New approaches to aid over the last decade have transformed the lives of countless individuals struggling with poverty, battling disease, and seeking opportunities to build a better life.  The onset of these new approaches has sparked a debate on reform and how the U.S. can build on them to make foreign assistance more accountable and effective for the people we are trying to help and the U.S. taxpayers who generously support it.  To demonstrate principles of effective aid – and communicate what still needs to be done – MFAN canvassed its Partners to share cases in which a new, innovative way of thinking led to improving the livelihood of an individual, a community or a country.  The following success stories articulate some of the core principles – Ownership, Partnership, Coordination, and Innovation – that MFAN believes should provide the underpinnings of foreign assistance reform.

Ownership

The most effective way of ensuring long-term development is to allow recipients of aid to take the lead in designing and implementing their own development programs.  Country ownership is about donors being transparent and consultative, helping to build capacity over the long term, and supporting local efforts to take control of their own development.  This principle of aid effectiveness has become the cornerstone of reform efforts, but is also the most difficult to put into practice because it is dramatically different than the current U.S. model for the delivery of aid.  The success stories that follow demonstrate ownership in action and prove that country ownership is essential for development. 

• Ethiopia halved malaria deaths in just three years (The Global Fund to AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria) – In 2005, the Ethiopian government, with support from the Global Fund, unveiled a strategy to deliver two mosquito nets to every family at risk for malaria.  By 2008, 20.5 million bed nets had been delivered, and 30,000 young women – two high school graduates per village – had been trained and mobilized to act as health advisors and to carry out on-the-spot malaria tests, made possible thanks to a new lightweight disposable kit.  The program shows strong roots of local initiative, leadership, and ground-up action.
  • Read more about Ethiopia’s grassroots health care initiative here.

• Establishing a community voice in mining activities (Oxfam America) – The Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) has gone door to door to inform communities, mobilize concerned citizens, and help people understand the risks of permitting the expansion of mining operations.  Oxfam is collaborating with communities, NGOs, and local governments to develop a strong collective voice in mining operations and has partnered with a spirited grassroots initiative to demonstrate the potential influence of local ownership on critical community issues.
  • Learn how WACAM’s efforts since 2007 have halted the operations of a foreign mining company in Prestea, Ghana here.

• Smart aid helps Ugandans fight corruption (ONE Campaign) – After a Public Expenditure Tracking Survey in 1996 showed that only 13 percent of educational funding in Uganda was actually reaching schools, the government implemented an anti-corruption program using newspaper and radio campaigns to inform parents associations’ of the amount of funding their schools should be receiving.  This model serves as a strong example of bottom-up accountability, engaging civil society, and empowering local communities in order to diminish the negative effects of corruption.
  • Learn more about the Ugandan government’s effort to empower civil society in order to reduce corruption here.

• Empowering women in Lesotho (Millennium Challenge Corporation – March 10, 2010) – The Gender Equality project provides training to thousands of women in Lesotho, as well as key institutions and the relevant authorities, in order to expand opportunities for meaningful participation in the economy by all sectors of Lesotho’s society.  The Gender Equality project is headed by MCA Lesotho, a local entity that manages the implementation of Lesotho’s MCC compact, demonstrating the power of indigenous ownership in an effort to improve awareness and practices that support gender equality in economic rights.
  • Learn more about MCC’s efforts to promote gender equality in Lesotho here.

Partnership

Realizing that we cannot do everything, everywhere, top officials in the Obama administration recognize the need tobebetter partners – with civil society, the private sector, international and multilateral organizations, and with country governments.  Both President Obama and Secretary Clinton have called for “partnership, not patronage” as part of a new model for development.  The stories below showcase examples in which the U.S. government and NGOs have engaged with people on the ground differently and reaped the benefits of a truly successful partnership.

