Archive for the ‘House’ Category
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
In a new report – “Capacity for Change: Reforming U.S. Assistance Efforts in Poor and Fragile Countries” – by co-authors Noam Unger (Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution and MFAN Principal), Margaret Taylor (Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project), and Frederick Barton (former co-director of the CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project), policymakers are presented with key recommendations to inform a coherent and effective national approach to both stabilization and broader development.
As the Obama administration moves through two strategic reviews – the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy and the State Department’s first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review – the report concludes that “there is a stunningly broad consensus that improvement is needed across the board” on how the U.S. government provides foreign aid. The report also predicts that “new presidential decisions and policies are expected” from the administration this spring on key questions around foreign assistance and the elevation of development as a strong pillar of U.S. foreign policy.
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Tags: Afghanistan, climate change, developing world, development, disease, economic growth, foreign aid reform, foreign assistance, foreign assistance reform, fragile states, Haiti, modernizing foreign aid, modernizing foreign assistance, poverty, President Obama, Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy, QDDR, State Department, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, White House
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Friday, March 26th, 2010
Yesterday Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs, testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health to discuss U.S. government policy for sub-Saharan Africa. He emphasized the priority of the continent to the administration – as evident by President Obama’s trip to Ghana in July 2009 and Secretary Clinton’s 11-day, seven-country tour, among others – and the commitment to view Africa as a partner to the U.S. and the international community. His testimony outlined eight guiding principles for U.S. policy to Africa:
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Tags: Africa, agriculture, Food Security Initiative, foreign assistance reform, Global Health Initiative, house committee on foreign affairs, State Department
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Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Last Thursday, the Center for American Progress (CAP) hosted House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and a group of experts as part of the Center’s Sustainable Security series. Berman headlined the event titled, “U.S. Global Development Policy in the 21st Century: Implications for Reform.” Just last year, Berman was leading the reform charge on the Hill by introducing the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act (H.R.2139) alongside Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL). The bill, which calls for a National Strategy for Global Development, now has 125 bipartisan cosponsors. Since then, Berman has begun the process of rewriting the outdated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 – set to be released in the coming months. MFAN Principal Peter McPherson, former Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), sat on a panel alongside: John Norris, Executive Director, Enough; Eli Adashi, Former Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences and the Frank L. Day Professor of Biology, Brown University; and Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, President, Middle East Institute. See excerpts from Berman’s keynote speech and Peter McPherson’s remarks after the jump:
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Tags: Afghanistan, agriculture, Berman, Center for American Progress, development, economic growth, Food Security Initiative, Foreign Assistance Act, foreign assistance reform, house committee on foreign affairs, Kerry, lugar, President Obama, Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy, QDDR, Raj Shah, United States Agency for International Development
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Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Members of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s (USGLC) National Security Advisory Committee released a letter today urging Congress to boost development and diplomacy spending. “Our military works hand-in-hand with diplomats and development experts in meeting the challenges and responsibilities we face around the world,” said General Hagee. “It is critical that our civilian agencies are properly resourced so they can lead key elements of our national security strategy.”
The President’s FY11 International Affairs Budget request represents only 1.4% of the entire federal budget and less than 7% of national security funding. Knowing the great need that exists for more funding for development and diplomacy, the military leaders close their letter saying, “we urge you to support no less than the Administration’s request of $58.5 billion for the International Affairs Budget.”
The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, of which USGLC is a member, identifies increased funding and accountability of foreign assistance as a priority action in “New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century.”
Click here to view the letter.
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Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
In an effort to address the many global challenges the U.S. faces today through increased partnership and multilateral engagement, Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Congressman Anh “Joe” Cao (R-LA) created the American Engagement Caucus. The new caucus establishes a forum for Members to discuss best practices and lessons learned from international bodies like the United Nations and the African Union and partnerships made between countries to overcome threats. A statement from the caucus reads “America’s security, economic, environmental, and moral interests are inextricably linked with those of the international community. The United States must find creative new approaches for working with other nations to create a safer, more peaceful, prosperous, and just world.”
MFAN Principal and President and CEO of InterAction Sam Worthington noted, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the new American Engagement Caucus and Representatives Carnahan and Cao as we draw on our common goal of an American foreign policy that demonstrates in word and deed the desire of the American people to work in a bipartisan manner with all of our partners and with multilateral institutions to build a more just and sustainable world.”
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Tags: American Engagement Caucus, economic growth, InterAction, national security, smart power, United Nations
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