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As I take the reins of CGD’s Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Initiative, I plan to track U.S. development policy announcements and issues facing U.S. aid agencies, while also drawing on other CGD voices and research. There’s a bit of all three in this month’s Rethink Update: a quick analysis of President Obama’s New Alliance for Food Security; views on the MCC’s upcoming decision on whether to lift Malawi’s compact suspension; and a new paper from Vijaya Ramachandran and Julie Walz on the (un)accountability of aid in Haiti.
Meanwhile, USAID just wrapped up its Frontiers in Development forum and launched a new website and mobile evaluation and mapping apps that are worth checking out.
Happy trails. I hope you will send me your thoughts and ideas along the way.
Best regards,
Sarah Jane Staats
Director, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance
Obama’s New Alliance for Food Security
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President Obama’s New Alliance for Food Security aims to bring $3 billion in private investment to Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania in exchange for business environment policy reforms. There’s a lot to like about the partnership--presidential leadership, a link between public and private investment, and a focus on policy change--but all eyes will be on implementation. Sarah Jane Staats offers a few ideas that could help the administration overcome some predictable policy hurdles ahead. Photo: Jamie Welsh, on Flickr
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Too Soon to Lift Malawi’s MCC Suspension?
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The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) board suspended Malawi’s $350 million compact in March. Fast forward three months: Malawi has a new president--Joyce Banda--who is moving quickly to improve governance and the economy and attract U.S. aid back to Malawi. The MCC’s June 21st board meeting was expected to be about terminating Malawi’s compact; instead, it will be about whether to lift the compact suspension. Sarah Jane Staats says the MCC should be patient to avoid putting the MCC model at risk. CGD senior fellow William Savedoff agrees and says in the meantime, Malawi is a perfect place for the U.S. government to pilot Cash on Delivery Aid.
Photo: MCC |
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Shedding Light on Haiti Aid Spending
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Since the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, official donors have distributed almost $6 billion in foreign assistance to revive the country. But there is shockingly little information on where these funds go or how they are used. In a new CGD policy paper, Vijaya Ramachandran and Julie Walz sift through donor data to figure out where the money is going (i.e. not to the Haitian government) and suggest three ways to better allocate, track and evaluate post-earthquake aid in Haiti. Photo: Colin Crowley, on Flickr |
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