Inspector General Reports

The audit concluded that the Peace Corps’ financial statements were fairly presented, in all material respects, in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and noted two significant deficiencies in the agency’s internal control over financial reporting, as well as one instance of reportable noncompliance related to provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements.

Established in February 1989, the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General (OIG) receivesits legal authority from the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act). The IG Actestablishes OIG as an independent entity within the Peace Corps. The law requires that the Inspector General keep the Peace Corps Director and the Congress fully and currently informed about problems and deficiencies relating to the administration of agency programsand operations. OIG is authorized by law to review all Peace Corps programs andoperations.OIG’s role is to:           • Promote integrity, efficiency, effectiveness, and economy.           • Prevent and detect waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement; and           • Identify risk and vulnerabilities and offer expert assistance to improve the PeaceCorps’ programs and operations. OIG accomplishes its mission through audits, evaluations, investigations, and other reviews. OIG’s work typically examines the agency’s financial stewardship, and compliance with Federal law, regulations, and agency policy.

OIG conducted an evaluation of the Volunteer Delivery System to assess the challenges Peace Corps has recently faced in recruiting, selecting, and placing Volunteers. To perform this evaluation, OIG reviewed the agency’s strategic planning and performance documents, recruiting and hiring data, and documentation related to various recruiting strategies. OIG also conducted in-person and virtual interviews with headquarters-based and regional recruitment staff. The evaluation also included an overseas staff survey and a review of relevant documentation. The report contains seven recommendations along with a summary of the effectiveness of Peace Corps’ recruitment strategies and approaches.

In September 2025, the OIG issued a special report on the Peace Corps’ Information Technology environment. OIG contracted with technical subject matter experts to conduct three cybersecurity tests from January 2025 to March 2025. The three tests included a simulated phishing campaign, a review of the agency’s internal vulnerability management practices, and penetration tests that targeted critical Peace Corps systems. While observing the agency’s security processes throughout the assessment, OIG found that the Peace Corps’ monitoring capabilities were able to identify the testing activities and demonstrate its incident response procedures. However, the cybersecurity tests also uncovered multiple vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, ranging from informational issues to critical severity risks that the Peace Corps needs to review and address.

Peace Corps OIG conducted an evaluation of Peace Corps/Madagascar’s programs, operations, and activities from October 2021 to May 2024. OIG evaluation activities included: Volunteer and post staff surveys; interviews with staff, Volunteers, and stakeholders; document collection and analysis; and in-person observations and inspections. The evaluators performed on-site work at the post in May 2024, where they closely collaborated with post leadership and staff to learn more about past and present operations. During this review, OIG traveled to Volunteers’ homes and work sites for in-person observations and interviews.  

OIG conducted a review of recent human capital-related recommendations made to the agency and their corresponding reported statuses. The goal of this review was to help the Peace Corps leverage existing reviews and recommendations in determining where and how to direct its resources to better address its overarching human capital management challenge.

OIG conducted a review of two posts’ inventory of controlled substances to determine if they maintained effective controls for managing controlled substances and complied with Peace Corps requirements. OIG conducted site visits of the Peace Corps overseas posts in The Gambia (Peace Corps/The Gambia) and Namibia (Peace Corps/Namibia) from November 19 through 22, 2024. 

The purpose of this report is to provide the results of our survey of the Peace Corps’ compliance with the anti-gag provision requirement in the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) (5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(13)). We initiated this assessment at the request of Senator Chuck Grassley. (See attached Senator Grassley Letter, dated March 11, 2024). 

This semiannual report informs Congress of the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General's work from October1, 2024, through March 31, 2025.