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<\/a>\u2018Baseless\u2019 to say State Dept didn\u2019t vet charity with history of terror ties, senior department official says<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nMike Wagenheim<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The U.S. State Department is doing a good job vetting the nonprofits with which it works, a senior Foggy Bottom official told JNS, after the department drew criticism<\/u><\/a><\/span> for working with a U.K. charity, World Vision, with a history of ties to Islamic terrorism.<\/span><\/p>\n JNS reported that the State Department was working with World Vision as part of what it called a \u201chistoric\u201d $2 billion distribution of global health foreign assistance. It made the announcement despite an Israeli court convicting World Vision\u2019s Gaza operations manager of funneling up to $50 million to Hamas in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n The Senate Finance Committee probed World Vision in 2019 and found that the Christian charity transferred $125,000 to Islamic Relief Agency, which the U.S. Treasury Department sanctions for terror ties, in 2014 as a sub-grantee for a U.S. Agency for International Development-backed humanitarian project in Sudan. The Senate panel called World Vision\u2019s vetting procedures \u201cborderline negligent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A senior State Department official told JNS that the department \u201cactively conducts counterterrorism vetting of implementers and their employees to ensure U.S. taxpayer funds and department-managed award activities never provide support intentionally or inadvertently to terrorists, their supporters or their affiliates.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The department\u2019s vetting process \u201csafeguards our programs while ensuring the department can continue delivering initiatives that advance U.S. national security and foreign policy priorities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Washington\u2019s collaboration with World Vision and two other charities, which it announced on Aug. 6, \u201creflects the Trump administration\u2019s commitment to partnering with organizations that have demonstrated operational capacity, extensive in-country networks, and a proven track record of delivering results in the world\u2019s most difficult environments,\u201d the State Department official told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n The White House Faith Office led the initiative, and members of Congress and Office of Management and Budget officials attended the announcement event, which demonstrated \u201ccoordination across the administration,\u201d the official told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n The senior official said that World Vision \u201creached 35.6 million people through 104 separate disaster responses, with an operational footprint spanning more than 100 countries\u201d last year.<\/span><\/p>\n World Vision denied that its employee, who was convicted of funding Hamas, did anything wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n A World Vision spokesman told JNS that \u201cregarding Gaza, World Vision immediately suspended operations in 2016, commissioned a thorough independent forensic investigation that found no evidence of aid diversion or ties to Hamas, and has not operated in Gaza since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision has previously briefed U.S. government stakeholders, including the Department of State, on these matters,\u201d the charity\u2019s spokesman told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n No U.S. funding would go to Gaza for the newly announced initiative, as World Vision no longer operates there.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision condemns terrorism and the misuse of humanitarian aid, and we take seriously our responsibility to operate with strong compliance, oversight and accountability in complex humanitarian settings,\u201d the World Vision spokesman told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the Sudan matter, World Vision did not knowingly work with a sanctioned organization,\u201d the spokesman said. \u201cWe suspended payments when concerns arose, we sought U.S. government guidance, and we have since strengthened vetting, escalation and blocked-party screening processes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n JNS asked World Vision for an unredacted copy of its legal team\u2019s audit of the Gaza case. World Vision has declined to share that with Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2020, the Senate Finance Committee said that after the Islamic Relief Agency incident, World Vision \u201ccreated additional screening methods in an effort to prevent future disbursements of U.S. tax dollars to sanctioned entities,\u201d including extra layers of legal review.<\/span><\/p>\n JNS asked World Vision if it added any more vetting processes in response to the Gaza case.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision was selected based on their demonstrated operational capacity, extensive in-country networks and long track record of delivering health and humanitarian assistance in complex environments,\u201d the senior State Department official told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision is able to leverage in-kind and private donations and volunteer networks to keep overhead costs low, which in turn helps stretch American taxpayer dollars,\u201d the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n The senior official told JNS that World Vision and its partner faith-based organizations can use their strong local relationships and networks to \u201chit the ground running in affected communities, without having to start from scratch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Former charities that have received State Department funding have used just 35% to 40% of the funding for frontline health services, and the rest has gone to overhead and management costs. World Vision spends 80% on health services, according to the senior U.S. official.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe proposal that the department received reflected a unique capability to perform the global rapid response and humanitarian assistance services required for this project,\u201d the official told JNS. \u201cThe proposal demonstrated a proven history of success, responding to natural disasters and complex humanitarian crises.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The State Department told JNS that it disagrees with a senior Trump administration official, with close ties to the Office of Management and Budget, who told JNS that Jeremy Lewin, acting U.S. undersecretary of state for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, \u201cfailed to do his homework\u201d in partnering with World Vision.<\/span><\/p>\n The Trump administration official told JNS that World Vision is \u201cseverely compromised by ties to Islamist terrorists and a radical left-wing climate change agenda\u201d and cited Lewin\u2019s \u201cobsession in funding communist U.N. agencies.\u201d (The latter referred to a funding partnership with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.)<\/span><\/p>\n The senior State Department official told JNS that its \u201cassertion the Trump administration-led State Department has not applied the same rigorous vetting for World Vision that we have used across the board is unsubstantiated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe expect all organizations that have received U.S. funding to cooperate with the appropriate U.S. authorities to facilitate the proper administration of justice and prevent the occurrence of fraud and abuse,\u201d the senior official said. \u201cAny implication on the contrary is simply false.