• Providing 10,000 farmers with secure markets to sell rice (USAID) – Olam Nigeria Limited, a major Nigerian rice importer, wanted to invest in high-quality rice for Nigeria’s market, but farmers faced limited access to critical resources, like fertilizer and credit.  One year after partnering with USAID in 2006, more than 10,000 farmers were provided with access to secure markets, financing, and technical assistance to produce high-quality rice.  The result was an increase in productivity of almost 260 percent, accompanied by more than doubling of farmer net income.  The USAID/Olam partnership is an example of coordination among local private industry and international organizations, and sustainable development at a grassroots level.
  • Learn more about the successful partnership between Olam Nigeria Limited and USAID here.

• Kenyan reaps from AGOA (USAID) – As a result of the close U.S.-Africa trade ties made possible through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Mike King’ori, director of marketing and operations and an owner of Kenyan company K-Net Flowers Ltd., was able to visit U.S. trade shows and expand his business into the American mass market.  Because of the efficient, coordinating efforts of the AGOA and the USAID trade hubs, African flower merchants have been able to maintain reliable access to the American market, have learned how to better market and brand their product, and have begun to employ savvy and innovative business and technology practices.
  • Learn more about the success of Mike King’ori and the ways in which AGOA is expanding business opportunities in Africa here.

• Bangladesh primary education (Save the Children Bangladesh Report on USAID) – The Government of Bangladesh’s Primary Education Development Programme II (PEDP II) did not meet the need for early childhood development (ECD), with less than 15 percent of Bangladesh’s children under-5 participating in any kind of education program.  To fill this critical gap, since 2005 USAID has been funding a large and successful ECD and pre-primary education program, called SUCCEED, which works in 1,800 home- and school-based preschools across 600 communities.  USAID also funded the creation of a Bangla version of the children’s television show, Sesame Street, called Simsimpur, which is now the most widely viewed children’s television show in Bangladesh.  The Government of Bangladesh now recognizes the need for pre-primary education and, by 2015, intends to ensure that all preschool-age children have access to early childhood education.
  • Read more about smart aid approaches in Bangladesh in the full report here.

• Jordan and MCC: Empowering women through building networks, capacity and ideas (Millennium Challenge Corporation – March 6, 2009) – Jordan’s Women’s Knowledge Network, a Jordanian organization focused on enhancing the role of women in local government as a means of ensuring that women have a stronger voice in society, was launched as part of the country’s $25 million MCC Threshold Program and has flourished as a result of careful coordination and partnership between USAID, MCC and the local Jordanian government.
  • Learn more about Jordan’s Women’s Knowledge Network and its partnership with MCC and USAID to improve gender integration in government and society here.

Coordination

In the same way that the current administration recognizes the need to be better partners, policymakers and advocates understand the need to coordinate individual efforts to increase transparency, limit duplication, and encourage accountability.  Coordination – both in the field and here in Washington – plays a critical role in determining the overall impact of aid dollars, and it opens up the door for integration.  See what effective coordination looks like and the dramatic impact it can have on the ground below.

• Opening the door to Zambian businesses (Millennium Challenge Corporation – March 18, 2009) – The effort to create a stronger private sector in Zambia by encouraging business development and registration has been successful because of efficient collaboration between the MCC (through a two-year, $22.7 million threshold program) and local government agencies, thereby fostering local ownership and accountability.  The effort has also adopted innovative technology, like the fully-automated Customer Service Center in Lusaka, which reduces opportunities for corruption and removes would-be entrepreneurs’ dependence on intermediaries.
  • Read about the success of Zambian business owner Prosper Chanda thanks to the collaborative efforts of the MCC and the local government here.

• A Ghanaian working mother’s story (Millennium Challenge Corporation – April 14, 2009) – Farmers in Ghana receive supplies so that they can put into practice what they have learned about business planning and crop productivity through training provided by the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA), the local MCC-funded program.  The training provided by MIDA utilizes close collaboration between farmers and training providers and an innovative “value chain approach” to increase crop productivity, demonstrating the importance of collaboration and innovation to promote sustainable, grassroots development.
  • Read about the success story of Barbara Ayisa, one of the farmers who received collaborative training from MIDA providers here, or watch the “MCC in Ghana” video here.

