USAID’s Oversight Failures Erode Trust in Foreign Assistance

By

Samantha Power, Administrator, USAID

WASHINGTON, D.C. August 30 (C-Fam) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has lost track of billions in U.S. foreign aid to UN agencies.

In a new report, the Inspector General shows a near-total breakdown of USAID’s due diligence practices during the Biden administration. The Inspector General concluded that USAID failed to adequately track how U.S. funds were used.

USAID’s funding of international agencies like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) has grown dramatically in recent years, according to the report. Funding surged by 282% from $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2019 to $21.4 billion in 2022. Yet, USAID failed to conduct legally required reviews for over 70% of the international agencies receiving funds.

USAID relied on patchy assessments instead of thorough organizational reviews in making grants and when reviews did identify issues, USAID lacked formal mechanisms to ensure corrective actions. After awards were made, USAID officials generally did not perform “spot checks” on the grantees despite having the authority to do so. The agency had limited guidance for conducting these checks and did not track their occurrence or results.

These oversight gaps leave USAID with limited insight into how UN agencies manage nearly six billion dollars of U.S. foreign aid. The report concludes that without proper due diligence practices, agency officials cannot access crucial information about potential waste or misuse of funds.

The findings in the Inspector General report add to the already growing skepticism from U.S. members of Congress over the UN agencies’ promotion of abortion and gender ideology. Some members of Congress recently complained that funds intended for humanitarian aid and development programs are being diverted to promote social engineering goals.

USAID is already grappling with calls for increased scrutiny of UN agencies’ programs and their alignment with U.S. foreign policy objectives. Addressing concerns about controversial initiatives while maintaining effective partnerships with multilateral organizations will require careful navigation of complex diplomatic and policy landscapes.

The Trump administration cut funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Organization of American States (OAS) for their infringing on U.S. laws that prohibit advocating for abortion. When this happened, multiple organizations and Congressmen advocated for the same to be applied consistently to all UN agencies.

The recently House-passed State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bill maintains many of the impressive provisions of the past version and also states that support for multilateral organizations through the Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) account must comply with statutory prohibitions and requirements related to abortion.

This lack of oversight is particularly concerning in light of UN Agencies’ aggressive promotion of abortion globally, pornography use among teenagers, and sexual rights for children.

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