Grassley Releases Results of Investigation into World Vision’s Interactions with ISRA, a Sanctioned Foreign Organization tied to Terrorism

Washington – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released the results of an investigation conducted by his staff into the relationship between World Vision, a non-profit humanitarian organization, and the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), an organization that has been sanctioned by the United States since 2004 for its funding of terrorist activities, including those of Osama bin Laden.

 

“World Vision works to help people in need across the world, and that work is admirable. Though it may not have known that ISRA was on the sanctions list or that it was listed because of its affiliation with terrorism, it should have. Ignorance can’t suffice as an excuse. World Vision’s changes in vetting practices are a good first step, and I look forward to its continued progress,” Grassley said.

Grassley’s investigative staff began looking into reports of government funds ending up in the hands of a foreign organization with ties to terrorism through regular non-profit work in February 2019. The investigation found that World Vision United States did not have any knowledge of ISRA’s sanction status at the time they engaged the group, but that lack of knowledge was a result of insufficient vetting practices. World Vision only discovered the sanctions issue when another non-profit aid group declined to work with them after doing their own due diligence and finding the affiliation between World Vision and the sanctioned ISRA.

 

The full, detailed results of the inquiry can be found in a memorandum found HERE. And the 132-page appendix of exhibits can be found HERE.