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CCEFA Profile: Rep. Laura Richardson

Monday, June 27th, 2011
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See below for our latest Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance (CCEFA) profile of the Congresswoman from California, Laura Richardson. To read about other CCEFA Members we’ve profiled, click here.

Laura Richardson (D)

District: California’s 37th

Committees:

  • Committee on Homeland Security
    • Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies
    • Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications (Ranking Member)
  • Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
    • Highways and Transit
    • Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
    • Water Resources and Environment

Congresswoman Richardson’s past experience with development has focused on cosponsoring legislation that targets women’s empowerment and health. She cosponsored the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act of 2007 or GROWTH Act, which targets assistance for women in developing countries with respect to microenterprises, small and medium enterprises, private property rights and land tenure security, employment access, trade benefits, exchanges with U.S. entrepreneurs, Millennium Challenge Account assistance, and indigenous women’s organizations. This act would direct the Secretary of State to establish the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH) Fund to enhance economic opportunities for very poor, poor, and low-income women in developing countries with a focus on increasing women-owned enterprise development, property rights, access to financial services,  leadership in implementing organizations—such as indigenous nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, and regulated financial intermediaries—improving women’s employment benefits and conditions, and increasing women’s ability to benefit from global trade. This act is very much in line with the mission of the State Department’s Global Office of Women’s Issues, headed by Ambassador-at-Large Melanne Verveer, and USAID’s new Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, led by Carla Koppell.

She also cosponsored H. Res. 1022 which affirms the House of Representatives’ commitment to promoting maternal health and child survival at home and abroad through greater international investment and participation. It recognizes maternal health and child survival as fundamental to the well-being of families and societies and its impact on global development and prosperity.

Additionally, Rep. Richardson embraced the principle of country ownership by cosponsoring  H. Res. 1230, which not only condemns the campaign of violence and harassment in Zimbabwe, but calls on the political parties to commit to forming a government that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people and promotes national unity. H. Res. 1230 also leverages multilateral channels by urging the international community—under the leadership of the United Nations, the African Union (AU), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)—to deploy monitors to ensure that the presidential runoff election reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people.

 

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Tweet Stream: Secretary Clinton’s Speech on Development at the OECD

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
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Last Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered remarks during the Gender and Development session of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. Her speech reinforced several foreign assistance reform principles including accountability, transparency, and country ownership, but she also talked about the Obama Administration’s new development initiative—Domestic Financing for Development (DF4D). See MFAN’s live tweet stream (@modernizeaid) of Clinton’s speech below in reverse chronological order:

  • Read a recap of Sec. Clinton’s remarks at the Gender & Development OECD session from earlier today http://bit.ly/j5qEVf
  • We’ll post a recap highlighting key themes of Clinton’s OECD speech soon at http://www.modernizeaid.net/pressroom/blog/
  • Clinton:…and identify a set of common indicators for future data collection.
  • Clinton: Let’s work together on a plan to make all the data that’s collected on women more comparable and useful…
  • Clinton: We need better data and we need to coordinate our efforts.
  • Clinton heralds OECD’s Gender Initiative, which creates policy options for countries to unleash the potential of millions of women.
  • Clinton: Too few women can get a good education, find a job, own property, or open their own businesses in too many countries.
  • Clinton: Even after all the progress made…there are still many barriers that stand in the way of economic progress for women.
  • Clinton: Women and girls are a powerful engine for creating jobs and spurring economic growth.
  • Clinton calls on OECD to “develop strategy for executing the framework” for development by next council meeting in Jan 2012.
  • Clinton: In July, the US will host the Open Government Partnership meeting which will bring together partners from many countries & sectors
  • Clinton: We are also establishing an innovation fund to create incentives & boost political support for anticorruption efforts.
  • Clinton said this is not just about how to implement reforms but “how to spark leadership and action”–building political will for change.
  • Clinton outlines new effort: domestic finance for development.http://1.usa.gov/lVcb9c #OECD50
  • Clinton:…It will depend on building the political will to implement them.
  • Clinton: Success will depend on more than funding and sharing expert technical solutions…
  • Clinton: If we partner w/ countries to break the vicious cycle and catalyze the virtuous cycle we can get on a path to self-sufficiency.
  • Clinton: As donor countries make our assistance more effective, recipient countries must do their part as well.
  • Clinton: Let me say, it is difficult to ask Americans to spend $ abroad when elites in countries turn their backs on their own people.
  • Clinton: Poor transparency makes it difficult if not impossible to determine how govts raise + spend funds & how to hold govts accountable.
  • Clinton: Corruption, lack of transparency, and poorly functioning tax systems are major barriers to long-term growth.
  • …2. doing more to support women as drivers of sustainable economic growth.
  • Clinton focuses speech on two issues: 1. partnering w/ developing countries on reforms related to taxes, transparency and corruption…
  • Clinton: Guided by PPD, the Obama Admin. is placing new emphasis on accountability, country ownership, and sustainable broad-based growth.
  • Clinton: Developing nations will define their needs and chart their futures while becoming less dependent on aid.
  • Clinton: To help people reach their full potential, we must promote sustainable & inclusive economic growth… (cont)http://deck.ly/~b1pTO
  • Clinton: I’m here to talk about OECD vision statement which reflects consensus “that while aid is essential, aid alone is not enough.”
  • In case you weren’t awake at 3:30 this morning, we’re about to tweet highlights from Sec. Clinton’s speech on development at OECD.

