USAID Forward Progress Report Out Tomorrow
3/19/13
USAID administrator Rajiv Shah is set to release a progress report on the agency’s reform agenda at an event tomorrow.
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Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Blog
Sequester, CRs, and Development—Oh My!
3/8/13
As Senator Paul's filiblizzard, if not the snowquester, hit DC, the House passed a new continuing resolution for the remainder of FY13, which would fund the government at $982 billion, rather than the current $1.047 trillion to account for sequestration. The White House doesn't love it but won’t veto it, and we can expect to see amendments in the Senate giving some
Foreign Aid Reform Already Paying Sequestration Price
3/1/13
I’m guessing I’m not the only one still in a state of denial that sequestration will actually happen. The across-the-board cuts—if and when they happen tonight—will hit my own household (I’m married to my favorite bureaucrat) and the US foreign aid programs I monitor here.
Another Cheat Sheet for Kerry’s Confirmation Hearing (Written by Kerry)
1/23/13
Sen. John Kerry will be questioned by his Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) colleagues this week during his confirmation hearing to become the next Secretary of State. My colleague Jenny Ottenhoff shared what she’d like to hear members ask Kerry, including a question on the future of US foreign aid. Turns out Sen.
Happy Foreign Aid New Year: The President's Global Development Council and More
1/2/13
There's some happy news for foreign aid in the new year: the White House appointed nine members to the President's Global Development Council, the US House of Representatives passed an aid transparency bill 390-0, and the fiscal cliff deal postpones across-the-board budget cuts.
The President's Global Development Council
Gold Star: All US Aid Data to be Published by 2015
12/21/12
The State Department and USAID get a gold star this week for publishing a detailed plan for reporting all US government aid data to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) by the end of 2015.
MCC Picks Record Number of FY13 Countries
12/21/12
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Niger are the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)'s newest eligible partners. The MCC board selected these three new countries--plus two new countries eligible for second compacts and four countries already developing compact proposals--as eligible for FY13 assistance. We predicted 8 of the 9 picks. The outlier? Morocco. The big takeaway: MCC is putting competition back into the compact proposal process.
Here are the decisions:
Top 10 Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Blogs in 2012
12/18/12
What were the most popular Rethinking US Foreign Assistance blog posts in 2012? White House development initiatives get a lot of attention. Major evaluation and learning efforts do too (think: MCC). Budget battles and the more troubling aid stories in aid get a lot of interest, too.
Take a look at our top 10 list below. We look forward to bringing you more analysis and commentary from our CGD experts in 2013. Leave a comment and tell us what you’d like to see more (or less of) in 2013.
Berman’s Parting Gift: A Foreign Assistance Act Rewrite
12/18/12
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced a 923-page rewrite of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act last week. He first vowed to rewrite the bill in 2008 when he was chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Unfortunately, Berman has only days left in Congress and the bill won’t go anywhere before he leaves. Still, the draft captures years of thinking about the United States’ legislative approach to foreign assistance and offers a possible blueprint for co-sponsor Gerry Connolly (D-VA) or others to carry forward.
MCC Board Meets Wednesday: Which Countries Will They Pick for FY2013?
12/17/12
The race is on for FY2013 Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funding. The MCC board of directors meets December 19th to decide which countries will be eligible for FY2013 assistance. CGD’s MCA Monitor offers a sneak peek at the countries we think the MCC is most likely to select as eligible for compacts or threshold programs and why.