perform 100% of FTO reviews within a year; no new addition pending for more than 4 months. Actual Performance:In FY 2001, 31 groups were designated as FTOs.

Is the program purpose clear?

Explanation: The purpose of the Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program is to build the capacity of key states abroad to fight terrorism. establish relationships between U.S. and foreign security officials to strengthen bilateral anti-terrorism ties, and share modern , humane and effective anti-terrorism techniques.

Evidence: Chapter 8, Part II of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, as amended, Department of State Performance Plans and budget request.

Does the program address a specific interest, problem or need?

Explanation: The program reduces the danger of terrorist attacks against American citizens and interests, improves the effectiveness of international terrorism cooperation to reduce terrorist capabilities and punish known or would-be terrorists.

Evidence: Department of State annual report Patterns of Global Terrorism -- The ATA program is one component of the U.S. effort to counter the terrorist threat.

Is the program designed to have a significant impact in addressing the interest, problem or need?

Explanation: Courses cover such areas as airport security, bomb detection, hostage rescue, and crisis management. A recent component of the training targets the financial underpinnings of terrorists and criminal money launderers. Counterterrorist training and technical assistance teams are working with countries to jointly identify vulnerabilities, enhance capacities, and provide targeted assistance. The ATA program is also developing workshops to assist countries in drafting strong laws against terrorism, including terrorist financing. During the past 17 years, the ATA program has trained more than 35,000 officials from 152??countries in various aspects of counterterrorism.

Evidence: Department of State annual report Patterns of Global Terrorism, Department of State strategic and performance plans, annual budget submissions.

Is the program designed to make a unique contribution in addressing the interest, problem or need (i.e., not needlessly redundant of any other Federal, state, local or private efforts)?

Explanation: Other Foreign Assistance programs provide training for foreign law enforcement personnel, but have other purposes than deterrence of terrorist acts. This program is the only global effort to enhance antiterrorism skills of law enforcement officials.

Evidence: The Counterterrorism and Security Group (CSG) chaired by the Deputy Assistant to the President, National Director and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism, was created to coordinate the military, diplomatic, law enforcement, intelligence, financial, and strategic information activities designed to deter, disrupt, and destroy terrorists .

Is the program optimally designed to address the interest, problem or need?

Explanation: The program is designed to provide training that is responsive both to the identified need, and to priorities determined both by the terrorist threat and policy considerations.

Evidence: The Coordinator for Counterterrorism is responsible for policy oversight of the Department's counter-terrorism programs and is responsible for tailoring policies to combat evolving terrorist trends,. The office recently received a favorable audit report by the Department's Inspector General.

Does the program have a limited number of specific, ambitious long-term performance goals that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program?

Explanation: The ATA program has devoted considerable effort in attempting to quantifiably measure the 'success' of its training programs and is in the process of testing and implementing a new assesssment tool which will rate on a "Likert" scale anti-terrorism capabilities of particpating countries and will document their progress. In addition, a country assistance plan will be developed for each country with specific goals and objectives to be achieved over a two-year training period.

Evidence: 1. Number of particpant countries achieving a capability to effectively deter, detect, and counter terrorist organizations and threats and sustain those capabilities. (new measure, first long-term target of 4 countries in FY 2007) based on bi-annual assessments. 2. Strengthening the bilateral ties of the U.S. with friendly foreign governments by offering concrete assistance in areas of mutual concern measured through bi-annual assessments of cooperation and responsiveness to U.S. requests 3. Increasing respect for human rights by sharing with civilian authorities modern, humane, and effective antiterrorism techniques measured by number of human rights violations reported by the embassy where host country judicial action has not addressed the violation. FY 2004 Performance Plan

Does the program have a limited number of annual performance goals that demonstrate progress toward achieving the long-term goals?

Explanation: The annual performance goals are formally derived in consultation with the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, (S/CT) whose office provides continually updated guidance on the goals and primary recipients of assistance under the program. A new annual goal will be added beginning in FY 2005 to set a percentage goal for countries receiving training with the initial FY 2005 target of 90 percent of countries achieving the annual goals and objectives identified in the country assistance plan.

