MFAN Principal Reviews Sec. Clinton’s Foreign Affairs Piece on the QDDR

By: Staff Person
October 27, 2010

“The Secretary’s discussion of how to make diplomacy and development work better together is consistent with the President’s recent review of global development policy, and both are welcome signs that the administration takes development seriously and wants to get it right. Like the policy review, the Secretary stresses the need to be more selective in targeting where, and in what sectors, we deliver assistance based on practical metrics and the willingness of countries to drive the reform process.”

The 112th Congress: A Perfect Storm for Aid Cuts, or a Perfect Opportunity for Reform?

By: Staff Person
October 26, 2010

Connie Veillette, Ph.D., the Director of the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance program at the Center for Global Development and MFAN’s newest Principal, guest blogged for The Will and The Wallet today. With one week left before the mid-term elections, Veillette ponders how the mounting budget deficit and the changing political dynamic will affect funding of the … Continue reading The 112th Congress: A Perfect Storm for Aid Cuts, or a Perfect Opportunity for Reform?

Partisan Politics and Foreign Aid

By: Staff Person
October 26, 2010

“If current polls hold, Republicans will make significant gains in the Senate and likely take the House of Representatives, elevating a set of lawmakers to new heights of power and complicating Obama’s efforts to execute his foreign-policy agenda.” -Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy

CGD Takes on Aid to Pakistan

By: Staff Person
October 25, 2010

“Today, Pakistanis are far more mistrustful of U.S. motives for giving aid. Consider, for instance, these quite typical newspaper headlines in Pakistan: “U.S. pilots fly Pakistan flood aid to win hearts and minds,” reported the Dawn newspaper on August 10th. “$224 million pledged to win ‘hearts, minds” said the Nation’s headline on August 24th. Rarely is U.S. aid mentioned in a newspaper article without the term “hearts and minds” right alongside it.”

NYT: Dr. Rajiv Shah Seeks to Cure the Ills of USAID

By: Staff Person
October 25, 2010

This week’s Saturday profile in The New York Times featured Dr. Rajiv Shah, the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. As one of the Obama administration’s most visible foreign policy players since the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Shah has spearheaded an “ambitious campaign to rebuild Usaid that will ultimately determine his success or failure in Washington.”

Open Budget Survey 2010

By: Staff Person
October 20, 2010

MFAN partner Oxfam and the International Budget Partnership (IBP) co-hosted an event on the release of the Open Budget Survey 2010, an independent measure of budget transparency and accountability around the world. See key findings and recommendations here.

In UK, Development Key to Promoting National Security

By: Staff Person
October 19, 2010

Devex reported today that “the U.K. government’s new national security strategy goes beyond military efforts to counter threats of instability. It also recognizes the contribution of British development projects in promoting national security.” Click here to read A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National Security Strategy.

Getting balance right is key to U.S. development policy

By: Staff Person
October 19, 2010

In a guest post on the Stimson Center’s new blog, The Will and The Wallet, MFAN Principal and President of InterAction, Sam Worthington discusses the inherent tension between short-term and long-term development objectives. “What has not been encouraging is that the U.S. government is increasingly opting for a shorter-term approach in areas deemed crucial to U.S. national security interests. Much of this is under the banner of “winning the hearts and minds” of a local population with quick-fix projects.”

CSIS Paper on the Erosion of USAID

By: Staff Person
October 19, 2010

“Ironically, while foreign assistance has grown in importance in U.S. foreign policy over the past two decades, it has deteriorated organizationally, substantively, and procedurally. It will not take long to see how great a difference the deterioration in structure and process will have on development content. Already, the tangible erosion has had discernable, negative effects on the quality of analysis, internal discourse, and decisionmaking.”

Shah Charting a New Course at USAID

By: Staff Person
October 14, 2010

In a recent blog post by MFAN Partner the Center for Global Development, Connie Veillette, Director of Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program, emphasizes the need to highlight the positive changes that have occurred recently at USAID thanks to Administrator Rajiv Shah’s leadership.