OMB has directed USAID to distribute a “voluntary request for information” to implementing partners. The survey, titled “Foreign Assistance Review: Organizational Assessment – USAID,” represents the next phase in the administration’s comprehensive review of U.S. foreign assistance programs. The OMB memo conveying the survey to all departments and agencies lists 23 questions to be answered by contractors, grantees, and recipients while questions 24-36 are for agency use in rating the impact of the award in making America safer, stronger and more prosperous.
The 23-question assessment requires respondents to provide their organization’s name and an official email address, which USAID indicates will be used to validate submissions and cross-reference responses with earlier project reviews. The questionnaire is designed to measure organizational compliance with several Trump administration Executive Orders. Key areas of inquiry include:
Risk Management and Security
- Current risk management frameworks or policies
- Certification that organizations have not collaborated with entities on terrorism watchlists, cartels, or trafficking networks
- Counterterrorism vetting procedures for employees and sub-awardees
- References to the January 2025 Executive Order designating certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
Organizational Values and Compliance
- Whether organizations encourage partners to “adopt policies and take action to respect their national sovereignty and culture, strengthen patriotic values, and reduce dependence on external institutions”
- Commitment to free speech, open debate, and information sharing
- Policies prohibiting collaboration with entities deemed contrary to U.S. interests
- Compliance with the reinstated and expanded Mexico City Policy
Program Sustainability and Foreign Relations
- Approaches to transitioning projects away from foreign assistance dependency and percentage of programs successfully transitioned in the past decade
- Anti-trafficking policies (referencing the January 2025 border emergency declaration)
- Confirmation of no working relationships with “communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties”
- Verification that no funding has been received from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Cuba, or Iran
- Processes for tracking funding sources through parent entities to ensure compliance
Development professionals should note that some questions appear to contain loaded language requiring carefully considered responses. There is speculation within the implementer community that this survey may serve as a litmus test for eligibility in future USAID award decisions. Organizations currently implementing USAID programs or planning to pursue future opportunities should thoroughly review their policies and practices in light of these new assessment criteria before submitting their responses.
Here is the link to the survey.
