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Archive for August, 2009

MFAN: New Presidential Study Directive an Unprecedented Step Forward on Development

Monday, August 31st, 2009

August 31, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:

MFAN strongly commends President Obama for signing a landmark Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy. The directive establishes clear White House leadership on modernizing our country’s approach to global development, adding to the tremendous momentum generated by actions taken by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the State Department.

This critical step by President Obama means that we are closer than we have ever been to a fresh, whole-of-government approach that will elevate development as a core, independent pillar of U.S. foreign policy and make U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty and hunger, fight disease, and create economic opportunity in the developing world more efficient and effective. As the U.S. faces complex global challenges including the economic crisis and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan-Pakistan, as well as threats emanating from scourges that know no borders – such as poverty, disease, and climate change – we must make sure our efforts to promote development have as much impact as possible.

President Obama’s directive acknowledges this reality and the interconnectedness of the threats we face, and rises to the challenge by taking the unprecedented step of tasking National Security Advisor General James Jones and Larry Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, with leading an interagency review of global development policy. This process will provide much-needed clarity about how U.S. agencies and departments can work together to develop and implement coordinated and sound policy aimed at achieving our global development goals. We are optimistic about what this effort can achieve in conjunction with the State Department’s recently announced Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, and we remain ready to support both the White House and State Department teams in any way we can.

For more information, please visit MFAN’s website.

Contact: Sam Hiersteiner at shiersteiner@gpgdc.com or 202-295-0171.

Tags: Afghanistan, Berman, developing world, development, disease, economic growth, foreign aid reform, foreign assistance, foreign assistance reform, house committee on foreign affairs, howard berman, Kerry, menendez, mfan, modernizing foreign aid, modernizing foreign assistance, Pakistan, poverty, President Obama, QDDR, senate foreign relations committee, United States Agency for International Development
Posted in MFAN News, MFAN Statement, Pressroom, White House | 7 Comments »

Noteworthy News – 8.31.2009

Monday, August 31st, 2009

This weekly posting includes key news stories and opinion pieces related to foreign assistance reform and the larger development community.

What we’re reading this week: All USAID Administrator, all the time.

It’s Time for Foreign Aid Reform (Huffington Post – David Beckmann, August 28) – With leadership from President Obama and coordination between these various actors, I am confident that foreign assistance reform will move forward and finish the task President Kennedy set out nearly 50 years ago. Although it isn’t clear yet whether the administration and Congress will choose fundamental reform over the patchwork approach, one thing is irrefutable: we can’t afford for our leaders to hurry up and wait when so much is at stake.

Experts Concerned by Leaderless USAID (NPR-Michelle Kelemen, August 27) – Now development experts are encouraging the Obama administration to get its act together soon. Raymond Offenheiser is president of Oxfam America and a leading voice in a coalition called the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. Mr. RAYMOND OFFENHEISER (President, Oxfam America): I think what really worries us is that if we don’t get that leader in place pretty soon, and I guess we feel there’s a real urgency to it, that things are going to begin moving forward. There’s just an enormous amount of momentum behind this reform process.

Friday round up (ForeignPolicy.com-Laura Rozen, August 28) – USAID: An association of foreign assistance groups, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, represented by PR firm the Glover Park Group, has launched a poll asking who should be the next USAID administrator.

Tags: developing world, development, disease, foreign aid reform, foreign assistance, foreign assistance reform, mfan, modernizing foreign aid, modernizing foreign assistance, poverty, QDDR, United States Agency for International Development, USAID
Posted in MFAN News | No Comments »

MFAN Principals Offenheiser and Atwood Featured on NPR

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Two MFAN Principals, Oxfam American President Ray Offenheiser and former USAID Administrator Brian Atwood, were featured on NPR’s All Things Considered in a story entitled “Experts Concerned by Leaderless USAID.” In the piece, by diplomatic reporter Michele Kelemen, Offenheiser and Atwood stress the need for a new USAID Administrator to be named immediately, given the new prominence of development in U.S. foreign policy and the momentum behind foreign assistance reform.

