In From Policy to Practice, MFAN argued, “U.S. policy should be guided by modern legislation that codifies a shared Executive-Legislative vision for the U.S. approach to poverty-focused development.”
Six months later, two key initiatives in Congress have been released, both of which build on the reform efforts started under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In September, House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA) released draft legislation of The Global Partnerships Act of 2011 – a rewrite of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Berman and his staff developed this discussion draft aimed at overhauling the foreign assistance system to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, deliver maximum results, and advance U.S. interest.
Meanwhile Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011 in October. This bill – which currently has 45 bipartisan cosponsors – would require the President to establish monitoring and evaluation guidelines for all U.S. agencies involved in foreign assistance and call for such information to be publicly available on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard. In an op-ed written in conjunction with MFAN Co-Chair and former GOP Congressman Jim Kolbe, Rep. Poe concludes: “Given the challenges that our country faces domestically and around the globe, it is necessary that we modernize and reform our foreign aid system…We must make the foreign aid process more efficient and stretch our dollar further. Making the United States’ foreign aid process more strategic and efficient will strengthen our ability to confront global problems, overcome them and help lead the world to a brighter future.”
Underscoring the need to craft modern legislation and as a show of support for these bipartisan initiatives in Congress, MFAN produced an infographic which lays out the five pillars of reform that modern legislation would address. Download a PDF of the infographic here and see it below.
Further exploring how modern legislation would advance foreign assistance reform, MFAN launched a four-part blog series over the summer, featuring Ranking Member Berman. In his guest post, Congressman Berman wrote, “Although foreign assistance accounts for less than 1 percent of our national budget, we must insist that every penny is used wisely. To do that, we need to develop strategic planning processes that set clear goals and measurable indicators of success; work with partner governments and local communities to make sure they have the will and the ability to keep projects going with their own resources; coordinate our activities with those of other donors and focus on the areas where we have a comparative advantage; and institute robust mechanisms for transparency, monitoring, and evaluation.”
Other contributors to the Modern Legislation blog series included: former Congressman and Ambassador to Tanzania Mark Green; Connie Veillette, Director of the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Project at the Center for Global Development; and Larry Nowels, an independent consultant. Click the links below to read the full guest blogs.
- Development Reform: A New Chance for Congress to Lead
- One Small Reform with a Large Impact: Eliminate Development Sector Earmarks
- Forging a Constructive Partnership: Why We Shouldn’t Abandon the Foreign Aid Authorization Process
Click here to download the full infographic
