by Stefano Gennarini JD, C-Fam
The UN agency for emergency humanitarian assistance is still giving U.S. funds to groups that promote abortion, gender ideology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) abroad, prompting questions about whether the Trump administration has given the UN a waiver on its Mexico City Policy, which forbids such funding.
A new online transparency website of the UN humanitarian agency shows that several of the organizations receiving U.S. funds are leading international organizations invested in promoting the woke agenda abroad, including UN agencies, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Plan International, Care International, the International Rescue Committee, and others.
One of the programs funded in Nigeria, the SAHAEI Gender Development Initiative, received two grants totaling $410,000 over the last year and is currently being implemented. While details of the work in the country are not available publicly, the program was designed and launched by a progressive U.S. global aid organization called FreeFrom.
The organization describes itself as “a proudly feminist national organization led by queer, trans, im/migrant, and BIPOC survivors.” The organization lists the pronouns for each of the organization’s staff and leadership. The organization says its mission is to “end gender-based violence by building economic freedom and safety with survivors.”
That first tranche of funds was released prior to the administration’s announcement of the new rules that block funding for groups that promote abortion, gender ideology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) abroad. It was also released despite obstruction from the European Union to U.S. attempts to stop the UN system from promoting abortion as an international right through UN humanitarian work.
When an additional $1.8 billion was released to OCHA last month, even more questions were raised, including concerns about a possible waiver on the new rules for OCHA. A British think tank reported last month that a waiver has been granted to OCHA funds. As of this writing, the Friday Fax has been unable to verify speculation that a waiver has been granted.