Listen to the piece here. Key quotes below:

Experts Concerned by Leaderless USAID (August 27, 2009)

Mr. RAYMOND OFFENHEISER (President, Oxfam America): I think what really worries us is that if we don’t get that leader in place pretty soon, and I guess we feel there’s a real urgency to it, that things are going to begin moving forward. There’s just an enormous amount of momentum behind this reform process.

OFFENHEISER: The State Department has advanced this quadrennial diplomacy development review under Secretary Clinton that’s ambitious and potentially visionary, but there isn’t a development voice at the table presently and that’s what we’re all concerned about.

Ms. ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER (Co-chair, State Department Quadrennial Review): Development and diplomacy are equal pillars of foreign policy. That’s the Secretary’s premise, and I certainly hope it’ll be one of her legacies that, actually, when we think about foreign policy, we think about solving problems from the top down, negotiating agreements with governments and working with other governments. But we also think about tackling problems from the bottom up.

Mr. BRIAN ATWOOD (Dean, Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota): But, you know, all of those people are also really wrapped up in the crises of the moment, the diplomatic side of the house. And so, it’s very, very difficult without not just one political appointee or a presidential appointee as the head of AID, but there are 13 other positions that should be filled to really lead that agency to where it needs to be. And it really is a shadow of what it was.

ATWOOD: It’s a mess. It’s not fair to the taxpayer, but I think more importantly, it’s not fair to the poor of the world that we’re not doing our bit.

Tags: developing world, development, foreign aid reform, foreign assistance, foreign assistance reform, modernizing foreign aid, modernizing foreign assistance, United States Agency for International Development, USAID
Posted in State Department | No Comments »

We Need a USAID Administrator Now! Who Should it Be?

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Based on input from experts across the development community, MFAN has created a poll with a simple question: Who should be the next USAID Administrator? Please take a moment to vote on your choice for who should be the leading voice on elevating and modernizing U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty and hunger, fight disease, and create economic opportunity for struggling people in the developing world. If you want, you can download this badge and place it on your website, profile, etc to spread the word!

A few things to think about as you vote:

Who has the best understanding of development and poverty, particularly from an on-the-ground perspective?
Who has the profile and gravitas to help increase political support for development issues in Congress, the White House, the State Department, and beyond?
Who has the managerial skills to rebuild an agency that desperately needs to be modernized after years of neglect?
Finally, who has the right mix of all these skills to be the leading voice in government for foreign assistance reform?

In the comments section below, we’d like to hear about who you voted for and why. As President Obama said when he laid out his foreign policy vision during the campaign: “[we] will ensure that [USAID] has the highest caliber leadership and plays a central role in the formulation and implementation of critical development and related foreign policy strategies.”

We have to work together to keep these important issues in the public eye and make sure action is taken now! Our own security and prosperity, and the well being of millions of people around the world, will be affected by this choice. We appreciate your vote!

Tags: developing world, development, disease, economic growth, foreign aid reform, foreign assistance, foreign assistance reform, modernizing foreign aid, modernizing foreign assistance, poverty, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, White House
Posted in MFAN News, MFAN Statement, Pressroom | 20 Comments »

CRS Report on Foreign Assistance Reform

Monday, August 24th, 2009

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a report on foreign assistance reform analyzing recommendations from 14 organizations, including MFAN network members the Brookings Institution (BRK), the Center for Global Development (CGD), the Center for U.S. Global Engagement (CGE), InterAction, and Oxfam America.

The following is an excerpt from the report:

“Most development and foreign policy experts view U.S. foreign assistance as a valuable activity that addresses many important policy goals, including alleviating poverty and hunger overseas, acquiring a sense of self-worth by the American people, attaining a favorable image around the world, and promoting broader U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. While the 14 studies surveyed by CRS emphasize different aspects of the importance of U.S. foreign assistance, all agree that foreign assistance must be reformed to improve its effectiveness. Only one of the recommendation categories—enhancing civilian agency resources—has the support of all of the studies covered in this report. The next two most-often cited recommendations are (1) raising development to equal status with diplomacy and defense; and (2) increasing the emphasis of U.S. foreign aid to be more needs-based, with recipient governments taking ownership of both identifying needs and taking responsibility for using aid to meet them.”

Please find the full report here.