US signs deal with Goal despite concerns

The US government has signed a two-year administrative agreement with Goal even though it still has concerns with the Irish aid agency following allegations of corruption.

In July 2016 USAID, the international aid arm of the US government received a referral which alleged corruption on behalf, not just of field office staff but also members of Goal’s senior management team.

In a report published by USAID, it said Goal has undertaken immediate and protective “remedial measures”.

“Goal represents that all individuals alleged to be involved in the corruption scheme have since terminated their involvement with Goal,” the report said.

“The organisation has made changes to its senior management team, including the departures and appointments of key individuals as well as a general overhaul of its management structure,” it said.

USAID says it had ongoing concerns with Goal’s present “responsibility” in three areas: procurement system weaknesses; mishandling of conflicts of interest; and inadequate investigation functions.

Nonetheless, it said Goal had co-operated with its investigation and concluded that the “corrective actions, remedial actions and further undertakings made by Goal with this agreement provide adequate assurance that Goal’s future dealings with the government will be conducted responsibly and that suspension or debarrment is not necessary at this time”.

For its part, Goal said the administrative agreement signed between the two organisation provided USAID with the necessary assurances they needed to continue supporting Goal in its vital work.

Under the administrative agreement Goal has agreed, among other things: n Not to apply for new funding, for a period of 12 months, in countries and programme areas where it has not worked in the last year. USAID may bring this voluntary exclusion to an end after six months. n To establish and maintain a compliance and ethics programme that covers all employees to appoint an independent consultant to observe, review and report on Goal’s compliance with this agreement and to oversee its compliance and ethics programme, n To pay restitution to USAID for any losses of USAID funds administered by Goal caused by misconduct.

Goal general manager Celine Fitzgerald said the agreement was a significant step forward for it in terms of allowing it to resume a normal working relationship with US funders. “The conditions and obligations set out in the agreement are thorough, but, in view of the challenges faced by Goal over the past year, we believe that they are fair and proportionate,” she said.