Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), focusing on: (1) its efficiency and effectiveness; (2) other major donors' views of UNDP; (3) the level of U.S. influence; and (4) UNDP accounting practices and financial status.

GAO found that: (1) UNDP funded and coordinated only about 30 percent of United Nations (UN) technical assistance activities; (2) UNDP projects encompassed a broad range of activities, but U.S. and other donor officials believed that the projects had limited impact; (3) UNDP budgets placed an administrative burden on its implementing agencies and recipients; (4) most UN member nations believed that increased UNDP coordination would improve the effectiveness of UN technical assistance activities; (5) U.S. contributions decreased from 24 percent to 12 percent of total contributions, but UNDP made extensive use of U.S. expertise, training facilities, and equipment; (6) the UN Board of Auditors expressed qualified opinions on UNDP 1986 and 1987 financial statements; and (7) UNDP fund account balances totalled about $1 billion, but were expected to decline because of increased program expenditures.