Press Room

MFAN Publishes Recommendations for a New Presidential Administration

November 18, 2020
MFAN

November 18, 2020 (WASHINGTON)This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels and Tessie San Martin.

Today, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network released foreign aid policy recommendations for the new presidential administration. The recommendations cover early actions that the new administration should consider immediately, including the swift nomination of leadership for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation, PEPFAR, and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

“Upon taking office, the Biden administration will confront a world reeling from the devastating health, humanitarian, and economic impacts of COVID-19. Significant development gains made during recent decades have been eroded by the pandemic and substantial investment will be required to make up lost ground,” the document states.

The memo lays out policy recommendations for USAID, including maintaining the new USAID structure, strengthening the USAID workforce, and enhancing local ownership of development programs. The paper additionally encourages the administration to ensure that DFC refocuses its core mission to promote international development, and that it takes steps to enhance transparency and fully unleash the potential of its equity investments through fair-market value scoring.

“A bipartisan record of foreign aid reform spanning the past two decades has contributed to preserving the United States’ international leadership and enhanced our own prosperity, and the current moment calls for renewed attention, reform, and investment to maximize the potential of our foreign assistance,” the paper concludes.

Read the full set of recommendations here.

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