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MFAN Statement: Raj Shah Vision Speech at USGLC

Friday, May 7th, 2010
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MFAN Statement: Shah Speech Touches on Important Elements of Reform

May 6, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:

MFAN congratulates U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah for his visionary speech yesterday to supporters of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.  In the speech, Administrator Shah strongly endorsed elevating development as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and empowering it as a distinct discipline that requires unique resources and authority.   Citing the fact that global hunger and extreme poverty have increased in recent years, Administrator Shah issued a call for reform of his Agency and America’s development apparatus overall, in order to drive more tangible results for recipients, implementers, and taxpayers.

He outlined a new agenda for USAID that mirrors this week’s leaked draft of the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy (PSD-7):

  • Commit to honoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
  • Ensure country ownership and growth through trade, cost-effective and long-term investments, and diplomacy
  • Use science and technology to develop and deliver transformative tools and innovations
  • Insert development expertise into policy debates for conflict areas and frontline states

Administrator Shah also announced that USAID would reconstitute a policy planning bureau and as-yet-undefined budget vehicle, as well as drive procurement reforms and institute a new measurement and evaluation regime this year, which are all positive steps towards making U.S. foreign assistance more effective and accountable.

What was missing, however, was a stronger pledge to work with Congress to pass legislation supporting these much-needed reforms, particularly by rewriting the antiquated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.  We urge Administrator Shah to work with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), who is likely to  submit a rewritten bill this year.  We  also strongly encourage Administrator Shah to establish an open and consistent line of communication with Congressional leaders including Chairman Berman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Ranking Minority Member Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), among others.

In implementing PSD-7, the Administration also must ensure the Administrator Shah is fully empowered to lead U.S. developments.  We look forward to working with the Obama Administration to reach this goal.

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Posted in MFAN Statement, Obama Administration, USAID | 1 Comment »

MFAN Statement: Shah Speech Touches on Important Elements of Reform

Thursday, May 6th, 2010
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Yesterday, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition hosted USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah for an important speech regarding significant reforms at the Agency that seek to elevate development as a core pillar of U.S. foreign policy.  Check back later for more coverage of the Town Hall.  In the meantime, see below for MFAN’s statement in response to Shah’s speech:

MFAN Statement: Shah Speech Touches on Important Elements of Reform

May 6, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:

MFAN congratulates U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah for his visionary speech yesterday to supporters of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.  In the speech, Administrator Shah strongly endorsed elevating development as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and empowering it as a distinct discipline that requires unique resources and authority.   Citing the fact that global hunger and extreme poverty have increased in recent years, Administrator Shah issued a call for reform of his Agency and America’s development apparatus overall, in order to drive more tangible results for recipients, implementers, and taxpayers.

He outlined a new agenda for USAID that mirrors this week’s leaked draft of the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy (PSD-7):

  • Commit to honoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
  • Ensure country ownership and growth through trade, cost-effective and long-term investments, and diplomacy
  • Use science and technology to develop and deliver transformative tools and innovations
  • Insert development expertise into policy debates for conflict areas and frontline states

Administrator Shah also announced that USAID would reconstitute a policy planning bureau and as-yet-undefined budget vehicle, as well as drive procurement reforms and institute a new measurement and evaluation regime this year, which are all positive steps towards making U.S. foreign assistance more effective and accountable.

What was missing, however, was a stronger pledge to work with Congress to pass legislation supporting these much-needed reforms, particularly by rewriting the antiquated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.  We urge Administrator Shah to work with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), who is likely to  submit a rewritten bill this year.  We  also strongly encourage Administrator Shah to establish an open and consistent line of communication with Congressional leaders including Chairman Berman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Ranking Minority Member Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), among others.

In implementing PSD-7, the Administration also must ensure the Administrator Shah is fully empowered to lead U.S. developments.  We look forward to working with the Obama Administration to reach this goal.

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Posted in Community, MFAN Statement, USAID | 1 Comment »

MFAN Statement: Leaked White House Development Document Has Strong Reform Elements

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
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Yesterday, ForeignPolicy.com’s Josh Rogin published a draft version of the National Security Council’s Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy (PSD-7), which is a landmark review of the strategy and structure behind U.S. development and foreign assistance efforts.  Rogin’s article notes that the ambitious recommendations in the document set off one or possibly multiple rounds of dynamic debate in government about who should have authority over U.S. development efforts.  President Obama is said to be awaiting the final report on PSD-7 from the NSC.  See our review of Rogin’s other reporting on development here.

