MFAN Principal Noam Unger’s Perspective on the QDDR

By: Staff Person
December 16, 2010

There is seemingly much to like about the QDDR, such as its well-placed focus on the role of women and girls in peace-building and development, but the review raises many questions. Ultimately, to make this type of review quadrennial in fact, rather than just in name, and to leave behind a legacy of institutional reform, the administration would do well to work closely with Congress. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has boldly chosen to try to fundamentally change the culture of the State Department—a large project to say the least. With the full 200+ page QDDR now available, expect to witness a lively debate on whether this is possible and whether progress is being made.

MFAN Statement: QDDR Paves Way for Real Reform

By: Staff Person
December 15, 2010

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.

Devex Profiles SFRC’s Steve Feldstein

By: Staff Person
December 14, 2010

Continuing coverage of the 40 Under 40 Development Leaders in DC list, Devex featured Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer Steve Feldstein. The profile acknowledges Feldstein’s contribution to the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524)—the reform bill aimed at strengthening USAID—that was sponsored by Chairman Kerry (D-MA) and Ranking Member Lugar (R-IN), as well as his recent work on Haiti reconstruction. Check out the full article here.

Misperceptions of Foreign Aid Spending

By: Staff Person
December 3, 2010

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein took information from a recent World Public Opinion poll to capture how much money Americans think is being spent on foreign aid in one simple graph:

Bush: “America has a direct stake in the progress and hope of other nations”

By: Staff Person
December 1, 2010

“Many of the world’s problems – terrorist networks, criminal gangs, drug syndicates, pandemic diseases – are no more than a half-day plane ride from the United States. These challenges tend to take root in hopeless, poorly controlled areas. This does not mean that promoting health and development is a substitute for confronting immediate threats. It does mean that no national security strategy is complete in the long run without promoting global health, political freedom and economic progress.”

The Global Campaign for Aid Transparency

By: Staff Person
December 1, 2010

Publish What You Fund is presenting the first-ever global Aid Transparency Assessment in Washington, D.C. in December – at the World Bank on Wednesday the 8th and the Brookings Institution on Thursday the 9th. The Assessment has already begun to make waves in the development world, with academics, CSOs, and government officials recognizing the importance and development potential of greater aid transparency.

MFAN Co-Chairs: It’s Time to Finish the Job on Foreign Aid Reform

By: Staff Person
November 30, 2010

The fact that we have come this far shows there is a broad, bipartisan consensus in Washington on the need to make U.S. foreign aid more effective, particularly because it is so critical to ongoing national security efforts, but also because we need our development dollars to go further in a time of tight budgets. The administration and Congress now must work together to finish the job, and turn these bold proposals into lasting policies and structures.

CQ Article Reports on the Future of Foreign Aid Reform

By: Staff Person
November 16, 2010

However, supporters of a foreign aid overhaul in the development community remain hopeful that with the completion of the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review in the coming weeks, the administration will step up its engagement with Capitol Hill.

Foreign Aid Ranks Among the President’s Foreign Policy Headaches

By: Staff Person
November 11, 2010

“The congressional drive to pass a wholesale reform of foreign-aid distribution has also been dealt a blow due to the GOP takeover of the House. The most comprehensive bill on this front was written by outgoing House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) — but his bill failed to move out of committee, and it’s unlikely that his successor, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), will take up the cause. Expect congressional Republicans to also resist large increases in the budget for the State Department, which is taking on increased roles all over the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan. The State Department’s budget for fiscal 2011 is still under consideration.”

MFAN Principal Offers 5 Ways the New Congress Can Work Together

By: Staff Person
November 4, 2010

“While foreign aid has often been demonized by conservatives, progressives and Tea Partiers alike should be able to find some common ground around recent efforts by the Obama administration to tighten and refine international development programs. The White House’s plans for development programs, recently announced after a major strategy review, focus on fewer countries with a distinct emphasis on working with reform-minded governments to nurture broad-based economic growth.”