• SMART aid and private partnership help Tanzania make bed nets for Africa (ONE Campaign Issue Brief) – A to Z Textile Mills, a Tanzanian manufacturer of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect families from malaria, is a joint venture with a Japanese company, Sumitomo Chemical, which gave A to Z a royalty-free technology license.  The nets are then bought by Tanzanian government agencies, as well as international non-governmental organizations.  The A to Z Textile Mill demonstrates the positive results achieved when foreign assistance works in collaboration with private partnerships to support local industry and employment.
  • Read more about the successful collaboration of A to Z Textile Mill with international and government agencies here.

• Central African Republic: Government collaboration to immunize mothers (ONE Campaign Progress Report) – In the Central African Republic, the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF collaborated to create the Mother and Child Survival Campaign to decrease the high rate of maternal and infant mortality.  Collaboration across organizational lines demonstrates the potential power of collaborative plans in implementing smart, focused aid.
  • Learn more about the collaborative effort to provide immunizations and other health services to women in the Central African Republic here.

Innovation

Given the constant influx of new technology and the desire to find development solutions that are sustainable, innovation has become key to effective development in the 21st century.  Innovation is about connecting people with new tools – like cell phones for rural farmers – and creating opportunity in places where traditional methods of aid have failed to bring about durable change.  The examples that follow speak to such game-changing approaches to aid.

• Lighting the way to economic growth with green energy (Millennium Challenge Corporation – April 19, 2010) – For Dona Mercedes Carranza and the 30 families in her rural community located in El Salvador’s Northern Zone, lack of electricity hindered development.  In response to these challenges, the Government of El Salvador and the MCC plan to bring electricity to rural communities by installing 1,950 solar panel units.  The collaborative work of the Government of El Salvador and MCC demonstrates how poverty reduction projects might align with efforts to counteract climate change and bring about sustainable development.
  • Learn how green energy brought hope for development to Honduritas, a rural community in El Salvador’s Northern Zone here.

• Smart aid helps mobile phones bring banking to Kenya’s rural poor (ONE Campaign) – Piloted by Vodafone, supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and implemented in early 2007 by local mobile phone provider Safaricom, M-PESA is a money transfer system that allows people to transfer, withdraw and deposit money by mobile phone without a bank account.  The M-PESA program is an example of partnership – bringing together support from international donor countries, technology from international private companies, and initiative from local businesses.  Additionally, the introduction of M-PESA may have huge benefits for customers in Kenya.
  • Learn more about the innovative and collaborative efforts of the M-PESA program here.

• Saving for a more secure way of life (Oxfam America in West Africa) – In 2005, Oxfam America established Saving for Change, a microfinance program that trains women in rural regions of West Africa – like Djouri Konaré in Mali – to save their money, invest in one another’s small enterprises, and offer programs on practical topics such as malaria prevention to develop skills that make everyday life more safe and secure.  The project demonstrates the positive results of innovative programs that foster indigenous business initiatives and local ownership.
  • Read more about Saving for Change’s innovative efforts to promote financial security in rural communities here.

• Computers improve commerce (USAID) – Through the Digital Freedom Initiative, USAID works together with leading U.S. companies and a team of local volunteers in Senegal to train small business owners and entrepreneurs to use technology in order to better manage their businesses.  The Initiative has flourished thanks to innovative use of information and communications technologies as a means of delivering efficient business practices and promoting economic growth, as well as international collaboration and ownership at a local level.
  • Read more about the success of the Digital Freedom Initiative in its effort to promote sustainable economic growth here.

The need to correct misconceptions about foreign aid spending and create mechanisms with clear timelines for reaching the commitments made relate to core issues in the reform debate here in Washington.  Read the full Jubilee report here.

