When the Global Development Council meets on May 17 it should identify three to five key moments when President Obama, with the advice of the Council, can make a development difference. Among the immediate possibilities: the June G-8 summit in the United Kingdom, the September G-20 summit in Russia, the UN General Assembly meeting, and President Obama’s upcoming trip to Africa.
After more than a decade of US special envoys (Danforth, Zoellick, Natsios, Williamson, Gration, and Lyman) and the independence of South Sudan in July 2011, it is time for the United States to reevaluate what it is trying to achieve in its relations with the two Sudans and how best it can do that.
Bradley Parks and Zachary Rice share with the Center for Global Development the results of a global survey about whether the “MCC effect” exists.
This paper previews which countries the Millennium Challenge Corporation will select as eligible for FY2013 compact and threshold funding.
In this report, John Norris of the Center for American Progress and Connie Veillette of the Center for Global Development identify four flagship reforms that would help U.S. foreign affairs institutions to better reflect national interests and reduce ineffective spending.
The international affairs portion of the president’s FY2013 budget will likely generate concern among aid advocates over cuts to health and humanitarian assistance.
As the Global Health Initiative moves into its third year of implementation, Nandini Oomman and Rachel Silverman summarize the current status of this major development initiative, highlight the challenges for the GHI, and propose specific recommendations for a way forward.
This report of the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program summarizes the rationale for continued U.S. investment in global health, looks into the evolution of the Global Health Initiative, and recommends a re-boot for the whole enterprise.
This report takes a look at the Obama administration's FY2012 budget request and congressional reaction to gauge the potential for implementing foreign aid reforms as spelled out in the administration's policy documents.
Ben Leo testified before the House Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade on July 27, 2011 about the importance of multilateral development banks to the United States and the greater world.
To inform the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s review of its country selection process, the MCA Monitor has conducted a parallel review and offers five key recommendations.
This brief details how the new Congress could save more than $500 million annually by eliminating unnecessary regulations currently in place that are incredibly wasteful, anticompetitive, and make it harder to carry out effective development programs abroad.
This USAID Monitor Analysis focuses on the effects of the FY2011 budget agreement on the foreign assistance accounts portion of the function 150 budget. While the cuts are not as deep as many expected, they are still significant and will prove challenging for the State Department and USAID.
In this paper, Connie Veillette presents the problems that beset the existing process for budgeting and resource allocation, and argue that the process is backwards. Instead of using baseline budgets and existing resources to dictate objectives, policymakers should clearly define and articulate the purposes of aid up front; then a process for matching resources to objectives can begin.
Senior fellow Todd Moss considers the future of foreign aid in light of Dambiso Moyo’s book, Dead Aid, which argues that Western aid to Africa has brought more harm than help. The relevant question today, he argues, is not whether aid is good or bad, but rather how aid can be made to work better for both donors and the people of Africa.
Senior fellow Steve Radelet testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health about the challenges and opportunities to reform U.S. foreign assistance to Africa.
CGD visiting fellow Carol Lancaster testifies in frot of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development on April 1, 2009.
Senior fellow Steve Radelet testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development, Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection.