It’s not often that U.S. development assistance efforts are subject to an independent, international critique. Such a review, undertaken by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based club of donor nations, happens roughly every four or five years, and the findings for the U.S. are due out this week.The peer reviews, as these assessments are called, are “in-depth examinations of development systems and policies, including lessons learned, in the 24 DAC member countries.” The objectives of the peer review are to: monitor development cooperation policies and programs and assess their effectiveness; assist in improving aid performance through mutual learning; and identify and share good practices and foster coordination.The last U.S. peer review was released in 2006, and it very much reflected a sea change just starting to take hold; the Millennium Challenge Corporation was just ramping up, the F Bureau had just been announced, and the 3-D, whole-of-government approach had just been introduced in the 2006 National Security Strategy. Regardless, the 2006 peer review made numerous appropriate recommendations (bordering on the prophetic):
Of these, the first two are a work in progress, militarization has worsened considerably, and the inefficiencies of food aid are just now beginning to come under fire. So it is possible the peer review could go one of two ways – either it could highlight the lack of progress on most of their recommendations or it could laud the recent movement towards the Paris principles of alignment, harmonization, and results. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but the diplomatic language of previous peer reviews suggests it will likely take a forward-looking, encouraging tone.Fortunately, a timely, expert analysis will be on offer for those interested as the Brooking Institution will be holding a panel discussion on July 28th to discuss the peer review. Not only will Rethink’s own Connie Veillette be on the panel alongside Donald Steinberg of USAID and Homi Kharas and Noam Unger of Brookings, but J. Brian Atwood, the Chair of the OECD DAC, will also provide introductory remarks to start the discussion. More information about the event can be found at the Brookings event summary page. We hope to see you there.
