MFAN applauds the leadership of Congressman Poe in authoring these reform measures, and we also thank Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA) for pushing bipartisan support for the amendments, which passed the committee unanimously.
The Fiscal Year 2012 Foreign Relations Authorization Act (H.R. 2583), which is under consideration by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA) today, advances some useful pieces of the foreign assistance reform agenda, including prioritizing economic growth as a central goal of U.S. engagement with developing countries, fostering greater collaboration with non-government actors on development, streamlining the foreign assistance bureaucracy, and coordinating more effectively with international partners.
In the face of trying economic times and upheaval among fragile states, MFAN Principal Bill Anderson has released a policy brief, in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., that touts a strong, collaborative U.S.-EU foreign assistance partnership as an invaluable instrument against global instability. Entitled, “The U.S.-EU High Level Development Dialogue: Building on the Legacy of the Marshall Plan,” Anderson puts forth a multi-faceted argument on the future of international development assistance.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) Report on Afghanistan assistance released yesterday contains some signs of progress, as well as compelling evidence that the Obama Administration’s efforts to reform U.S. foreign assistance are moving in the right direction. That said, we agree with the report’s conclusion that policymakers must create a long-term development strategy for Afghanistan that is more comprehensive and accountable. We continue to need a similar strategy, which was promised in last year’s Presidential Policy Directive on Development, for broader U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, improve public health, and spur economic growth in poor countries. In both strategies, policymakers need to make clear distinctions between assistance for security purposes and assistance for development.
See below for a guest post from MFAN Partner Women Thrive Worldwide on the OECD’s new gender initiative and the importance of gender integration for U.S. development efforts. For more on OECD week, click here.
Secretary Clinton discussed development in broad terms, noting that “aid, while it remains essential, is not enough to deliver sustainable growth.” To harness economic opportunities across the globe, nations must implement key policy reforms. Secretary Clinton pointed to increased transparency, equitable tax systems, and anti-corruption measures as values shared throughout the OECD and efforts that will ensure country ownership.
Armed with President Obama’s policy directive on global development (see commentary) and the findings of her own Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (more commentary), it is no surprise that Secretary Clinton is focusing on development. But what should we look for? A number of items come to mind and they fall into the following four categories:
We commend President Obama for launching a bold new effort to make development, particularly inclusive economic growth, a top priority for U.S. policy in the Middle East. This is critical to helping citizens of the Middle East move from poverty and protest to peace and prosperity; and another example of the strong, bipartisan commitment to elevating development as a core pillar of U.S. foreign policy, alongside diplomacy and defense.
On his blog earlier today, Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein posted a piece about five ways foreign aid could be improved to cost less and be more effective. After establishing that foreign aid makes up just less than 1 percent of the federal budget, Klein writes, “But even though we’re actually spending less than Americans think we should, the perception that we massively overspend makes it easier for politicians to slash foreign aid whenever they need to make some budget cuts.”
The stated goal of the caucus is “to examine the way the United States currently delivers foreign assistance, explore success stories found in the efficient delivery of assistance, and further the overall effectiveness of foreign assistance and educating other Members on this subject.”
