Joint Strategic Oversight Plan on U.S. Government Activities: International Ebola Response and Preparedness, October 2015

This Joint Strategic Oversight Plan provides information on Office of Inspector General strategy and plans for oversight of U.S. Government international Ebola response and preparedness efforts. Representatives of the Inspector General community initially came together to develop this plan pursuant to section 8L of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended. Section 8L establishes a requirement for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Department of State (DOS), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Offices of Inspector General (OIGs) to develop and carry out a joint strategic plan “to conduct comprehensive oversight over all aspects of [a] contingency operation.” The November 2014 activation of reservists in association with Operation United Assistance—which had been declared in support of response efforts against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa—triggered this and other requirements under Section 8L. In order to help provide comprehensive Ebola oversight and meet stakeholder expectations, in coordinating planning and reporting activities, USAID OIG extended the focus of these efforts beyond oversight partners at DoD and DOS OIGs to include the OIG for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has been a primary participant in U.S. Government efforts to combat Ebola. Coordinated oversight efforts have been broadened beyond Operation United Assistance, the military mission to support efforts to combat Ebola, to include comprehensive oversight of all U.S. Government response and preparedness activities and programs related to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

---