| Founded | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Location | Washington, DC |
| Key people | Arthur B. Keys, Jr (President) |
| Area served | International |
| Focus | international development |
| Employees | 5000[1] |
| Website | www.ird.org |
International Relief and Development, Inc. (IRD) is an international nonprofit organization that implements relief, stabilization, and development programs worldwide.[1] More than 80% of IRD's $500 million annual budget comes from USAID.[2]
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IRD is headed by President and CEO Arthur B. Keys, who founded the organization Keys and Associates Inc. (KAI), which he ran before IRD.[3] According to 2007 tax records, Keys was paid $552,722. Keys' wife, daughter and brother-in-law brother took home an additional $265,278 in salary and benefits.[4]
IRD has operated programs in 40 countries.[1]
In Iraq, USAID funded $644 million to IRD to implement the Community Stabilization Program, a jobs and public works program Iraq. At times, IRD spent more than $1 million a day of USAID money. In a March 2008 audit, the USAID inspector general in Baghdad expressed concern that millions of dollars may have been siphoned off by insurgents.[5]
In July 2009, USAID suspended IRD's work on the Community Stabilization Program, citing evidence of phantom jobs in addition to possible financial support to insurgents.[2]
In Afghanistan, IRD administered a three-year, $400 million project to build roads in southern and eastern provinces of the country. One of IRD's staff was fired after he questioned the exclusivity of an IRD event and seating that segregated foreign staff from their Afghan counterparts.[6]
Multiple problems were identified in IRD's agricultural work in Afghanistan, which involved spending $300 million to help farmers in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. Many of the goods meant for farmers were sold in Pakistan and distorted the local market. Afghan officials derided features of the programming, such as paying farmers for work they would do anyway. IRD claims to have provided 5.4 million days of labor to unemployed men and generated an estimated $200 million through distributed seed. USAID decided not to award an extension of the program to IRD though it provided interim extensions until another implementer could be found.[7]