Ambassador Mark Green continues his blog series on why conservatives should care about foreign assistance reform. He says that “conservatives have an opportunity, maybe a once-in-a-generation opportunity, to help scrutinize our foreign assistance policies and programs, and make them more effective and productive.”
“USAID is our main agency for international development, and the head of USAID should be given unambiguous authority to drive this urgent initiative,” said Beckmann.
“Instead of losing ground on one front in order to gain on another, we should explore creative methods to finance all the work that needs to be done by demanding a stronger commitment from global leaders and the US Congress. More broadly, we must support the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act (S. 1524) introduced in July 2009. The bill promotes global development, good governance, and a reduction of poverty and hunger. Specifically, the passage of S. 1524 will rebuild and strengthen strategic planning and human resources at USAID; address USAID operating expenses; increase accountability and transparency in US foreign assistance; and improve development coordination in the field.”
“The opportunity for aid in Pakistan is not to fundamentally change the country,” she [Jacqueline Novogratz] said. “It’s an opportunity to build a real sense of trust in ways that we have not done a good job of in the past. If we can show this over time, then things will change.”
I can sum it up very simply: Development is a strategic and moral imperative for the United States. For too long, we have tried to manage extreme poverty and respond to its attendant consequences around the world: epidemic disease; political instability; the collapse of states; cross-border flows of refugees; and the absence of hope and opportunity that come with humanitarian crises. Our collective challenge is to pro-actively shape the world we want to see in the future by seeking, very deliberately, to accelerate development.
“In practical terms, elevating development, as Secretary Clinton has pledged to do, means providing the USAID administrator autonomy over policy, program and budget decision-making sufficient to get the biggest bang for our development bucks. Of course this is not an entitlement for the agency. As with other agencies, we should set the bar high for USAID and expect to see — and measure — strong performance and results, with programs and resources scaled up or down accordingly.”
In new polling released last week by the United Nations Foundation and its sister organization the Better World Campaign (an MFAN partner), an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the United States should be involved in a worldwide effort to address urgent issues related to global poverty as part of the Millennium Development Goals.
MFAN congratulates U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah for his visionary speech yesterday to supporters of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. In the speech, Administrator Shah strongly endorsed elevating development as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and empowering it as a distinct discipline that requires unique resources and authority.
Two MFAN Principals – Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund, and Carol Peasley, President, Center for Population & Development Activities – put out their thoughts on the heated policy debate and what it will take to keep reform moving forward.
In the speech, Administrator Shah strongly endorsed elevating development as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and empowering it as a distinct discipline that requires unique resources and authority. Citing the fact that global hunger and extreme poverty have increased in recent years, Administrator Shah issued a call for reform of his Agency and America’s development apparatus overall, in order to drive more tangible results for recipients, implementers, and taxpayers.
