Member states collectively finance these organizations by providing  assessed contributions, in accordance with the organizations’ regulations. According to U.S.  officials, the United States provides voluntary contributions to the OAS,  IICA, and PAHO primarily through grants for specific projects from State,  the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of  Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services. 2013 Reform Act

The Reform Act directs the Secretary of State to submit “a multiyear  strategy that…identifies a path toward the adoption of necessary reforms  that would lead to an assessed fee structure in which no member state  would pay more than 50 percent of the OAS’s assessed yearly fees.”  According to the Reform Act, it is the sense of Congress that it is in the  interest of the United States, OAS member states, and a modernized  OAS that the OAS move toward an assessed quota structure that (1)  assures the financial sustainability of the organization and (2) establishes,  by October 2018, that no member state pays more than 50 percent of the  organization’s assessed contributions. U.S. Assessed Contributions Constituted Over Half of Total Assessed Contributions to the Four Organizations, and the United States Also Made Voluntary Contributions to Three of Them

The United States’ assessed contributions constituted over 57 percent of  total assessed contributions by member states to the OAS, PAHO, IICA,  and PAIGH from 2014 through 2016, as shown in table 1. During this  time, the United States’ assessed quota for these organizations did not  change, and the total assessed contributions for all member states of  these organizations remained about the same; thus, the actual amounts  assessed to the United States generally remained the same. All four organizations apply a similar assessed quota structure that uses  the relative size of member states’ economies, among other things, to  help determine each member state’s assessed contributions. For example, State officials told us they engaged with other  OAS member states, including Canada and Mexico, to explore options for  quota structure reform. In addition, officials at the U.S. Mission to the  OAS worked with their counterparts from Mexico to review the OAS’s  assessed quota structure and to consult on alternatives that would adjust  all member states’ quotas so that no member pays more than 50 percent  of the OAS’s assessed contributions. According to State officials, Venezuela’s contentious  political relationship with the OAS has hindered progress on various  efforts promoted by the United States, including quota structure  reform. State officials told us that the large amounts owed by  a few member states had contributed to smaller OAS member states’  reluctance to increase their annual assessed quotas to ensure that no  member state provides more than 50 percent by 2018. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report responds to a request for GAO to review several issues  related to the Organization of American States (OAS), the Pan American  Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation  on Agriculture (IICA), and the Pan-American Institute of Geography and  History (PAIGH). In this report, we (1) determine the amounts and  percentages of U.S. contributions assessed by these organizations and  voluntary contributions paid to them in calendar years 2014 to 2016, and  (2) describe the Department of State’s (State) efforts to comply with  requirements in the Organization of American States Revitalization and  Reform Act of 2013 (Reform Act) regarding a strategy for reform of the  assessed quota structure of the OAS.
Why GAO Did This Study

The United States belongs to several inter-American organizations, including the OAS, PAHO, IICA, and PAIGH, which promote democracy, security, health care, agricultural development, and scientific exchange in the Western Hemisphere. The United States helps finance these organizations' operating expenses through assessed contributions (fees) that are based in part on the size of the U.S. economy relative to those of other members. The Reform Act required State to submit a strategy identifying, among other things, a path toward the adoption of reforms to the OAS's assessed quota structure to ensure that no member will pay more than 50 percent of OAS assessed contributions. In addition, the United States also provides the OAS, PAHO, and IICA with project-specific voluntary contributions.
GAO was asked to review U.S. financial contributions to these four organizations. In this report, GAO (1) determines the amounts and percentages of U.S. contributions assessed by these organizations and voluntary contributions paid to them in calendar years 2014 to 2016, and (2) describes State's efforts to comply with the Reform Act's requirements regarding a strategy for reform of the assessed quota structure of the OAS. GAO analyzed documents and interviewed officials from State, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the four organizations. GAO also analyzed the four organizations' annual audited financial reports.

What GAO Found

The United States' assessed contributions constituted over 57 percent of total assessed contributions by member states to four inter-American organizations from 2014 to 2016. These organizations are the Organization of American States (OAS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH). During this time, the annual U.S. percentages (or quotas) of these organizations' assessed contributions have remained about the same. The United States also provided voluntary contributions to three of these organizations, as shown in the table.
In response to a requirement in the Organization of American States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013 (Reform Act), the Department of State (State) submitted to Congress a strategy that included working with OAS member states toward ensuring that the OAS would not assess any single member state a quota of more than 50 percent of all OAS assessed contributions. State officials told GAO that reaching member state agreement on assessed quota reform by 2018 will be difficult, although not impossible. State officials informed GAO that State continues to implement a strategy that includes engaging with other OAS member states, such as Canada and Mexico, to explore assessed quota reform options. For example, State officials have consulted with their counterparts from Mexico to review the OAS's assessed quota structure and to consult on alternatives that would adjust all member states' quotas so that no member state's quota exceeds 50 percent of the OAS's assessed contributions. According to State and OAS officials, obstacles to assessed quota reform include tensions among member states. For example, State officials noted that Venezuela's contentious political relationship with the OAS has hindered progress on various reforms, including assessed quota reform. State officials explained that some member states' failure to fully pay assessed contributions from previous years and smaller member states' reluctance to increase their annual assessed contributions have also impeded assessed quota reform efforts.