MFAN released the following statement on the publication of the document:

MFAN Statement: Draft National Security Council Development Vision Includes Strong Reform Elements

May 3, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:

The National Security Council (NSC) vision for development that was published in the media today would help to meet President Obama’s campaign pledge to ensure “development is established and endures as a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy,” while making our foreign assistance more effective and accountable.  Enacting the changes recommended in the draft document would allow the U.S. to resume its historic leadership position of providing hope and opportunity for the world’s poorest citizens by strengthening our ability to save lives, empower people to take control of their own destinies, and stabilize communities that are vulnerable to poverty, disease, and extremism.

The most important features of the Presidential Study Directive-7 highlighted in the media report include:

  • Creating and periodically reviewing a National Strategy for Global Development
  • Returning policy, budget, and field authority to USAID
  • Including the USAID Administrator at relevant NSC meetings
  • Convening a Development Policy Committee to coordinate Executive Branch development activities
  • Helping recipient countries assume ownership, responsibility, and accountability on development
  • Bolstering measurement and accountability of U.S. foreign assistance investments and demanding more of both from implementers and recipients
  • Forging a new partnership with Congress on development policy and practice

We believe the document could go further toward ensuring that the discipline of development is strong and distinct, specifically through elaborating in what ways and under what circumstances development and diplomacy need to be integrated and mutually reinforcing versus when development needs to stand alone, and hope the recommendations in the document will be firmly implemented across the U.S. government.  We also urge the Administration to engage with Congressional leaders now to translate this vision into an anticipated update of the antiquated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.  President Obama’s leadership will be needed on both fronts in order to “reestablish the United States as the global leader on international development.”

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Posted in MFAN Statement, Obama Administration, USAID, White House | 7 Comments »

MFAN Statement: Obama Administration International Affairs Budget Request Further Strengthens Development

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
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February 1, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:

MFAN strongly supports President Obama’s FY 2011 International Affairs budget blueprint, which reinforces the President’s commitment to ensuring that “development is established and endures as a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy”  by requesting  increases for foreign assistance programs.  Even at this challenging time, we believe robust funding for development is critical, because the complex problems we are trying to solve in Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere cannot be addressed solely with military firepower or diplomatic outreach.  We must continue to focus on alleviating poverty, fighting disease, and creating economic opportunity in the developing world, in order to improve people’s lives and help set them on a path towards self-sufficiency.

The challenging atmosphere surrounding this budget demands that policymakers do everything possible to make U.S. foreign assistance more effective and accountable.  Building on the unprecedented momentum created at all levels of government in 2009, we urge the Obama Administration to drive foreign assistance reform to a successful conclusion so that we are getting the best results possible for the people in developing countries we are working with, as well as U.S. taxpayers.

We eagerly await the findings and recommendations from two major Administration reviews – the White House’s Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy (PSD) and the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).  We call on the Administration to work closely with Congress on House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Berman’s (D-CA) anticipated rewrite of the outdated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s bipartisan effort to pass the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524), which would strengthen the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Dr. Rajiv Shah’s leadership and create new transparency and accountability measures for foreign assistance.  We stand ready to work with both branches on this important and transformative drive towards reform.

For more information, contact Sam Hiersteiner at shiersteiner@gpgdc.com or visitwww.moderizeaid.net.

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MFAN Statement: Secretary Clinton’s Development Vision Taking Shape at a Critical Time

Thursday, January 7th, 2010
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January 7, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:

At yesterday’s speech hosted by the Center for Global Development, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton articulated a positive and transformative vision for the future of U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, fight disease, create economic opportunity, and promote human rights in developing countries.  We strongly support the core of the Secretary’s vision: that development “is a strategic, economic, and moral imperative – as central to advancing American interests and solving global problems as diplomacy or defense.”

To answer Secretary Clinton’s call for a new mindset and a new approach, it is critical that we take – as she suggested – a whole-of-government approach to reforming the outdated structures and legislation that support U.S. development and foreign assistance efforts.  Reform will lay an effective and accountable foundation for reaching the goal the Secretary articulated: getting better development results for both recipients and U.S. taxpayers through: increased partnership by way of country-conceived plans; improved coordination in Washington and in the field; stronger measurement of development outcomes; and a renewed commitment to technology and innovation.

We look forward to working with Secretary Clinton, USAID Administrator Shah, other Obama Administration officials, and Congressional leaders to realize these goals – and the pledges made by President Obama during his campaign to revamp the U.S. approach to development and revitalize USAID – by building on the momentum for foreign assistance reform that was created in 2009.  As several important milestones approach, including the release of findings from the President Study Directive on Global Development Policy (PSD), the unveiling of interim recommendations from the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), and the introduction of a draft rewrite of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, MFAN is eager to work with the Executive and Legislative branches to ensure a more effective U.S. approach to global development.

For more information, contact Sam Hiersteiner at shiersteiner@gpgdc.com or visit www.moderizeaid.net.

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