Calling for “new principles of partnerships between the Government and community-serving organizations,” a March 2010 report calls on the President to reject the proposed Partner Vetting System (PVS). The President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships’ report (discussed on pages 111-112) instead recommends holding “more detailed discussions with U.S. [nonprofits] to create an effective system that addresses their concerns that PVS as currently designed would significantly harm partnerships with local communities and compromise” the safety of U.S. nonprofits workers overseas.
In its current form, the PVS for nonprofits would require grant applicants to submit detailed personal information on “key individuals” to be shared with U.S. intelligence agencies. More information about PVS is available here.
The report found that the critical relationships between U.S. nonprofits “and their in-country local partners will be seriously damaged if forced to subject local partners to the PVS.” The report used the work of U.S. nonprofits in Lebanon to demonstrate the negative consequences of implementing PVS in its current form:
“U.S. [nonprofits] work with a range of credible local groups to deliver badly needed services to people across sectarian lines. This work advances U.S. national interests by strengthening nonviolent groups, demonstrating that basic living conditions can improve in the absence of fighting, and indirectly undermining the appeal of violent elements of society. Should U.S. [ nonprofits] be required to comply with the PVS or similar process, Lebanese local partners would distance themselves from U.S. [nonprofits], who would inevitably be perceived as too closely tied to U.S. security and intelligence interests. As these partners severed their relationship with [U.S. nonprofits], extremist groups would also perceive that U.S. [nonprofits] were connected with the U.S. security structure and would target [U.S. nonprofit] staff and their local partners.”
This recommendation runs counter to what the Administer of USAID, Rajiv Shah told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 3, 2010. During his budget request hearing, he was asked about the process to ensure USAID funds designated for Gaza were not ending up in the hand of terrorists. Shah responded that the Gaza PVS “vets all key personnel in any partner organization against a larger database” and “it involves our database tracking systems.” He did not expound upon what database was used or how the information in it is updated or modified. Several aid and development nonprofits in the U.S. have criticized the PVS saying it would create unnecessary and potentially dangerous barriers for humanitarian groups providing relief in global hot spots and is too costly. More about PVS is available at Issue Brief: USAID Must Consider Alternative Vetting Approaches.