The USAID Office of Inspector General is initiating an audit of USAID partner vetting for activities in West Bank and Gaza. Recent reports of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East employees participating in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel have raised congressional and other stakeholder concerns about the Agency’s ability to vet, screen, and prevent terrorist organizations, or individuals engaged in terrorist activity, from working for USAID-funded implementing partners, or receiving other forms of USAID-funded assistance.
The audit objectives are to determine the extent to which (1) USAID’s anti-terrorism policies and procedures for vetting individuals and groups receiving USAID-funded humanitarian assistance in West Bank and Gaza aligned with established vetting and risk management criteria and (2) USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance implemented anti-terrorism requirements for humanitarian assistance activities in West Bank and Gaza.