A U.S. district court judge ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Agency for International Development violated the law when in January it suspended nonprofit International Relief and Development for financial misconduct.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered USAID not only to undo the suspension within 24 hours, but to also allow IRD “presuspension access” to any contracts it may have missed due to the suspension. Lamberth also ordered USAID to remove any potentially damaging mention of IRD’s suspension from the administrative record and issue corrections within three days.
Formerly one of USAID’s largest nonprofit contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, IRD responded in June to the suspension by filing a lawsuit against USAID. The claim alleged the agency shirked suspension and debarment protocol by “completely ignoring” new oversight measures and years’ worth of disclosed financial documents, IRD President and CEO Roger Ervin told Devex in June.
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
