On Tuesday, July 15th, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) released a powerful display of bipartisan unity: a set of comprehensive, consensus-based recommendations to guide the future of U.S. international assistance.
Developed by an ideologically diverse group of former Republican and Democratic officials, policy experts, and leading development practitioners, the recommendations offer a strategic path forward for the Administration and Congress at a critical time. Released to a packed room in the Capitol Visitor Center and online, the report – “Consensus Principles & Recommendations for the Future of U.S. International Assistance” – lays out the policy, budgetary, and organizational principles to ensure that U.S. international assistance remains a powerful tool to advance national interests, counter global threats, and promote prosperity.
You can watch the launch event HERE.
Tod Preston, MFAN’s Executive Director, set the stage for this important event, noting that in this time of deep division in Washington and around the world, MFAN has laid out a broad bipartisan vision for the future of U.S. foreign aid consisting of “concrete actionable steps for policy makers...on how to achieve that vision.” Preston went on to note the vital nature of the broad coalition who developed and signed on to the report, emphasizing that the recommendations are the “product of perspectives from across the political spectrum.”
Preston noted that in a series of conversations with experts and leaders across both sides of the aisle, each stakeholder agreed that, when done right, foreign assistance is a strategic imperative that reflects the very best of who we are as Americans. Even at this divisive moment, it is critical that we as a country lead with not just power, but principle. The recommendations aim to do that by taking an honest look at the international assistance landscape, preserving what works and making needed improvements where there are gaps. Stressing the importance of the timely need for these recommendations, Preston said, “the stakes for not getting this right are very high.”
James Kunder, former Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) under former President George W. Bush, followed Preston with opening remarks that further set the stage for this important discussion and stressed the necessity of a strong path forward for U.S. foreign aid. “Put aside the simplistic framework that is easily imprinted upon the foreign assistance debate,” Kunder cautioned, reminding us that these recommendations are critically important because, at the end of the day “lives are at stake.”
Conor Savoy, Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development, was the lead author of the newly released recommendations. “These principles and recommendations are an effort to provide constructive feedback to strengthen what the administration has proposed to do [in terms of U.S. foreign assistance],” Savoy stated. The goal of this consensus report is to ensure that international assistance is impactful, accountable, and aligned with U.S. interests and values moving forward.
The consensus recommendations are based on five core principles:
1) Forge strategic frameworks that deliver mutual value between the U.S. and partner countries. Develop a new framework that balances development outcome with a clear return on investment.
2) Eliminate bureaucratic silos through strong, unified leadership.
3) Match our ambition with resources. Increase the FY26 budget request and ensure that proper staffing levels exist to ensure success.
4) Further align strategies, spending, and results. The State Department should lead an interagency process to develop a cohesive international assistance strategy.
5) Modernize delivery mechanisms for maximum impact. Utilize flexible contract and grant mechanisms, and build and strengthen private sector engagement.
Savoy reiterated, “International assistance can and should continue to play an important part in how the U.S. engages the world.” These recommendations present a strategic vision of how that can happen.
Moderated by Savoy, the expert panel was comprised of James Richardson, former Director of the Office of Foreign Assistance, Department of State; Daniel Runde, Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); Ritu Sharma, MFAN Co-Chair and Vice President for Policy & Advocacy, CARE, and; Michele Sumilas, former Acting Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources, USAID.
Richardson opened the panel discussion by highlighting the opportunity for the newly constructed “F family” at the State Department, in charge of foreign assistance and humanitarian affairs, to drive an agenda and deliver real results. He noted that this can be done by more closely linking strategy to budget and by improved coordination with U.S. assistance agencies outside of the State Department, like the U.S. Development Finance Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Sumilas added to Richardson’s comments, noting that this is a welcome moment to fix the problems in the foreign aid industry that stakeholders and implementors have identified for decades. She noted that this is only possible with a concrete plan and with proper staffing and resourcing. “There is a need for oversight,” Sumilas said, “and we want government employees to conduct that oversight so we are accountable to U.S. taxpayers.” She went on to make the case for strong interagency collaboration as well as potential mechanisms to ensure that everyone is on the same page and committed to delivered efficient and impactful foreign assistance moving forward.
Runde opened his remarks with heartfelt thanks to his former USAID and State Department colleagues whose positions have been eliminated. “I lament the loss of USAID… [but] with all of this disruption and loss, there’s clearly a historic opportunity.” Runde called for a “Republican-only first exercise” to make history on foreign aid, harkening back to the center-left movement in the 1960s that culminated in the creation of USAID. It would start with Republican visionaries on Capitol Hill who would develop and champion ideas on foreign aid, and then would solicit support and buy in from the Trump Administration, and finally bring the Democrats on board. “We can’t fight something with nothing,” Runde concluded, arguing that China, Russia, and other countries will continue to make their mark on the global landscape whether the U.S. is involved or not, and we must be prepared to respond.
Sharma spoke for MFAN and on behalf of CARE, noting that we have been calling for reforms in the international development sector for years and highlighting a need for country-led approaches. She addressed claims from Republicans that foreign assistance is riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse, sharing her perception that “when a U.S. program is [being implemented] overseas and it isn’t delivering for the people of that country, that is waste.” She went on to argue that USAID had constructed a system where the bureaucracy sometimes interfered with implementors’ ability to bring to bear best practices, entrepreneurship, and agility. She added that, while we mourn the loss of the foreign aid system as we knew it, “this focus on outcomes is something we should absolutely be celebrating.”
Sharma also cautioned that the goals set out by the Administration cannot be achieved overnight. “Stronger, safer, and more prosperous is measured in decades and tectonic shifts,” she stated. But there are steps, as laid out in the Consensus Recommendations, that bring us closer to this goal and help our country partners to move closer to self-reliance, ensuring that countries work themselves off international aid. She identified “domestic resource mobilization” (U.S. aid to improve a country’s ability to collect taxes) as central to raise country revenues. The aim, Sharma posited, is to build a system that creates a multiplier effect for economic growth and job creation abroad, while ensuring that U.S. goals are met simultaneously. She warns that if the U.S. does not contribute to economic gains overseas, our country will be much less safe and prosperous, facing potentially more instability, conflict, and terrorism.
The panel closed by responding to several questions from the engaged audience, covering topics ranging from support for long-term development to how these recommendations will be shared with key Members of Congress and the Administration in the coming weeks.
Sumilas tackled the question about long-term investment, noting that the recommendations present both a short- and long-term vision for international assistance. Their vision for long-term is driven by the country compact model, building on lessons learned from USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Responding to a question about the administration’s use of a “quid pro quo” approach to international assistance, Richardson said candidly that foreign aid is and always has been a tool to drive national security outcomes. “We need to say: ‘here’s what we’re willing to do. What are you willing to do for us?” he shared.
Closing out the conversation, Sumilas reiterated that it is time to move forward with a strong vision for the future. She told the foreign aid community, “We need to look at the world as it exists right now, and not how it looked before,” reiterating that this is a moment when we can work together to build an efficient, impactful, and accountable system of U.S. foreign aid.
The launch event was only the beginning of this conversation. As a bipartisan leader, expert, and convener in the foreign aid space, MFAN will be presenting these recommendations to stakeholders on Capitol Hill, the Administration, and within the global community over the coming weeks in the hope of shaping a new system of foreign assistance.
Read the full recommendations and download a copy of the report here.