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Under Lewin, the State Department has worked to defund the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, whose employees participated directly in the Oct. 7 attacks and whose staff have long documented ties to Palestinian terror.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI write in absolute shock at the anonymous attacks on my colleague Jeremy Lewin, whose record from defunding UNRWA to supporting faith-based community organizations speaks unmistakably to his dedication to an America First agenda, not the falsehoods now being leveled against him,\u201d Yehuda Kaploun, a rabbi and State Department special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n Kaploun called Lewin a \u201chero\u201d for his work helping the Jewish community, most of which goes unrecognized.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThose who hide behind anonymity to impugn the character of a man who has earned genuine admiration for his service to this country should have the courage to attach their names to their accusations,\u201d Kaploun said.<\/span><\/p>\n JNS asked the State Department why it thinks that World Vision\u2019s work outside of Gaza is viable, while the terror-tied UNRWA needs to be dismantled both inside and outside of the Strip.<\/span><\/p>\n The senior State Department official told JNS that comparing World Vision and UNRWA \u201cis invalid for many reasons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n UNRWA, which operates across Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, \u201chas accumulated decades-long controversies over antisemitic educational materials, militant exploitation of schools, employee affiliations to Hamas and corruption,\u201d the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n The senior official told JNS that \u201cmembers of organizations designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations infiltrated UNRWA,\u201d which has \u201crepeatedly and intentionally exploited U.N.-controlled aid channels for the purpose of furthering the activities of Hamas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Senate panel probe of World Vision \u201cfound no evidence\u201d that the charity knew Islamic Relief Agency was sanctioned, the senior State Department official said. \u201cFollowing this finding, World Vision took accountability, strengthened its vetting standards and compliance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Senate investigation determined there was no evidence that World Vision knew of Islamic Relief Agency\u2019s sanctioned status, but it also found that \u201cWorld Vision had access to the appropriate public information and should have known how, but failed to, properly vet\u201d Islamic Relief Agency. It also decried the charity for its \u201cattempt to shift the blame to the federal government for their own inability to properly vet a subcontractor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur review demonstrates this failure occurred because World Vision\u2019s system for vetting prospective sub-grantees was borderline negligent and ignored elementary-level investigative procedures, such as failing to conduct basic secondary research that is widely available to the public on the internet via free search engine,\u201d the panel found.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite changes that World Vision made after the Islamic Relief Agency incidents, Senate panel staff still have \u201creservations concerning World Vision\u2019s ability to avoid situations similar\u201d to the Islamic Relief Agency, the Senate report concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision\u2019s posture during and after this episode gives the impression they have externalized the responsibility for vetting the groups and organizations with which they choose to affiliate,\u201d it added.<\/span><\/p>\n Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has led much of the investigatory work of World Vision, wrote to the law firm DLA Piper, which represents World Vision, in April 2024 that the charity was refusing to provide Congress with an unredacted copy of the audit of its internal forensic investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n Grassley noted that the charity shared that information with other national governments and with some U.S. government entities.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision\u2019s refusal to be fully transparent to the public is ironic considering World Vision\u2019s Aug. 6, 2016, press release where it called for a \u2018fair and transparent legal process\u2019 regarding Halabi\u2019s arrest,\u201d Grassley wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n The law firm told Grassley that a \u201ccopy of the final report was provided to the U.S. State Department and to the U.S. Agency for International Development.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Grassley wrote that Congress was \u201coutrageously given the stiff-arm\u201d by a charity that is tax-exempt in the United States and that received $200 million of U.S. appropriated funds in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWorld Vision has an obligation to be fully transparent to Congress and the American people, and its failure to do so is without any legitimate basis,\u201d Grassley wrote. (JNS sought comment from Grassley and USAID.)<\/span><\/p>\n World Vision conducts \u201crigorous risk management, including recurring sanctions screening, multi-phase partner vetting and independent financial audits,\u201d the senior State Department official told JNS.<\/span><\/p>\n The World Vision spokesman told JNS that the charity is \u201ccommitted to constant improvement in our systems and our controls to ensure resources reach their intended beneficiaries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe believe our record demonstrates both our transparency and the significant measures we took to strengthen compliance, oversight and accountability,\u201d the spokesman said. \u201cOur work focuses on meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families, and we remain committed to transparency and accountability in order to safeguard aid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> \u2018Baseless\u2019 to say State Dept didn\u2019t vet charity with history of terror ties, senior department official says Mike Wagenheim World Vision conducts \u201crigorous risk management including recurring sanctions screening, multi-phase partner vetting and independent financial audits,\u201d the senior official told JNS. World Vision headquarters in Washington, D.C. Credit: Chris Light via Wikimedia Commons. The U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133102"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133199,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133102\/revisions\/133199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWorld Vision conducts \u201crigorous risk management including recurring sanctions screening, multi-phase partner vetting and independent financial audits,\u201d the senior official told JNS.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
![](\"https:\/\/static.jns.org\/dims4\/default\/9a6e4d4\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3840x2162+0+398\/resize\/1000x563!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.jns.org%2F97%2F48%2Fbb61c057426f9f647c54f71ebce5%2F3840px-hq-world-vision-8506.jpg\")
World Vision headquarters in Washington, D.C. Credit: Chris Light via Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u2018Hit the ground running\u2019<\/b><\/h4>\n
\u2018Outrageously given the stiff-arm\u2019<\/b><\/h4>\n
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