MFAN Partner CGD’s Staff Tracker

By: Staff Person
October 1, 2010

In light of new confirmations this week, below is the latest version of the Center for Global Development’s USAID Staff Tracker.  Of note, former MFAN Principal and MercyCorps President Nancy Lindborg was confirmed as the assistant administrator for democracy, conflict, and humanitarian assistance at USAID on Wednesday.  Read more about recent confirmations made before the … Continue reading MFAN Partner CGD’s Staff Tracker

MFAN in the News: President Obama’s MDG Speech

By: Staff Person
September 23, 2010

In what MFAN and the development community have been working toward, yesterday President Obama announced the new visionary U.S. Global Development Policy – the first of its kind by an Administration.  As MFAN’s Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram noted in their statement yesterday, “With his speech laying out a new U.S. approach to development … Continue reading MFAN in the News: President Obama’s MDG Speech

Berman Hopes Obama Speech at U.N. Will Build Momentum for Aid Revamp

By: Staff Person
September 22, 2010

Don’t have a subscription to CQ? No problem. Read Emily Cadei’s article on House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman’s hopes for foreign assistance reform here on ModernizeAid. “I don’t have the ability to make foreign assistance reform happen myself,” Berman said Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Society for International Development- Washington. “We have to have buy-in from both parties, both houses and, most especially, the executive branch. This is not something that’s done over their opposition.”

Washington Post Preview of New Development Policy from Obama Administration

By: Staff Person
September 22, 2010

Earlier today, Mary Beth Sheridan of the Washington Post published a preview of the new development policy Obama is scheduled to unveil this afternoon in his MDG speech. Two MFAN principals were quoted in the article. Click here to read the full article and be sure to visit ModernizeAid later today to get a read-out of President Obama’s speech.

MFAN Principal on a “Huge Missed Opportunity”

By: Staff Person
September 21, 2010

Today, POLITICO published an op-ed by MFAN Principal and Senior Transatlantic Fellow of the German Marshall Fund Jim Kolbe in which he argues for definitive action on development and foreign assistance reform.  Kolbe cites the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit, currently underway, as the perfect opportunity to take concrete steps toward restoring U.S. leadership in … Continue reading MFAN Principal on a “Huge Missed Opportunity”

Thomas Nides to State?

By: Staff Person
September 16, 2010

The latest in a string of suspects to replace Deputy Secretary Jack Lew is Thomas Nides, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Morgan Stanley, Washington Post’s Al Kamen and Politico’s Laura Rozen reported this week. Nides is on the short list of Wall Street executives because of close ties formed while working for … Continue reading Thomas Nides to State?

MFAN Statement: Secretary Clinton’s CFR Speech Falls Short on Development and Aid Reform

By: Staff Person
September 9, 2010

September 9, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram: In an important foreign policy speech at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid out the Obama Administration’s vision for a modern architecture for U.S. … Continue reading MFAN Statement: Secretary Clinton’s CFR Speech Falls Short on Development and Aid Reform

Noteworthy News – Pakistan Floods

By: Staff Person
August 20, 2010

See below for a sampling of opinion pieces and news articles discussing the floods in Pakistan and the disaster’s implications for security and development: Pakistan’s tragic flooding demands an international response (The Washington Post editorial, August 17) There is a strategic case for aiding Pakistan in this time of crisis. Timely, generous assistance could improve America’s … Continue reading Noteworthy News – Pakistan Floods

MFAN Member Staats on Vacancies at USAID

By: Staff Person
August 10, 2010

“USAID cannot be the premier development agency everyone envisions without appointed and confirmed leaders at the helm of its regional and functional bureaus. Nor can it elevate development across the U.S. government — as Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have called for — without a full cadre of assistant administrators to inform major development policy reviews taking place right now and congressional efforts to rewrite foreign assistance