Evidence: FY 2003 Performance Plan includes goals performance indicators consistent with performance goals. Performance indicators are tied to performance goals but necessarily are output driven. For example, performance goal of strengthening bilateral ties uses two indicators: number of completed bilateral and multilateral consultations and number of countries implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1373 that requires all member states to suppress and prevent terrorism.

Do all partners (grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, etc.) support program planning efforts by committing to the annual and/or long-term goals of the program?

Explanation: Training forecasts produced by internal office planning are normally submitted to the grantees and interagency agreement partners six months prior to the beginning of the fiscal year to ensure they have available or develop, as needed, the resources to support the requirements of the coming year.

Evidence: Internal program procedures and process. Future improvement would be to collectively document processes and procedures.

Does the program collaborate and coordinate effectively with related programs that share similar goals and objectives?

Explanation: In recent months there has been a considerable emphasis on ATA enhancing coordination with the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement bureau's International Law Enforcement Academies overseas and with other federal agencies that provide law enforcement training to foreign governments. This initiative is being formally chaired by S/CT through a series of bi-monthly interagency coordination meetings, during which support activities are reviewed and 'de-conflicted' to ensure adherence to policy goals, priority of recipients, and the absence of redundant support.

Evidence: S/CT Initiatives

Are independent and quality evaluations of sufficient scope conducted on a regular basis or as needed to fill gaps in performance information to support program improvements and evaluate effectiveness?

Explanation: An independent evaluation firm periodically reviews all ATA courses, usually bi-annually, in accordance with a previous Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommendation. This program has helped keep the quality of courses at an optimal level by providing formal recommendations that are subsequently utilized in formal course reviews and updates.

Evidence: Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities.

Is the program budget aligned with the program goals in such a way that the impact of funding, policy, and legislative changes on performance is readily known?

Explanation: The fiscal planning process is constantly being reviewed in the context of new priorities as outlined by S/CT. Support required for emerging priority programs is reviewed with S/CT within the context of impact on other programs competing for the same resources.

Evidence: Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities.

Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its strategic planning deficiencies?

Explanation: In the last two years, the concept of detailed planning has been expanded from a matter of months to two years in advance. In addition, the events of September 11th have compelled strategic planning to make the program more responsive to on-site training delivery needs overseas, often with short notice, and sometimes in non-permissive environments.

Evidence: Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities.

Does the agency regularly collect timely and credible performance information, including information from key program partners, and use it to manage the program and improve performance?

Explanation: Throughout the training process, information regarding pre-training capabilities of students, suitability of training content to students, and confirmation of relevance of training content to training objectives is obtained and evaluated. Corrective measures are taken as appropriate.

Evidence: Yes contingent upon confirmation and documentation that OIG recommendation to improve course monitoring and curriculum tailoring has been addressed.

Are Federal managers and program partners (grantees, subgrantees, contractors, etc.) held accountable for cost, schedule and performance results?

Explanation: Achievement of key program results are part of the performance standards for program managers.

Evidence: State Department response based on criteria in annual performance assessments of personnel.

Are all funds (Federal and partners') obligated in a timely manner and spent for the intended purpose?

Explanation: Funds are obligated in advance for each training activity conducted, as the annual plan is implemented. Substitutions of one country for another do occur in response to political realities and shifts in policy priorities, but the training provided is within the intended purpose for which funds were appropriated. As actual costs are determined, surpluses or deficiencies in the committed amount are resolved through adjustments to the annual plan, so that unobligated funds at the end of the year are minimal.

Evidence: Annual budget submissions, sub-account information.

Does the program have incentives and procedures (e.g., competitive sourcing/cost comparisons, IT improvements) to measure and achieve efficiencies and cost effectiveness in program execution?

Explanation: The ATA program does have procedures that are consistent with the approach by that compare efficiencies (bid evaluation for best value). The ATA program does determine the cost of training outputs as part of ongoing resource management within the program.

Evidence: Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities. Department of State performance plan.

Does the agency estimate and budget for the full annual costs of operating the program (including all administrative costs and allocated overhead) so that program performance changes are identified with changes in funding levels?

