WASHINGTON — The U.S. Agency for International Development has pushed back on reports that a policy intended to prevent U.S. humanitarian funding from supporting terrorism hinders crisis response efforts in Nigeria.
The concern relates to a clause that USAID began including in its awards in mid-2017, which states that implementers, “must obtain the prior written approval of the USAID Agreement Office before providing any assistance … to individuals whom the [implementer] affirmatively knows to have been formerly affiliated with Boko Haram or [ISIS-West Africa], as combatants or non-combatants.”
A Feb. 11 report from the State Department’s Office of Inspector General cites complaints reported by the nonprofit humanitarian news outlet The New Humanitarian on Nov. 5, 2019. In the article, aid officials and experts voiced concern that the clause was preventing organizations from serving communities in need, forcing them to vet their beneficiaries, and violating humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
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