20 October 2008
White House Conference to Showcase Successes in Development Aid
Commitment to aid remains steady, says administrator of U.S. foreign aid
Washington — Despite global financial instability, the United States continues to seek progress in reducing global poverty, confronting disease and promoting economic opportunity in the world’s poorest nations.
“The United States is staying steady in our commitments,” U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Henrietta Fore told reporters October 20. “It is a challenge that we as countries around the world must do as partners together.”
Fore previewed the White House Summit on International Development, titled “Sustaining the New Era,” an October 21 conference showcasing foreign-assistance successes from USAID and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as well as innovative initiatives such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Since 2001, the Bush administration has introduced the largest expansion of foreign aid programs since the postwar reconstruction of Europe under the Marshall Plan, Fore said. The administration has also championed innovative strategies to empower a new generation of leaders to deliver health care, education and new economic opportunities to their citizens.
“The best argument for our development programs is found in the people they benefit,” President Bush said in a February 2008 speech. “You see it when you hold a baby that would have died of malaria without America's support. You see it when you look into the eyes of an AIDS patient who has been brought back to life. You see it in the quiet pride of a child going to school for the first time.”
The conference will be organized around four key principles: the importance of countries leading efforts to tackle their own development challenges; a focus on good governance; linking further development aid to measurable progress; and complementing aid with trade by developing new strategies to promote sustainable, long-term economic growth.
“This is a worldwide approach to development,” Fore said. “I think it will be multifaceted and very interesting.”
Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will address the October 21 conference, as will Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and British musician and activist Bob Geldof, Fore said.
“Given the recent economic downturn where there is concern that developing countries and their citizens will be more vulnerable,” said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, “it's more important than ever that we and other developed countries keep our commitments and continue to fund development assistance programs, as well as work to increase trade.”