Mrs. Obama enumerated the many difficult challenges facing our country and the world as a whole, including global hunger, climate change, natural disasters, and the fast-rising youth population.  But in doing so, she spoke of the dedication and commitment demonstrated by USAID employees, from risking their safety working in dangerous environments, to spending long stretches of time away from family.  She also referenced the two decades’ worth of development work in Indonesia her mother-in-law, President Obama’s mother, took part in while with USAID.  “And you do it all,” she told the audience, “because you believe in the power of development to make America stronger in the world and improve the lives of those less fortunate.”

She listed improved basic health, sustainable agriculture, and democracy and human rights as major advances over the years as a result of USAID’s efforts.  She highlighted ongoing work in Haiti as a shining example, saying “…wherever I went, I was amazed and incredibly touched to hear the stories of your sacrifice and your compassion and your amazing partnership with the Haitian people and folks around the world in the aftermath of that disaster. It was clear from my visit that people valued the work and saw this country in a different way because of the work that you were doing.”

However, she was quick to point out that the goal should be to help developing countries stand on their own: “…as my husband, the President, and Raj have said, the ultimate job, the ultimate objective here is to create the condition that you are no longer needed… That’s why you have always represented what is truly best about America –- the idea that we have an obligation not just to help those in need, but to also help folks beyond our borders build capacity to help themselves.”

Mrs. Obama also reiterated the strong support from President Obama and Secretary Clinton for USAID’s mission, how “together, they have made development an important part of foreign policy once again… USAID will play a central role in our mission going forward. The President and Secretary Clinton are committed to making development an essential part of our efforts to ensure peace, security and progress in the world.”

She closed by recognizing that so often the work of development professionals goes unnoticed and perhaps underappreciated, though not by her: “And I know that many of you here and around the world are making a difference in ways that will never show up on the TV.  It’ll never land on the front page of the newspaper.  Much of the work that you do is quiet. Many people don’t know it’s happening.  But I do think that events of the last few months have given the American people just a glimpse of the kind of people who work here –  the sacrifices you make; the exhaustion; the tragedy and the risk that you endure – all because you believe that it’s your duty to help people in their greatest time of need.”

Before taking her position at Treasury, Brainard was senior fellow and vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution.  There, she was a leading voice on development issues, penning authoritative papers including The 9/11 Development Imperative,  U.S. Foreign Assistance: Reform to Lead in the 21st-Century, and U.S. Foreign Assistance: Reinventing Aid for the 21st-Century.

One of Brainard’s most important contributions to the movement for foreign assistance reform was her creation of a chart cataloging the uncoordinated programs and overlapping authorities that are rife in the U.S. foreign assistance system.

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.

The authors go on to argue that “it is a critical national security priority to develop effective strategies and strengthen the civilian capacity of the U.S. government to better assist poor and fragile countries.”  This includes high-priority conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as nations ranging from Haiti to Sudan, and Chad to Vietnam.

The report is also critical of the return on investment of donor efforts, including the U.S., in poor and fragile countries.  In particular, it highlights the lack of a National Strategy for Global Development and how “this nonstrategic approach has resulted in a lack of capabilities to effectively direct and implement assistance.”

First, on developing an effective strategy, the report recommends that the U.S. government:

• Pursue selective bilateral engagement, balanced with leveraged multilateral engagement;
• Pursue specialization and a division of labor among partners in development; and
• Establish a National Strategy for Global Development and ensure close alignment between its recommendations and successive Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Reviews.

Second, on interagency balance and structural changes, it recommends that the U.S. government:

• Adopt a unified security budgeting process and increase funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID);
• Elevate and empower USAID, beginning with the amendment of PPD-1;
• Divide up and reassign the functions of the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, with interagency coordination responsibilities housed at the National Security Council; and
• Craft a civilian-military road map for transferring assistance authorities and responsibilities to civilian agency control.

Finally, on institutional changes, it recommends that the U.S. government:

• Build up the cadre of technical experts in partnerships and the design, management, monitoring, and evaluation of projects and programs;
• Develop robust policy planning capacities at both the State Department and USAID;
• Prioritize training on assistance issues and preparation to perform assistance functions; and
• Transform the executive branch’s congressional relations and public communication on assistance issues.

