Nussle: USAID Award Process Biased Against WOCCU, Smaller Non-Profits

The procurement process used by the U.S. Agency for International Development remains biased against smaller organizations, hampering efforts by WOCCU and other small non-profits to access funds to help development abroad, CUNA has charged.

“Such organizations can provide USAID with specialized skills, organized networks and a proven track record to support USAID implementation of U.S. foreign assistance,” CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote in a recent letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “However, these U.S. private voluntary and not-for-profit organizations tend to be smaller and more specialized; as such, they face procurement obstacles in the effort to partner with USAID.”

Nussle wrote a similar letter to House appropriators this week and asked them to ensure that the agency’s Cooperative Development Program receives at least $20 million in FY22. The program received $18.5 million during the current fiscal year.

In his letter to appropriators, Nussle said that since 1971, WOCCU has offered almost 300 technical assistance programs around the world. As part of those programs, WOCCU promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives through access to affordable financial services, he said.

Nussle said one source of WOCCU’s funding has been the Cooperative Development Program. He said that program is a global initiative that focuses on building cooperative businesses and systems for self-reliance; he said it has worked in more than 18 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. He said its activities have supported more than 500 cooperatives and credit unions.

Nussle said that past USAID administrators and members of Congress have tried to make changes in the procurement process to ensure smaller organizations get a share of the funding but have not succeeded. Members of Congress have sent letters to USAID asking for changes in the grant award process and CUNA sent a similar letter to lawmakers in 2018.

Nussle asked the appropriators to include language in their FY22 funding bills requiring that at least 12% of annual development assistance funds are directly awarded to small U.S. private and voluntary organizations and cooperative development groups.

WOCCU has received assistance from another source this week.

CUNA Mutual Group announced that it will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million and give the money to WOCCU for international development issues.