Ideas to Action:

Independent research for global prosperity

Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Blog

The Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Blog complements CGD's Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance initiative. Both are for professionals interested in tracking US Foreign Assistance and its impact on developing countries.

X

Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Blog

Feed

 

USAID Enables Results-Based Programming by Reforming (Ho Hum) Procurement Processes

12/9/10
Mead Over

The eyes of even the most passionate foreign aid advocate are likely to glaze if you raise the subject of “procurement reform.” But in the just-released transcript of remarks made November 12 to an audience of USAID contractors, Maura O'Neill, Chief Innovation Officer to USAID Administrator Shah, and Ari Alexander, a member of USAID’s procurement reform team, admit that USAID procurement practices have been so dysfunctional as to have caused “great difficulty” for in-country local partners.  According to Mr. Alexander:

8 comments

Shah Charting New Course at USAID

10/13/10
Connie Veillette

Observers of U.S. foreign assistance lament the decline of USAID resources, staff and expertise. Many old hands remember the days when it was the global leader in development. Yet, calls to rebuild USAID are everywhere today, from the White House to the State Department to Capitol Hill. President Obama and Secretary Clinton vowed to make USAID the world’s premier development agency and legislation on the Hill clearly seeks to elevate not just development but USAID as well.

2 comments

Mangoes vs. Peanuts and More: What We Saw and Didn’t See in Hillary Clinton’s Trip to Pakistan

7/22/10
Wren Elhai

This is a joint post with Molly Kinder.

This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Pakistan was front-page news in every Pakistani newspaper (and most here in the United States as well). Clinton brought with her two main things: a long list of new aid projects worth half a billion dollars—see the box below for what was on the list—and a strong message to Pakistanis that the United States intends to stick it out for the long haul.

Before the trip, we thought this was the best chance Clinton would have to signal to the Pakistanis that the U.S. development program wasn’t the sort of fickle short-sighted engagement they’ve come to expect from the United States. (And we outlined an idea for how she should do that). The result: while Clinton’s visit fell short of being a real game-changer, it was a clear, though incremental, step forward.

3 comments

Name a Leader, Not Just Another Coordinator for Feed the Future (And Name Raj Shah!)

6/25/10
Nancy Birdsall

The Obama administration’s new Feed the Future initiative awaits the appointment of what is being called a global food security “coordinator.”  But a “coordinator” is not what this signature U.S. development program needs.  It needs a leader: an official with policy and budget authority to execute his or her responsibilities. That leader should be USAID Administrator Raj Shah.

3 comments

Raj Shah Back from Pakistan, Sheds New Light on U.S. Plans

4/20/10
Molly Kinder

This is a joint post with Wren Elhai

Last week, USAID Administrator Raj Shah returned from his first trip to Pakistan since he took office at the beginning of the year. His trip followed close on the heels of last month’s high-level U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Washington, and was intended to signal that the optimistic words of the strategic dialogue will translate into concrete action. Transcripts of Shah’s press conferences for reporters in Pakistan and in Washington contain helpful information on the direction that the administration is taking in its development strategy in Pakistan. At the very least, it’s the first time we’ve heard Administrator Shah speak at any length about the details of U.S. aid programs to the country.

Leave a comment

Tags

Experts

By Date