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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Fore Plans Improvements
FrontLines: March 2008
Administrator Henrietta Fore told international development leaders Feb. 1 that during its remaining 10 months, the Bush administration will push improvements
to foreign assistance and cooperation among government agencies, NGOs, academia, private
companies, and think tanks.
“I look to you to help us find pragmatic, workable solutions”
to the difficulties in providing humanitarian and economic assistance
to developing countries, Fore said in her speech to the Center for Global Development in Washington.
“We must treat developing nations with dignity as equal partners in our shared endeavor,” she said. “We must support
leaders and brave citizens in developing nations who are transforming
the character of their countries—through good governance
and economic reform, investment in health and education,
the rule of law and a relentless
fight against corruption.”
Fore said the efforts would build on decades of progress in foreign aid but also suggested a new course where technology and public-private partnerships play key roles.
Among the highlights of
her plan:
- Increase the Agency’s budget so that it adequately funds all of USAID’s foreign assistance objectives, including work in turbulent countries such as Iraq and Sudan. The Agency is asking for a $2.1 billion increase, or 2.7 percent, for the 2009 international affairs budget, which also includes money for the State Department.
- Add as many as 300 USAID Foreign Service Officers and beef up staff in other Agency offices. Fore has launched the Development Leadership Initiative to increase the number of staffers with technical expertise at USAID. (See “Insights” on page 3.)
- Build up the Global Development Commons, an initiative aimed at uniting the development community in the virtual world to exchange information and workable solutions to the developing world’s problems.
- Increase the number of public-private partnerships which combine government expertise and funds with those of private companies.
- Apply “lessons learned” to future endeavors.
Despite a long list of ideas and a short 10 months left in the current administration, Fore declared her agenda achievable if everyone works together.
U.S. Foreign Assistance Deputy Director Rich Greene, who took questions after Fore’s talk, said even election-year
politics should not be an insurmountable
barrier to some of the changes Fore is recommending.
“I wasn’t born yesterday.
I know what the calendar says,” Greene said. But he added: “There’s an incredible recognition
of the importance of
developing foreign assistance —by everyone involved in it. There’s a recognition that
the stakes have never been higher.”
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