By Samuel Oakford
US President Donald Trump’s administration has introduced new conditions on billions of dollars in foreign aid spent through the UN and other multinational agencies, according to official documents examined by IRIN.
The rule change, previously unreported, takes aim at USAID’s funding for Public International Organizations (PIOs), a category that includes UN agencies like UNICEF as well as the World Bank and the African Union.
According to the new rules, any PIO grant over $5 million must now be vetted at the very top, in the office of USAID Administrator Mark Green. The threshold for Green to have to vet any other types of grant is $40 million. Former USAID officials say the low limit for PIOs will slow approval of UN financing, could create backlogs, and may leave funding more vulnerable to political interference.
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“I don’t see a way that this does not result in the UN getting less money,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center For Global Development think tank and the former director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance.
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