 

 

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OECD Week Recap

Friday, May 27th, 2011
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Yesterday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concluded its 2011 Ministerial Council Meeting, while commemorating the organization’s 50th anniversary. The U.S. served as Chair of this year’s meeting—with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading the U.S. delegation—and Germany as Vice-Chair. The vision statement released this year focuses on coordinating policies for sustainable, broad-based economic growth and, with that goal in mind, implementing a new development paradigm.

Specifically, the new paradigm for development lays out a new direction for development across OECD member states. In her remarks yesterday, Secretary Clinton endorsed the Framework for an OECD Strategy for Development, which calls for “greater collaboration and knowledge sharing including sharing policy successes and failures and engaging in mutual learning, as well as deepening partnerships between the Organization and developing countries that want to engage,” in order to achieve more sustainable growth worldwide.  The OECD is meant to work in areas where it has core competencies and experience and where the organization can enhance, but not duplicate other international efforts. It is also recommended that the DAC Chairman, as well as the Chair of the Development Center Governing Board, work closely with the Secretary General to help guide the implementation of the Framework.

Building on its collective strengths, the OECD has four areas of focus for development:

  • Innovative and sustainable sources of growth;
  • Mobilization of domestic resources for development;
  • Good governance; and
  • Measuring progress for development.

The OECD will also work to help countries develop more effective tax systems—through the OECD Tax and Development Program—and complement these focus areas with work on food security. Overall, this Framework is set to shape the agenda coming out of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Korea.

MFAN has covered key moments over the course of OECD Week 2011, including the public forum. Click on the links below for more information:

 

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Secretary Clinton Praises OECD’s New Framework for Development

Thursday, May 26th, 2011
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Secretary Clinton opened today’s session on Gender and Development with remarks on the OECD’s new Framework for Development. Building on an OECD vision of engagement that goes beyond aid, Secretary Clinton pointed to three key areas for development reforms: transparency, corruption, and tax systems. She linked the three to a U.S. consensus—guided by the President’s Directive on Global Development and the QDDR—that focuses on accountability and country-led, sustainable growth, noting that progress will enable developing nations to “define their needs and chart their futures while becoming less dependent on aid and ultimately ending their need for aid altogether.”

Referencing the three areas for reform, Clinton said “…Corruption, lack of transparency, and poorly functioning tax systems are major barriers to long-term growth in many developing countries,” adding that “poor transparency makes it difficult if not impossible to determine how governments raise and spend their funds, and therefore, how to hold governments accountable.”

Aside from the idea of domestic resource mobilization, which was discussed at yesterday’s development session, Clinton raised the issue of domestic finance for development. Clinton argued this new U.S. effort aims “to raise these issues from the technical realm to the political realm, not just how to implement the reforms but how to spark leadership and action.” As part of the effort to build political will, the U.S. will host a meeting of the Open Government Partnership in July—bringing together an array of voices from the public and private sectors to support governments’ attempts to be more transparent, accountable, and participatory.

Secretary Clinton also highlighted the importance of women and girls in driving long-term economic growth. She called on the OECD, World Bank, UN, and other organizations to develop a plan for comprehensive data collection on women and girls—along with a strategy for implementing the development framework—in time for the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. Ultimately, Secretary Clinton emphasized the need for leadership from donor and developing countries alike to attract foreign investment and to get developing countries “on the path to self-sufficiency.”

Overall, Clinton’s speech touched on several key deliverables from this OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. To read more, see the official OECD fact sheet here. You can also watch Clinton’s full remarks below.

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OECD 50th Anniversary Commemoration: “The ‘D’ at the End of the Title”

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered remarks earlier today commemorating the 50th anniversary of the OECD. As chair of the OECD’s 2011 Ministerial Council Meeting, Secretary Clinton highlighted “the ‘D’ at the end of the title,” analyzing the OECD’s role in crafting “more effective development practices.”

After discussing the OECD’s success over the past half-century, Secretary Clinton reiterated that we live in a different world facing “dramatic economic changes.” As the OECD moves forward, it will engage with a new set of nations, from emerging democracies in the Middle East to growing powers in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa. Secretary Clinton emphasized the importance of reaching out to these nations, sharing best practices, and raising standards.

Secretary Clinton discussed development in broad terms, noting that “aid, while it remains essential, is not enough to deliver sustainable growth.” To harness economic opportunities across the globe, nations must implement key policy reforms. Secretary Clinton pointed to increased transparency, equitable tax systems, and anti-corruption measures as values shared throughout the OECD and efforts that will ensure country ownership.

Secretary Clinton’s remarks on effective, country-led development set the stage for tomorrow’s program—where she will elaborate on points made in today’s remarks during a keynote address. A panel discussing “A New Paradigm for Development” will build on the themes of engagement and cooperation laid out in the speech. The U.S. has elevated development as a key pillar of its foreign policy: it will now look for effective strategies that enable the OECD to do the same.

Secretary Clinton’s full remarks are available here. A video of her remarks can be found below.

Be sure to check back on the blog and on Twitter @ModernizeAid for updates on statements and panel discussions as the Ministerial Meetings wind down.

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