Explanation: The direct-hire career employees of the Department of State and their benefits and related overhead are budgeted through the Department's central salaries account within Diplomatic and Consular Programs. All of the program annual costs are budgeted through the Foreign Assistance budget process, and do not include the full annual costs of operating the program.

Evidence: Department of State Chapter and International Assistance Programs budget submissions.

Does the program use strong financial management practices?

Explanation: Procedures are in place to confirm that all obligations contribute directly to the achievement of program mission and are properly allocated to specific country program activities, or in the case of indirect program costs, are distributed among program activities that share in those costs. Expenditures are reviewed to ensure their utilization for their intended purpose, and to identify and correct improper payments, should they occur.

Evidence: Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities. Information supplied by program management office.

Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its management deficiencies?

Explanation: A staff of course managers, hired over the last 18 months, has responsibilities for defined subject-matter content of the training provided, from a standpoint of course content, its delivery, and selection of appropriate students. Adjustments are coordinated in the context of the total curriculum and security skills package.

Evidence: Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities. Annual Report to the Congress 2001 (course content reviews) and agency-provided material.

Has the program demonstrated adequate progress in achieving its long-term outcome goal(s)?

Explanation: ATA has made significant progress in developing quantifiable measures of performance and is in the process of testing and implementing a new assessment tool which will rate on a Likert scale anti-terrorism capabilities and document progress of participating countries. Currently, ATA does maintain extensive assessments establishing a participant country's baseline anti-terrorism capabilities and program reviews identifying their enhanced performance following ATA training and assistance. Assessments and Program Reviews are all performed by qualified law enforcement and military experts in the field of anti-terrorism; this will not change. ATA has developed a system for progressing participant country's through ascending levels of assistance beginning with basic training moving to advanced training and targeted sustainment eventually graduating to programs designed to maintain enhanced engagement and established bi-lateral relationship. Each stage of training will be planned and tracked in individual Country Assistance Plans containing specific goals and objectives.

Evidence: Annual Performance Plan and Report, Annual Report on Global Trends in Terrorism. With the establishment of performance measures for each long-term goal, the measures are now adequate.

Does the program (including program partners) achieve its annual performance goals?

Explanation: State has prepared performance plans on the ATA program in FYs 2001-2003. In addition, State prepared an FY 2001 performance report on the program. However, performance goals in FY 2001 and FY 2002 were not were not measurable and did not contain specific targets. The FY 2003 performance plan contains measurable targets and a baseline that can be used to more effectively measure annual performance. The key goals below reflect the FY 2003 performance plan. In addition, the Department prepares a separate annual report to the Congress that provides specific program results and impact..

Evidence: FY 2001/2002 Performance Plan, FY 2001 Performance Report, FY 2003 Performance Plan, Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, Annual Report to the Congress, FY 2001.

Does the program demonstrate improved efficiencies and cost effectiveness in achieving program goals each year?

Explanation: The ATA program performs this function through an independent evaluation of ATA courses, periodic in-country program reviews, and a greater emphasis on 'sustainability' for participating nations. The ATA program is working toward a global training program that maximizes both cost effectiveness and operational efficiency. The large extent reflects efforts to review programs as discussed above but the program does not set in advance targets for improved efficiency that would fully demonstrate the improved efficiencies and cost effectiveness. The Department has requested funds to establish a Center for Antiterrorism and Security Training that will allow ATA to expand to meet projected growth in training needs and allow ATA to better manage its present demands.

Evidence: Annual Report to the Congress 2001, FY 2003 budget submission to the Congress, Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities. ATA provided program materials.

Does the performance of this program compare favorably to other programs with similar purpose and goals?

Explanation: The ATA program is a unique federal training assistance program

Evidence:  

Do independent and quality evaluations of this program indicate that the program is effective and achieving results?

Explanation: Previously cited independent, quality evaluations of the program document that the training is effective, and the periodic program reviews and unsolicited 'success stories' provide documentation and testaments that it is achieving its intended results. The results of these reviews were not made available for this performance review. The large extent is based on the fact that an independent assessment process has been instituted and that these reviews have generally found the program to be successful in accomplishing the desired goal.

Evidence: Budget submissions and bureau program plans, Inspector General report and ongoing oversight activities.