The Biden administration is soliciting responses on how it can boost left-leaning diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility practices at an agency in the landlocked African country of Ethiopia, documents show.
Championing DEI has been a foremost concern of the federal government since President Joe Biden took office, with the president on his first day signing an executive order directing agencies to conduct equity assessments due to the alleged effects of “systemic racism.” Now, the United States Agency for International Development’s Mission in Ethiopia is planning on consulting with nonprofit groups, public schools, think tanks, and other parties “to learn more ways” it can advance DEI “within its existing activities and structures,” according to documents reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
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“The Biden administration has been relentless in politicizing every agency of the federal government and injecting them into the culture wars,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said. “Like every other foreign policy agency in the federal government, USAID should be doing everything possible to counter aggression and hostility from the Chinese Communist Party against our allies. Instead, they’re focusing on fringe progressive ideology.”
The request for information documents further underscore how USAID, an agency that handles foreign aid and disclosed a $49.59 billion budget in 2023, has prioritized DEI initiatives. USAID in March 2022 announced the launch of a DEI office that will report to Samantha Power, the agency’s administrator, who served under President Barack Obama as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
USAID’s Ethiopia Mission is based in the country’s capital of Addis Ababa and works on a variety of issues, including nutrition, economic growth and trade, HIV and AIDS prevention, and education, according to its website, which also notes that the office focuses on fighting “climate change” and furthering “gender equality and women’s empowerment.” The U.S. was the main financial supporter of Ethiopia in 2022, giving the country $1.8 billion in humanitarian aid, though in June 2023 suspended all food aid to Ethiopia upon learning of an apparently “widespread and coordinated” theft campaign of emergency rations that the country’s government oversaw, the New York Times reported.
In the RFI documents, USAID described how it is “reviewing its activities” to see how the Ethiopia office can adjust its diversity practices. The mission said it aims to “proactively address internal systems that potentially inhibit inclusive diversity efforts and access throughout the USAID employee life cycle,” and “establish and enhance training and capacity building opportunities for all staff, including managers and supervisors, on diversity fundamentals, bias, and principles of inclusion,” according to records.
“USAID strives to ensure that human rights principles are respected around the world and advocates for the protection of the most vulnerable populations in crises, including refugees, conflict victims, internally displaced and stateless persons, and individuals from marginalized racial, ethnic, indigenous, and religious communities, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, women, and older persons,” a USAID spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
USAID is asking parties to provide insight as to whether the agency has “effectively engaged” with “marginalized groups,” which includes “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex (LGBTQI+) populations, and children in adversity.” The agency is also asking parties to describe any “structural barriers” to reaching these groups.
Moreover, USAID wants to know whether parties have “advice” as to how the agency can “improve the recruitment, hiring, and retention of a diverse workforce,” while asking whether people have expertise in inclusive development, “an equitable development approach built on the understanding that every individual and community, of all diverse identities and experiences, is instrumental in the transformation of their own societies,” according to the federal government.
The RFI was signed by Adrienne Shade, a USAID Ethiopia contracting and agreement officer. Parties have until Aug. 24 to respond.
“‘Diversity’ and ‘equity’ have become loaded terms in recent years,” Michael Chamberlain, director of the ethics watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust, told the Washington Examiner. “While the principles may sound benign, too often in practice their effects can be far different. When they are used to base hiring, personnel, or funding decisions upon race or other immutable characteristics, there is definitely the danger of running afoul of anti-discrimination laws, something the U.S. Supreme Court recently reiterated in the context of college admissions.”
Revelations of the DEI consulting initiative come as congressional Republicans raise concerns over what they say are “woke” USAID spending habits that undercut the agency’s functionality.
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Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) pressed Power in an April hearing over USAID’s use of taxpayer funds to purportedly stave off climate change rather than prioritizing poverty alleviation. USAID notably detailed in a recent strategy report its worldwide plans to mobilize climate activists, who the agency said suffer from “a broad range of climate-related mental health conditions.
“USAID needs to assure the American public that these programs do not creep into prohibited areas,” Chamberlain added.
