A Quick and Dirty Reflection on the QDDR: State Compared to USAID

At the State Department, QDDR changes are about moving boxes in the org chart.  State will put global economy and systems together (under Undersecretary Bob Hormats, apparently) and human security, conflict prevention and other good things together (under Undersecretary Maria Otero).  Both moves seem reasonable – though it is mostly about insider DC top-down process which is hard for voters to wrap their heads around in the way of action or impact.Regarding USAID, I sense QDDR change is more about reform and rebuilding. There is the formalization of two functions that had disappeared in the Bush years: policy and budget. USAID’s rebuilt policy shop has high-caliber staff working on a reform agenda. The budget shop is only partially formalized, as it is still advisory, and the USAID budget proposal still goes through the State Department before arriving at OMB. And then there is reform that began when Raj Shah finally arrived a year ago, and that didn’t need to wait for the State Department-managed QDDR or even the White House-managed Presidential Study Directive on development:  a big push on transparency (the Foreign Assistance Dashboard ); procurement reform;  a new evaluation policy including USAID joining the 3IE; the evidence summits; a new office meant to inspire agency-wide innovation…