The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of the Inspector General has been conducting an investigation into International Relief and Development, one of USAID’s largest implementing partners, for “months,” according to a well-placed government source.
The source, which was not authorized to speak on the record, told Devex that the OIG is not looking into any “specific” issue or allegation, but is reviewing “everything” about the organization’s conduct and its use of U.S. government funding.
According to the source, the USAID watchdog has pulled all of the audits conducted on IRD programs from the last five or six years to aid its work.
The OIG’s probe is supporting a simultaneous inquiry by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which is leading the overall investigation, the source said.
Bill Pierce, who serves as a spokesperson for IRD, told Devex on Wednesday that he was not aware of an OIG investigation that had been going on for months. IRD representatives will meet with the inspector general in the coming days.
IRD came under fire this week after the Washington Post questioned the nonprofit’s effectiveness in Afghanistan and Iraq, its awarding of sizeable bonuses to members of the founding family and other senior employees, as well as its habit — not unusual in the industry — of hiring former USAID staff members. The Post also noted that upon leaving the organization, IRD employees eager to receive a severance package have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements that warn them against making “critical” statements about the organization to “officials of any government.”
On Monday, SIGAR chief John Sopko sent letters to IRD CEO Arthur Keys and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah informing them of his office’s inquiry and requesting information on the confidentiality agreements. But as Devex suggested on Monday — and our government source confirmed — the government’s review of IRD’s work appears to be broader than that.
Read more on U.S. aid reform online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.
