New Humanitarian: Aid workers question USAID counter-terror clause in Nigeria
“…USAID, the biggest funder by far in Nigeria, introduced a clause late last year into all its grant contracts with tough new conditions aimed at preventing Boko Haram and the breakaway Islamic State of West Africa Province, or ISWAP, from benefiting from U.S. assistance. In practice, NGO officials say, this means aid agencies receiving USAID money risk falling foul of U.S. anti-terror legislation if they don’t vet those in need and refuse help to all civilians they suspect could have had links with the jihadists. That, aid workers worry, not only contravenes humanitarian principles, but is also impractical to implement in the field and could potentially put them in harm’s way…” (Anyadike, 11/5).