Feeding Hungry People While Feeding the Future

By: Staff Person
March 11, 2011

Click here to read the second installment of MFAN’s blog series highlighting the reform aspects of Feed the Future, the United States Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Feed the Future incorporates many key reform principles such as components of country ownership, strong monitoring and evaluation, and leveraging partnerships for enhanced results. In this week’s post, Rick Leach, President and CEO of World Food Program USA focuses on both the short and long-term goals for food security as well as the importance of a comprehensive approach.

MFAN Partner: Include the Defense Budget in a Plan to Control the Debt

By: Staff Person
March 10, 2011

The Debt Reduction Task Force urges the federal government to deal with the national debt by slashing the budget, which includes defense spending. But the importance of defense spending cuts is usually unrecognized and often overlooked. Alice M. Rivlin makes the case for cuts to the defense budget.

MFAN-WTW-AJWS Celebrate International Women’s Day

By: Staff Person
March 10, 2011

Deputy Administrator for USAID Don Steinberg provided a keynote address in which he spoke about the agency’s efforts to integrate gender policy across all programs. Acknowledging the changing landscape—with the creation of UN Women and recent commitments from President Obama and Secretary Clinton— and the growing awareness of the consequences for excluding women and girls from society, Steinberg said this was a time for action. Some of the action steps USAID has taken include: requiring a gender impact statement on all projects, mandatory training, a code of conduct for trafficking, and the creation of two senior positions for gender empowerment. After listing these steps, Steinberg said the agency is committed to making sure these gains “deepen and are irreversible” adding, “These are non-negotiable requirements for lasting peace and stability—not pet rocks in a rucksack.”

Feed the Future: A Promising New Model of Development

By: Staff Person
March 3, 2011

MFAN is thrilled to kick off a blog series on the reform aspects of Feed the Future. The first post in the series is from Mannik Sakayan, Senior Policy Analyst at Bread for the World. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks as we feature posts from World Food Program USA, ActionAid, the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, and the German Marshall Fund.

Women’s empowerment — not a partisan issue

By: Staff Person
March 3, 2011

As we approach the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day next week, Heather Coleman of Oxfam America writes about how she is inspired and humbled by the actions women and men are taking across the country to raise awareness about climate change, hunger, and other injustices facing women in poor countries.

Celebrating International Women’s Day

By: Staff Person
March 2, 2011

Tuesday, March 8 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, but MFAN Partner Women Thrive Worldwide is drawing attention to the importance of women’s empowerment a few days early. Tomorrow morning they will have their 3rd annual International Women’s Day breakfast as the community takes stock of the progress made in agricultural development and food security and explores important questions for charting a path forward for gender equality.

Secretary Clinton Defends FY’12 Budget Request to HFAC

By: Staff Person
March 2, 2011

“The United States provides foreign assistance because it serves our interests. Helping countries become more democratic, more stable, more capable of defending themselves and better at pulling themselves out of poverty is just as important for us, our national security and our economic prosperity as it is for them.”

Budget Poetry

By: Staff Person
February 25, 2011

See below for a smart, witty poem from the Stimson Center’s Rebecca Williams. Austerity Lite: A Poem Rebecca Williams The House CR passed a few days ago, it cut federal spending and did so with gusto. House Republicans had promised no out-of-control spending, and cut State/AID’s budget, leaving Hillary trembling. Foreign aid supporters say these cuts are Draconian others argue … Continue reading Budget Poetry

Innovative Financing and the Global Health Funding Gap

By: Staff Person
February 25, 2011

The event marked the launch of the Pledge Guarantee for Health and its first transaction, in partnership with many actors including the Government of Zambia. Essentially, the PGH model helps streamline the procurement of lifesaving health supplies while at the same time reducing costs and eliminating waste. As a result of this innovative, fresh approach, more than 800,000 anti-malaria bed nets have been distributed ahead of the deadly rainy season in Zambia.

Former Congressman and Amb Mark Green Joins USGLC

By: Staff Person
February 24, 2011

“I am honored to be joining the USGLC and working to educate Americans about how important our diplomatic and economic development efforts are in the world. From my time in Congress and as a U.S. ambassador, I know personally how critical this small one percent of the federal budget is to achieving our national security and foreign policy goals, as well as demonstrating our core American values at their very best.