It’s Time to Release & Implement the Plan on Locally Led Development

By: MFAN
July 7, 2022

July 7, 2022 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels and Tessie San Martin. MFAN congratulates House Appropriators for the strong message to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contained in the report accompanying the Committee’s fiscal year 2023 funding bill, calling … Continue reading It’s Time to Release & Implement the Plan on Locally Led Development

MFAN Applauds USAID Local Capacity Development Policy

By: MFAN
February 7, 2022

February 7, 2022 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels, and Tessie San Martin.   The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) commends USAID for its draft Local Capacity Development (LCD) Policy, released for public comment on Dec. 8, 2021. The LCD Policy represents … Continue reading MFAN Applauds USAID Local Capacity Development Policy

MFAN Calls for a Clear, Agency-Wide Definition of Local Entity in USAID’s Localization Work

By: MFAN
January 31, 2022

The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) celebrates Administrator Power’s vision for a more locally led future for foreign assistance, as laid out in her address at Georgetown University in November of 2021. To realize these reforms with transparency and accountability, MFAN recommends that USAID create a clear and consistent definition of “local entity,” which eliminates … Continue reading MFAN Calls for a Clear, Agency-Wide Definition of Local Entity in USAID’s Localization Work

Transforming the Northern Triangle Means Also Shifting How Donors Do Business

By: Charles J. Hall, Chief Executive Officer of ACDI/VOCA
December 3, 2021

The Northern Triangle has endured its fair share of shocks recently. From the COVID-19 pandemic to Hurricanes Eta and Iota, the region of Central America faces challenges that its governments cannot solve alone. To address the most difficult problems, governments, private sector companies, and donors, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), … Continue reading Transforming the Northern Triangle Means Also Shifting How Donors Do Business

MFAN Welcomes USAID Administrator Power’s New Vision for Global Development – Placing Locals in the Lead

By: MFAN
November 12, 2021

November 12, 2021 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels, and Tessie San Martin. The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network commends USAID Administrator Samantha Power on the vision  for USAID she outlined on the 60th anniversary of the agency during a speech on November … Continue reading MFAN Welcomes USAID Administrator Power’s New Vision for Global Development – Placing Locals in the Lead

Meeting the Global Development and Humanitarian Challenges of our Time: Assessing the Biden-Harris Administration’s First 100 Days

By: Conor Savoy
May 12, 2021

The Biden-Harris administration took office in a turbulent time amidst cascading global challenges. The health and socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 have deepened already-existing inequalities and reversed hard-fought development and humanitarian gains from the past decades. Mounting great power competition, climate change, and the increasing concentration of the world’s poor in fragile states, all require an … Continue reading Meeting the Global Development and Humanitarian Challenges of our Time: Assessing the Biden-Harris Administration’s First 100 Days

Key Lessons for Effective Foreign Assistance from USAID’s COVID-19 Response

By: Nora O’Connell, Save the Children; Justin Fugle, Plan International USA; and Lori Rowley, The Lugar Center
February 25, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the health and health systems of countries around the world and taken a serious toll on economies and societies. The World Bank estimates that an additional 100 million people have been pushed into poverty due to the economic impact of the pandemic. 130 million people in three dozen countries including … Continue reading Key Lessons for Effective Foreign Assistance from USAID’s COVID-19 Response

MFAN Welcomes Representative Barbara Lee as New Chair of House SFOPs

By: MFAN
January 26, 2021

January 26, 2021 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels, and Tessie San Martin. The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) welcomes Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) as the new Chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs). … Continue reading MFAN Welcomes Representative Barbara Lee as New Chair of House SFOPs

MFAN Welcomes the Nomination of Ambassador Samantha Power as USAID Administrator

By: MFAN
January 13, 2021

January 13, 2021 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels, and Tessie San Martin. The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) commends President-Elect Biden for the nomination of Ambassador Samantha Power to serve as the next Administrator of the U.S. Agency for … Continue reading MFAN Welcomes the Nomination of Ambassador Samantha Power as USAID Administrator

Something Rotten in the State of Denmark

By: Staff Person
January 14, 2014

Just how inefficient is the U.S. system, which was created decades ago to help find a way to dispose of government-held stocks of agricultural commodities? More than half of every dollar spent on U.S. food programs currently goes to shipping and transportation costs, rather than to lifesaving food, which means that a great deal of that money is ending up in coffers of companies like Maersk.