I attended a
briefing today with USAID Director of the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) Center of Excellence, Tim Meisburger; USAID Director of the Office of Acquisition and Assistance, Mark Walther; USAID Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs, Richard Parker; and USAID Deputy General Counsel, Jun Jin.The intent of
the briefing was to clarify the purpose of the circulars USAID DRG recently distributed to Missions, who in turn, distributed them to their implementing partners (IPs). The circulars contain information on the current state of human rights in Xinjiang, China. We have had a number of members express confusion regarding these circulars. USAID clarified the following: 1. There is
no requirement or "ask" implicit or explicit in the distribution of the circulars.
2. The
circulars are for "information sharing" purposes only. 3. The primary target of the circulars are local organizations around the world who may have less access to this kind of analysis of the human rights situation in Xinjiang.
4.
Also distributed with the circulars from DRG to the Missions was a separate circular prepared by USDOS on supply chain issues in the same region. It was shared by USAID DRG also for "informational purposes" only. 5. USAID DRG believes that to influence improvement of the human rights record in China, there must be greater awareness across the globe. With greater awareness, DRG believes greater accountability will ensue. Hence, the circulars.
6.
USAID understands that some of the Missions passed down the request DRG made to the Missions (only) that they provide the numbers of local organizations that have received the circular. USAID Deputy General Counsel clarified that there is no requirement for IPs to respond with that information and that USAID DRG and OGC have clarified with the Missions that IPs need not provide that information. 7. There may be more circulars, but none are planned at this time. That said, USAID has "learned the lesson" that they must better contextualize the circulars for IPs so such confusion doesn't arise in the future.
8.
In sum, the circulars are for information sharing purposes only. The circulars are not intended to be policy or an Agency requirement. Accordingly, USAID did not distribute the circulars via the implementing partner portal, which is for guidance and regulatory matters only. There is no compliance requirement attached to the circulars, which are informational only. ------------------------------
Cynthia Smith
Director, Government Affairs and Advocacy
Humentum
cynthia.smith@humentum.org------------------------------