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.

Contours of QDDR Crystallizing

By: Staff Person
November 19, 2010

Sixteen months after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would conduct the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), a draft summary has been presented to Congress as reported by The Washington Post, and gives us a first glimpse of changes we can expect to see at both agencies.

Seoul Development Consensus: Break from Washington Consensus or Same Song, New Singers?

By: Staff Person
November 18, 2010

As the first non-G8 member to host a G20 summit, South Korea has made development a central part of the agenda, with a focus on boosting the growth of poor countries. And in September, President Obama released a Global Development Policy at the MDG Summit that hit similar notes, like going beyond aid and harmonizing policies on trade, food security, and climate change that affect millions of poor people. But did these two policies meet in Seoul?

UNDP Roundtable Discussion: Iraq’s Development Challenges

By: Staff Person
November 4, 2010

On November 2, panelists at the UNDP Washington Roundtable on “Iraq’s Development Challenges” discussed the achievements that have been made as well as the significant challenges still faced in the development of Iraq. Frederick Tipson, Director of UNDP Washington, moderated the discussion between two panelists: Christine McNab, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq; John Desrocher, Director of US Department of State Office of Iraq Affairs; and Leslie Campbell, Regional Director for the Middle East & North Africa at the National Democratic Institute.

Clinton Gives Preview of QDDR

By: Staff Person
October 27, 2010

In an article titled “Leading Through Civilian Power—Redefining American Diplomacy and Development” that will be published in the Nov/Dec edition of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lays out the contours of the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), which was launched by the State Department in the summer of 2009 and is set to be finalized and made public by the end of the year.

10 Reasons Conservatives Must Support Aid Reform

By: Staff Person
October 11, 2010

In a recent series of blog posts for MFAN’s ModernizeAid blog, former Congressman Mark Green (R-WI) of the Malaria No More Policy Center lays out the Conservative case for foreign assistance reform. Rep. Green, who also served as Ambassador to Tanzania under President George W. Bush, gives 10 reasons Conservatives should get on board with more effective U.S. foreign assistance.

New Report Looks at Effectiveness of Donor Aid

By: Staff Person
October 5, 2010

Today, MFAN Partners the Center for Global Development (CGD) and the Global Economy and Development project at Brookings released a new report analyzing the Quality of Official Development Assisitance or QuODA. The report describes QuDOA as an “assessment of the quality of ODA provided by 23 countries and more than 150 aid countries.” The analysis uses 30 indicators over four dimensions based on the international consensus on quality aid.

Local Leaders: The GHI’s Focus on Country Ownership and Civil Society

By: Staff Person
October 4, 2010

Read the latest post in a blog series about the reform aspects of the Global Health Initiative (GHI) with a guest post from the International Women’s Health Coalition. Cultivating country ownership over important issues, such as the health and rights of citizens, will lead to stronger governance and in time, more independent and prosperous countries. Done correctly, it will also create more accountability and may eventually minimize the need for foreign assistance.

USGLC Conference: Power Panel Talks PPD

By: Staff Person
September 29, 2010

At yesterday’s U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) annual conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, USAID Administrator Raj Shah, and president and CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Daniel Yohannes came together in a rare appearance to discuss President Obama’s new … Continue reading USGLC Conference: Power Panel Talks PPD