Shah to Give Major Speech on Development

By: Staff Person
January 18, 2011

Since being sworn in as the 16th administrator of USAID on January 7th, Dr. Rajiv Shah has taken a number of steps to position U.S. development efforts as a critical and dynamic component of U.S. foreign policy. From taking the lead on the Feed the Future initiative to internal reforms within USAID, Dr. Shah has demonstrated his leadership in making the agency a cutting edge actor in development, one that puts renewed emphasis on partnerships, innovation and learning, and evidenced-based results. Over the last 12 months, Shah also co-chaired the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) and played an active role in the formulation of President Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy.

Opportunity in Haiti, One Year On

By: Staff Person
January 14, 2011

One year ago this week, a devastating earthquake leveled Haiti taking with it the lives of nearly 300,000 and leaving a capital city and a nation in ruins. President Obama has said that while “countless lives” have been saved with increased access to basic services, “too much rubble continues to clog the streets, too many people are still living in tents, and for so many Haitians progress has not come fast enough.” On Tuesday, Oxfam America with New Jersey Democrat, Representative Albio Sires, hosted a distinguished group of panelist on Capitol Hill on how the US government is promoting country ownership and building more effective institutions in Haiti 12 months later.

MFAN Principal Reiterates Ownership on Anniversary of Haiti Earthquake

By: Staff Person
January 12, 2011

“The new approach will not offer assistance in perpetuity, but instead support the creation of institutions and conditions that get to the causes of the poverty rather than just slapping on temporary band-aids. It is a vision rooted in one word: ownership. It would mean that the US invests more into supporting efforts designed, led, and controlled by poor countries.”

MFAN Partner Launches USAID Monitor

By: Staff Person
January 10, 2011

“The Monitor will focus on aid effectiveness, transparency, and the efficient use of federal funds to support U.S. foreign policy. It will track new initiatives begun by Administrator Shah as embodied in USAID Forward. It will pay special attention to the agency’s new approach to evidence-based policy and planning and will monitor congressional activities that affect its authorities and capacity to achieve development objectives.”

More Response to the New Dashboard

By: Staff Person
January 7, 2011

“It democratises aid, removing the monopoly of information and power from governments and aid professionals. It inspires innovation and informs learning. It reduces bureaucracy. It also makes it possible for communities to collaborate, for citizens to hold governments to account and for the beneficiaries of aid to speak for themselves. With a new global standard for sharing information, aid in the information age will look very different from the past.”

MFAN Partner Responds to Foreign Assistance Dashboard

By: Staff Person
January 6, 2011

The work of the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights with Zanmi Lasante in Haiti over the last eight years has demonstrated that impacted communities tend to be the last to know critical details of planned international interventions.

MFAN Partner Takes a Closer Look at the QDDR

By: Staff Person
January 4, 2011

“While there is much to applaud in the report, its shift towards a national security foundation for diplomacy and development raises significant concerns among development professionals. Over time, how this affects the planning and selection of development solutions at both State and USAID could result in an undercutting of the elevation of development which the QDDR asserts as one of its key goals. Furthermore, how the reforms outlined in the report are implemented will determine whether humanitarian and development programs in the field are strengthened or weakened.”

MFAN in the News: QDDR Release

By: Staff Person
December 20, 2010

Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, alongside USAID Administrator Raj Shah and others, rolled out the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). As MFAN Co-Chairs Rev. David Beckmann and George Ingram said in their statement: “With today’s release of the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), the Obama Administration has finalized its roadmap for how U.S. foreign aid can be made more effective, efficient, and accountable in the 21st century. This is absolutely critical in a resource-constrained world where our efforts to save lives and help vulnerable people build their own livelihoods are as important as our military and diplomatic activities.”

Stimson Center Launches QDDR Scorecard

By: Staff Person
December 17, 2010

The Stimson Center has put together a helpful scorecard on their assessment of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). Focusing on authorities, structures, and capacity this QDDR scorecard is a useful tool to keep in mind as you make your way through the 200+ page document. Categories include: Define State and USAID missions and set … Continue reading Stimson Center Launches QDDR Scorecard

A Good Day for Aid Transparency

By: Staff Person
December 17, 2010

MFAN Partner Publish What You Fund blogged about the exciting new development in a series of aid transparency efforts: the launch of www.foreignassistance.gov. “The most important and exciting thing about the site is that it is the beginning of more and better things to come. This is the first output of an important interagency aid transparency process working to develop a common framework and publish aid information, documents and data across all of the agencies providing foreign assistance.”