Connie Veillette

Before the Rethink team dives into 2011 with more analysis on all things foreign assistance, here’s a look at the Top 20 Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance blog posts of 2010. The posts below captured your interest on issues like Administrator Shah’s work at USAID, Zambia’s potential MCC compact, and everything in between. Thank you for your continued readership and we look forward to bringing you even more information and expert analysis in 2011.

After nearly 18 months, thousands of man-hours, and a few interagency scuffles, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review was released on Wednesday.  First, hats off to the many State Department and USAID staff who toiled on the various working groups in addition to their regular work portfolios.  This was a huge undertaking for which staff should be applauded.

With the unofficial release of a consultation document on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), we now have further indications of what will be in the final version scheduled for official release in December.  Until we see the final product, it is difficult to know if some of the laudable rhetoric surrounding the role of development and USAID will be matched by the concrete steps needed to turn it into reality.  As they say, the devil is in the details.

This is a joint post with Sarah Jane Staats.

The long-awaited Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) of USAID-State operations has been nearly eighteen months in the making. We’ve heard bits and pieces about the process, the players, the substance, and timing. The latest rumor is that at least one last debate is occurring prior to its release: whether USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) or other types of humanitarian assistance should remain at USAID or be moved to the State Department. If true, this would fly in the face of the administration’s own rhetoric of rebuilding USAID and elevating development.

While it is unfortunately hard to know from the outside whether this debate is really occurring, ongoing, or has been decided, it’s important – even if only for the sake of argument – to explain why it matters that OTI stay at USAID.

1. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. While USAID and the administration are working hard to build the agency into the world’s premiere development agency, USAID is already considered the world’s premiere humanitarian response agency. USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) is the ER for disasters.