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The US presidential campaign has been more about saving jobs at home than saving lives abroad. But America’s role in the world was center stage at the Clinton Global Initiative last month where we caught a glimpse of presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s vision for foreign assistance. So far, Romney sounds a lot like President Barack Obama and George W. Bush on foreign aid.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration took a big step towards better US foreign aid data, which will be essential for smarter development policymaking by Republicans and Democrats alike. And USAID has a new initiative to attract private investment in Pakistan.
By this time next month, election prognosticating will be over and we’ll be parsing the results and what they mean for the future of US foreign aid.
Best regards,
Sarah Jane Staats
Director, Rethinking US Foreign Assistance
Romney's Foreign Aid |
In remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative last month, US presidential candidate Mitt Romney said US foreign assistance needs an upgrade for today's global economy. His vision is modern, but not new. Sarah Jane Staats explains why this is a good thing in a CGD blog and column in the Guardian. Photo: Paul Morse/Clinton Global Initiative |
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OMB on Aid Data |
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has new guidance on the collection and public sharing of US foreign assistance data. The guidance is deep in the bureaucratic weeds but matters. It will get 22 US agencies to report disparate foreign assistance data in a common format, including to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard and International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). Sarah Jane Staats says Obama's team deserves a big "hooray" and hopes Republican and Democratic policymakers keep pushing for more open data.
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Invest in Pakistan |
USAID aims to attract much-needed private capital to Pakistan with a new Pakistan Private Investment Initiative (PPII). Alexis Sowa says there's a lot to like about expanding access to capital for small and medium enterprises, but wonders: where is the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation? |
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