The United States, the lead donor and friend with the greatest interest in Haiti’s future development, can do much more, in two ways: its own aid programs can be more effective; and it can take steps beyond aid that are far more critical to long-run prosperity for Haiti’s people.
With the release of initial findings from the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) on the horizon, MFAN put forward a variety of perspectives from across the coalition on how the QDDR can complement legislation and promote transparency, civil society engagement, gender, and ownership to make U.S. foreign assistance more effective and accountable.
This weekly posting includes key news stories and opinion pieces related to foreign assistance reform and the larger development community.
Since then, both the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) and Presidential Study Directive on Global Development (PSD-7) have set out to tackle many of these points: elevating and streamlining U.S. foreign assistance structures, integrating civilian and military instruments to deal with weak and fragile states, and considering the appropriate balance of authorities and resources between the State and Defense Departments.
On Monday, March 29th the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with other government agencies, will launch Global Pulse 2010 — a new online initiative that will connect people from around the world to discuss important issues and challenges relating to development, security, and global prosperity.
President Obama and his administration have emphasized the need for U.S. development policy and practice to support “country ownership”—the idea that poor countries and their people need to lead their own development.
The third installment in MFAN’s QDDR blog series comes from our Co-Chair, Rev. David Beckmann, who serves as president of the leading anti-poverty advocacy organization Bread for the World. In his piece, Rev. Beckmann discusses how the QDDR can lead to a more effective, accountable foreign assistance system that gets better results in the fight against global poverty.
Given the prominence of global development within the overall focus for the QDDR, it is expected that the actual report – due in the fall of 2010 – will have plenty to say on how to bolster State, USAID and the MCC to engage more effectively in poor and fragile states.
As officials at the State Department and USAID continue to wrangle over what to do with America’s top development agency, lawmakers are pushing their own ideas for reform. Soon, the State Department could have its first authorization bill since 2002, a policy blueprint that could include significant input from Capitol Hill.
As 2010 begins, we are pleased to report that the community’s hard work over the last year has created unprecedented momentum towards our shared goals of elevating development as an enduring pillar of U.S. foreign policy and making U.S. foreign assistance more effective and accountable.