To read the full report, click here.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a forceful case to Congress last week on the importance of President Obama’s recently submitted request for the fiscal 2011 International Affairs Budget.  In four separate hearings – on back-to-back days – before House and Senate authorizers and appropriators, Clinton discussed the budget request for U.S. foreign affairs spending and explicitly linked it to our national security and national interests.

Of the $4.9 billion increase from FY2010, $3.6 billion would go to what the State Department calls “frontline states”—Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.  The remainder represents a mere 2.7% increase that Clinton said would “address global challenges, strengthen partnerships, and ensure that the State Department and USAID are equipped with the right people and resources.”

She acknowledged current economic constraints, citing her former role as U.S. Senator and the valid concerns of constituents across the country: “For every dollar we spend, we have to show results.” But she went on to affirm that the budget request supports programs that are “vital to our national security, our national interests, and our leadership in the world, while guarding against waste, duplication, and irrelevancy.”

In elevating the role of development within U.S. foreign policy, Clinton said the budget “makes targeted investments in fragile societies which, in our interconnected world, bear heavily on our own security and prosperity.”  She also argued for paying it forward, that a little bit now will go a long way: “These investments are a key part of our effort to get ahead of crises rather than just responding to them, positioning us to deal with the threats and challenges that lie before us.”  To bring this point home, she emphasized: “We can bury our heads in the sand and pay the consequences later, or we can make hard-nosed, targeted investments now, addressing the security challenges of today while building a stronger foundation for security and prosperity in the future.”

She highlighted the Administration’s global food security and health initiatives, along with climate change, as the major components of the budget’s investments in development.  A cross-cutting focus of these initiatives is women and girls “who are the key drivers of economic and social progress in the developing world.”

There will also be money for an additional 410 Foreign Service Officers at the State Department and 200 at USAID in an ongoing effort to ramp up civilian capacity.

“These initiatives are designed to enhance American security, help people in need, and give the American people a strong return on their investment,” Clinton concluded.  “Our aim is not to create dependency, but to help people develop solutions that they can sustain for themselves over the long term.”

We applaud the nomination of Dr. Rajiv Shah to be Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  We are hopeful that his unique combination of knowledge about global health, agriculture, and other issues will allow him to provide a strong and indispensable development voice as major decisions are made about U.S. foreign policy.  Congress should confirm Dr. Shah quickly.

If confirmed, Dr. Shah will take leadership of America’s premier development agency at a time when we face complex challenges in the developing world, not just from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also from transnational threats such as disease, poverty and lack of opportunity, hunger, climate change, and political instability.  This is why the Obama Administration has pledged to elevate development as a core pillar of U.S. foreign policy alongside defense and diplomacy, and is already undertaking a whole-of-government review of how the U.S. engages with poor countries.  If confirmed, Dr. Shah will be the U.S. government’s lead voice on these urgent issues; therefore, the Obama Administration should take the following steps to empower him during these challenging times by:

• Giving him a seat at the National Security Council from which he can bring a high-level and distinct development voice to critical foreign policy discussions, including the White House’s ongoing Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy;
• Installing him as a co-chair of the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR); and
• Revitalizing the agency he will lead by restoring USAID’s policy planning and budget capabilities, as well as the technical development capacity and expertise of the agency (as provided for in the bipartisan Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009, S.1524, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider soon).

We look forward to supporting Dr. Shah and the Obama Administration in their efforts to strengthen development and make foreign assistance more effective and accountable for the 21^st century.

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

As we noted yesterday, WWF US President and CEO Carter Roberts, one of the world’s leading conservationists, has a unique view on foreign assistance reform.  Today, he brought his message to Capitol Hill for a bi-cameral hearing on the innovative Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), hosted by Rep. Ed Royce (D-CA), chair of the International Conservation Caucus.  In his testimony at the hearing, Roberts drew important links between conservation and foreign assistance reform:

“More work should also be done, for the benefit of the Congo Basin and other developing countries, by the U.S. government to modernize its foreign assistance.  We are in need of an overarching development strategy that recognizes the critical importance of securing the underlying natural resource base. We need a USAID Administrator and a strengthened development agency to carry out programs like the model CBFP in other regions and scale up efforts to meet pressing natural resource challenges. And we need to help build the capacity of civil society and governments within these regions so that host countries will own these programs and assure their sustainability into the future.”

