United Nations humanitarian organizations that receive or disburse U.S. funding are being required by the Trump administration to disclose any ties to communism, socialism, or anti-American beliefs.
UNICEF and the U.N. Refugee Agency were among the remaining offices and bureaus at the U.S. Agency for International Development that received a questionnaire that included whether they were promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the New York Post reported Thursday.
USAID was the U.S.'s main distributor of foreign aid, but the Trump administration is attempting to dismantle it and fold it into the State Department, saying evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse was exposed last month by the White House.
"I'm aware from some of our colleagues that a number of agencies have received these types of questionnaires," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday.
When asked to name which agencies received the survey, Dujarric said, "I can't. You should check with some of the humanitarian agencies. We don't have a comprehensive list."
It is unknown how widely the questionnaire was distributed, but it was verified by a current USAID staffer, a U.S. official, and three U.N. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, according to the Post.
The Trump administration has been reevaluating foreign assistance in efforts to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration has cut 83% of programs overseas run by USAID, the main U.S. foreign aid agency, according to the Post.
The questionnaire asked respondents to confirm that "this is not a climate or 'environmental justice' project," that the organization encourages free speech, and that it "does not work with entities associated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or any party that espouses anti-American beliefs."
Another question asked whether the organizations' projects "reinforce U.S. sovereignty by limiting reliance on international organizations or global governance structures," such as the U.N. or World Health Organization.
Another portion asked organizations to give a score from "no impact" to "major impact" on questions including, "What impact does this project have on preventing illegal immigration to the U.S.?" and "How much does this project directly impact efforts to counter malign influence, including China?"
A former diplomat told the Post the questions will seem "intrusive and uncomfortable" to anyone doing development work overseas.
"At the U.N., where you have 193 countries that represent every race, gender, and language, diversity is a fact. It is not an ideology," said Thomas A. Shannon, a former U.S. diplomat who worked in the Obama administration and the first Trump administration.
"It would be my hope that the United States would understand that maybe with a few exceptions, the programs at the U.N. are not designed to promote 'woke' ideology but to address very real obstacles and challenges."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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