To reflect the changing times, the Rethink program will change as well. I will be taking a more expansive view – broadening the program’s scope from a singular focus on U.S. foreign assistance to a wider assessment of U.S. development policy tools. In doing this, I will be drawing upon the Center’s immense in-house expertise across a full range of issues.
Please see below for a guest post from Jenny Ottenhoff , Policy Outreach Associate at the Center for Global Development. I’m excited to share that the Center for Global Development (CGD) and Foreign Policy magazine will honor US Senator Richard Lugar with the 2012 Commitment to Development “Ideas in Action” Award. The award, bestowed annually … Continue reading Honoring Senator Lugar’s Commitment to Development
Earlier we posted a summary of CGD’s newest report, Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Fixing the U.S. Approach to Development in Pakistan, and how it can be used as an important tool for policymakers as they weigh budget priorities and strategic interests, as well as advocates pushing for foreign assistance reform. The meat of the report aligns well with several MFAN priorities, such as having clear lines of authority, allowing for locally-driven priorities to set agendas, and being transparent. Below, we take a closer look at CGD’s findings and connect them to broader reform principles.
The Center for Global Development’s (CGD) long-awaited report, Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Fixing the U.S. Approach to Development in Pakistan, is a wakeup call to the White House and Congress that critiques a Pakistan policy burdened by too many priorities, measured by poor indicators, and obscured by a lack of transparency. The report, out today, makes a compelling case for continued U.S. foreign assistance to Pakistan, but pulls no punches in its criticism of U.S. policy. Simply put, CGD’s exhaustive study identifies the elements of the strategy that are not working and outlines what must be done to get the program back on track.
In the State of Union speech last week, President Obama called for the reorganization of the federal government. MFAN Principal Connie Veillette, director of CGD’s Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance, responded by posting a blog in which she asked her readers to comment on how they would reorganize the government agencies that manage foreign assistance.
Below are excerpts from MFAN Partners’ statements in reaction to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah’s extraordinary speech last week. Stay tuned for coverage of the Republican Study Group’s call for severe cuts to USAID’s budget.
“David Beckmann, co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, called Shah’s speech “extraordinary and hard-hitting” and ongoing USAID reforms “essential and timely,” urging the Obama administration to work with policymakers from both parties to draft legislation that will “enshrine this new development business model in law in order to drive long-term results.”
“Like an enterprise, we’re focused on delivering the highest possible value for our shareholders. In this case, the American people and the congressional leaders who represent them. We will deliver that value by scaling back our footprint to shift resources to critical regions, rationalizing our operations and vigilantly fighting fraud, waste and abuse.”
In an extraordinary and hard-hitting speech today, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Raj Shah laid out the clear progress that is being made in changing the U.S. approach to development and reforming his agency.
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.