For more information on the hearing, click here.

For more information on WWF’s foreign assistance reform work, click here.

As the only conservation leader among MFAN’s Principals, World Wildlife Fund US CEO Carter Roberts brings a unique point of view to the network’s foreign assistance reform efforts.   Below, for the first time on the ModernizeAid blog, Roberts lays out the first in two parts on his conservationist’s argument for foreign assistance reform, which WWF first unveiled in its “Greenprint” for the Obama Administration in January 2009.

He’ll be taking his conservation and reform message to Capitol Hill tomorrow when he testifies about the Congo Basin Forest Partnership at a bi-cameral briefing for Congress hosted by the International Conservation Caucus (ICC).

A Green Foreign Policy

By Carter Roberts, President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund US

Three billion people face water insecurity. Tropical deforestation causes 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. One-third of arable land is abandoned due to soil erosion and 75% of the world’s marine fisheries are fully exploited. By the end of the century, we may lose 50% of all the plant and animal species on earth, many before we even discover them.  From an environmental perspective, we are coming dangerously close to the point of no return.

Developing countries are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and environmental degradation.  Natural capital comprises about 25% of low income countries’ GDP. Moreover, poor rural communities in these same countries rely directly on natural resources for their livelihoods whereby an eroding natural resource base undermines their chances at escaping poverty. And now, the role the environment plays in global instability and conflict is becoming increasingly evident as witnessed by the imperative expressed by the Pentagon to plan now for international conflict and catastrophe born of climate change. We, too, in the U.S., are directly affected –by climatic extremes, disappearance of genetic plant material used to develop medicine, and a dwindling supply of fish. One way or another we pay.

Foreign aid is vital to reducing poverty, increasing our security, and preserving the future of our planet.  Yet most of our foreign assistance programs are ill-equipped to address these challenges at scale. Under the current foreign assistance structure, no overarching strategy is offered to the multiple, and at times competing, agencies expected to deliver U.S. assistance abroad. In this bureaucratic maze, USAID and other agencies lack the technical experts, funding, and long-term mandates necessary to build capacity within national governments, local institutions and civil society organizations and to ensure that environmental concerns are integrated into strategies and programs in all sectors. In order to affect meaningful and lasting results, both development and the environment should be elevated within foreign assistance and conservation should be fully incorporated into all relevant aid programs.

The Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) provides an example of how a U.S. foreign assistance program, starting with the environment and poverty reduction, can help achieve a broad array of foreign policy objectives. Launched in 2002, the CBFP brings donor agencies, international organizations, NGOs, scientific institutions, private sector, and local governments together to implement the Yaoundé Declaration, an agreement struck by the 10 Congo member states to promote conservation of the region’s forests.  Through this partnership, we are seeing real results in improving the livelihoods of the poor, conserving the environment, and resolving trans-boundary conflicts through structured diplomatic channels.

As a result, not only is 40% of the world’s second largest rainforest sustainably managed, but local livelihoods are enhanced, sustainable economic growth is possible, and global goods and services are protected. At the same time, in a region plagued by turbulent conflict and instability, the CBFP provides a forum for ongoing diplomatic engagement which helps to ease these tensions.

The Congo Basin is not an isolated case – there are many other countries and regions that desperately need this same kind of holistic approach to foreign assistance to reverse growing poverty and depletion of natural resources. Our approach includes country ownership, a strong civil society and harmonized donor funding. Our approach recognizes that through the environment we have an entry point to addressing many of central diplomatic, development, and security concerns.   Finally, our approach recognizes that the environment should stand as a central pillar of our foreign policy.