The piece on foreign aid reform from this week’s edition of CQ Weekly with quotes from MFAN Co-chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram, as well as MFAN member and director of aid effectiveness at Oxfam America Greg Adams. See our earlier post for full text of the article.
Earlier today, more than 40 international leaders gathered in Kabul to discuss how Afghanistan can take control of its security and reduce corruption to set the country on a sustainable path over the next five years. The conference signified renewed support from the international community — particularly support from Secretary Clinton who acknowledged the unpopularity of the war effort at home. The official communiqué following the conference sets a 2014 date for a complete transition from foreign to Afghan security, though many details are left out of the document.
The Kabul Conference highlights several reform principles: ownership, accountability, and effectiveness. Country ownership – though loosely defined – is the cornerstone of the Obama Administration’s new approach to foreign assistance. In Afghanistan, this means reducing corruption in government, transferring capacity, and empowering civil society. Oxfam International recently asked local Afghans what they want as they begin to take control of their own development, and here is what they had to say.
MFAN Partner The German Marshall Fund, in cooperation with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, created the Transatlantic Taskforce on Development. The mission for the taskforce — made up of 24 members from the U.S., Canada, and Europe — is as follows:
The taskforce recently launched a blog series to explore what it identifies as a major challenge to development: coordination among the three Ds. The series is jointly written by former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios and former chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Richard Manning.
In a new post, Natsios notes the “policy paralysis” in the development debate and argues for what will need to happen in Washington in order for development to be elevated alongside diplomacy and defense in a blog titled, “Development and Security: Can the United States overcome beltway disputes and elevate Development alongside Defense and Diplomacy?” He lists three decisions made by the Obama Administration that have weakened USAID, as well as Secretary Clinton’s decision to build on the architecture put in place by Secretary Rice at the State Department during the Bush Administration. Most importantly, Natsios echoes MFAN’s Reform Within Reach call to action when he specifically urges the President to show leadership and create a strategy for U.S. development that will ensure the U.S. is an effective partner and leader in foreign assistance. See excerpts from Natsios’ post below:
A CQ article (full text below) published today, which quotes MFAN Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram, gives a rundown of how the leadership of Congressional leaders Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Dick Lugar (R-IN) has helped drive unprecedented progress on foreign assistance reform. The missing ingredient that could push reform efforts over the top, according to the article? Presidential leadership.
To join MFAN’s effort to urge President Obama to show leadership on foreign assistance reform and strengthen the U.S. commitment to development, please sign our Open Letter to the President, which has already been endorsed by more than 70 organizations and prominent individuals.
CQ WEEKLY – IN FOCUS
July 19, 2010
Backers Say Time Is Ripe For Foreign Aid Overhaul
By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff
The earthquake that slammed Haiti in January also rocked the U.S. Agency for International Development and its brand-new administrator, Rajiv Shah, who were promptly assigned to head up the civilian U.S. response to the disaster. The experience of the next several months afterward was eye-opening and “helped me shape my agenda for reform for the agency writ large,” Shah said in a speech last month.
In today’s “In the Loop,” Washington Post columnist Al Kamen lays out the turf battle over who has authority for U.S. development programs. Kamen cites House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman’s (D-CA) recently released working draft of a new Foreign Assistance Act — known as the Preambles — and notes a reaction from the State Department. Read the full piece here and read an excerpt below on the tough choice President Obama faces:
“The Pentagon says it wants out of the development business because that’s not what it does. So the question, which apparently the White House will resolve, is whether development is going to be a distinct, though coordinated, function. That is, who’s going to be in charge of development out in the field.”
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