26 June 2008
More Responsive, Coordinated U.S. Aid Effort Urged
Former officials say organizational issues can be solved by cooperation
Washington -- Growing global poverty and its array of related problems can be confronted only by a better partnership of U.S. agencies, say two former leaders of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), America’s lead foreign-assistance agency.
In June 25 testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Atwood and Peter McPherson offered proposals to renew America’s commitment to effective foreign assistance. Both said a redefining and strengthening of U.S. developmental organizations is a crucial step toward preventing future conflicts.
A resource-deprived environment will create conditions ripe for conflict, according to Atwood, who served as USAID administrator for six years in the Clinton administration.
“Sociologists studying gang warfare in American cities have studied the breakdown of ‘collective efficacy’ for years now, and they have related this directly to ‘resource deprivation.’ … Most of us call it poverty,” he said.
USAID, which is overseen by the secretary of state, traditionally has taken the lead in improving people’s lives in poverty-stricken areas of the world. Aspects of poverty, including the conflicts it causes, make the Defense Department a key participant in development assistance, they said.
Disaster relief also is an important component of foreign assistance. For example, in the aftermath of Typhoon Fengshen, which swept through the Philippines in mid-June, U.S. Navy divers, supported by ships and other equipment, are taking part in a rescue operation that searched for the survivors of a seven-deck passenger ferry that capsized during the storm. USAID contributed money for blankets, mosquito netting and other supplies for people in the most devastated areas.
But longer-term goals, such as promoting economic growth and world health, sometimes are hampered by a lack of proper coordination among the three agencies -- the State Department, the Defense Department and USAID -- and a poor understanding of the interplay between diplomacy and development, Atwood said.
Determining how to harmonize and adequately fund these missions is the next task. “How to organize and bring coherence to U.S. assistance when it is spread across multiple U.S. governmental units is a challenge,” said Peter McPherson, who was USAID administrator from 1981 to 1987 in the Reagan administration.
More people working abroad and more funding for development organizations are two first steps identified by McPherson and Atwood.
“More staff will allow USAID to be more of an implementer of projects as opposed to an agency managing large contracts. More staff will allow USAID to adequately staff missions and to reopen closed missions in key countries,” McPherson said.
He added that, if other reforms are made, it might be time to rename USAID to recognize a “new day” in U.S. developmental assistance. Atwood proposed the creation of an entirely new department of international development cooperation with more flexibility to set goals and provide assistance around the world.
“We need also to send a message to the world that we are back in the business of international cooperation,” he said. “Our development goals cannot be met without cooperation -- with other donors, with international organizations, and with nations experiencing high levels of poverty.”
With a new administration set to arrive in Washington in January, the two former USAID leaders say now is the time to lay the groundwork for a more effective and responsive foreign assistance strategy. “This next year is likely to be the window to deal with these matters for another generation,” McPherson said.
The text of testimony prepared for the hearing is available on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Web site.
