Rebecca Project for Human Rights Urges House Foreign Affairs Chairman-Elect Ed Royce (R-CA) to Allow the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights Oversight For the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and International Operations

Leading human rights organization joins other non-profit groups and calls for a return to the same jurisdiction the Africa Subcommittee previously had under both Chairmen Henry Hyde and Ben Gilman

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a leading, Washington, DC-based human rights organization, has joined other non-profit groups and urged House Foreign Affairs Chairman-Elect Ed Royce (R-CA) to allow oversight for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and International Operations to fall under the jurisdiction of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. In the December 5, 2012 letter to Chairman-Elect Royce, the Rebecca Project for Human Rights and 21 other leading human rights groups called upon the House Foreign Affairs Committee to return to the same oversight rules for USAID and International Operations as during the tenures of Chairmen Henry Hyde and Ben Gilman.

In the letter to House Foreign Affairs Chairman-Elect Ed Royce (R-CA) the Rebecca Project for Human Rights Executive Director Imani Walker and Policy Director Kwame Fosu joined leaders from non-profit organizations including the Institute on Religion & Democracy, United Africans for Women and Children Rights, Connecting Lives International Mission, and Sister Effect, and wrote: "To have oversight over issues impacting African nations it is vital that the Africa Subcommittee include USAID and International Operations. Granting the Subcommittee the jurisdiction to hold USAID accountable for transparency in terms of grants given to NGO's and faith-based organizations is critical to ensuring that USAID award grants on a competitive basis. Currently, USAID grantees are so entrenched in the agency that innovation is stifled, reforms unattainable and moreover, that aid is not tied to performance outcomes.  It is simply not possible to have a Subcommittee with oversight over Africa, human rights and global health lack the jurisdiction to follow the money back to USAID or to determine why International Operations are not implemented to support change in Africa.  It is vital that the Subcommittee on Africa return to the Hyde-Gilman construct to include International Operations and USAID."

The full letter is available here: https://www.theird.org/document.doc?id=156

The Rebecca Project for Human Rights (RPHR) is a transformational organization that advocates for justice, dignity, and reform for vulnerable women and girls in the United States and internationally. For more information, please visit: http://www.rebeccaproject.org/index.php

SOURCE The Rebecca Project for Human Rights