Modernizing U.S. Foreign Assistance

CGD has an active program of research and analysis on aid effectiveness and recognizes that strong foreign assistance programs are vital to U.S. national interests. They enhance our security, expand global economic opportunities and promote American values. The past 40 years of foreign assistance have shown successes, but they have also shown that our foreign assistance programs are out of date and badly in need of overhaul to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The mission, mandate and organizational structure of our outdated foreign assistance apparatus must be rebuilt and adequately funded to meet today's foreign policy challenges, particularly our institutions and policies focusing on global development and poverty reduction.

This Initiative aims to:

• Create a one-stop-shop for analysis and advocacy efforts on U.S. foreign assistance reform.
• Provide CGD expert opinion on how to reform the mission, mandate and organizational structure of U.S. foreign assistance.
• Elevate global development and U.S. foreign assistance as a critical national interest priority.

What’s New in U.S. Foreign Assistance Reform?

• CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet, co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, shares a surprising new analysis of U.S. aid spending in "U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century: Q&A with Steve Radelet" (December 8, 2009)
• Former USAID Administrators J. Brian Atwood, M. Peter McPherson, and Andrew Natsios call for a reorganization of the U.S. development and foreign assistance apparatus in Foreign Affairs article "Arrested Development" (November/December 2008).
• White House holds Summit on International Development where President Bush, Secretary Rice, and President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia call for continued support for development (October 21, 2008).

The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network Proposal

New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century calls on the next American president, Congress, policymakers and the American people to overhaul how the U.S. helps poor people in developing countries. Learn More.

CGD Launches YouTube Video on Foreign Assistance Reform

CGD has launched a video to help convey why the next president needs to give U.S. foreign assistance policy something akin to an extreme makeover. "Bring U.S. Foreign Assistance into the 21st Century" has since been watched on YouTube by nearly 15,000 people and is featured on the Global Development Matters site. Learn More

This initiative is funded in part by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.