STATEMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR

USAID directly contributes to the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals, as articulated by the President and the Secretary of State, through our development and humanitarian assistance programs. I am proud to report that USAID is realizing measurable results in addressing the social, political and economic problems facing today's world. Consequently, U.S. interests are better protected, and the United States maintains its leadership role in international affairs.

The new challenges of the post-Cold War era require that we help countries move from states of conflict and repression to circumstances of economic and political rebirth. We also must assist countries to avoid implosion due to failed governance and violent competition over scarce resources. Finally, we must form effective partnerships to deal with the global problems that impact directly on the well-being of American citizens.

Our best weapons in addressing these challenges are programs that foster sustainable development and democratic institutions. Our efforts, however, will succeed only in those countries where all parties, including both the governmental and nongovernmental sectors, share a commitment to the development process. Thus, we can no longer afford to provide assistance to countries that fail to incorporate basic principles of good governance and sound economic liberalization into their development strategies.

The fact that much of the world has overcome many of the development problems evident three decades ago is a tribute to the unprecedented achievements made by our foreign assistance program. But the job is not complete. In many countries democratic institutions remain fragile, while in other countries endemic poverty persists. The countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are in the process of initiating or consolidating political and economic reforms after more than 50 years of stagnation under communist rule. If we do not make modest investments to address these challenges now, we may have to bear the much heavier burden of responding to complex emergencies, which require the presence of peacekeeping forces and massive amounts of humanitarian assistance.

Our established agency goals remain tied to the following U.S. national interests:

FUNDING TRENDS AND IMPACT

Funding for USAID-administered programs, other than food assistance, is proposed to rise from $5.8 billion in FY 1997 to $6.3 billion in FY 1998. This modest increase comes on the heels of several years of decline in the level of development assistance.

The programmatic impact of the proposed assistance has far-reaching consequences. Trade now accounts for almost one-third of our gross domestic produce (GDP) and U.S. exports are growing fastest in those countries where USAID is or has recently been engaged. Developing countries have proven to be particularly good customers for our high-value exports. A recent report from the International Food Policy Research Institute found that, for each dollar of assistance to agricultural research for developing countries, the export market available for donor countries expands by more than four dollars, of which more than one dollar is for agricultural commodities.

Economic cooperation creates American jobs through reductions in foreign trade barriers and through the development of strong overseas markets. USAID's assistance to further financial sector reforms help safeguard the integrity of U.S. financial institution lending overseas.

Our environmental activities protect U.S. citizens from disease, air and ocean pollution, and ozone depletion. We also support efforts to preserve species that might hold medical and agricultural value for future generations.

The distortions to economic and political systems stemming from narcotics, not to speak of senseless violence, place the democratic institutions of many countries at risk. USAID, through judicial training and drug awareness and law enforcement programs, helps strengthen democratic institutions in countries resisting the influence of drug traffickers.

Our health activities support the containment, treatment, and research into the causes of such diseases as polio, AIDS, and malaria and are vital to the protection of the health of U.S. citizens. USAID's efforts to reduce child mortality have led to the prevention of the deaths of an estimated four million infants and children annually. Family planning programs have contributed to stabilization of population growth rates in many countries, while at the same time reducing the numbers of elective abortions.

We also continue providing humanitarian assistance, including food aid, in countries facing natural or man-made disasters. Since joining the agency, I have emphasized the importance of linking our relief efforts with our broader development goals. The President's Greater Horn of Africa Initiative, which focuses on food security and conflict prevention, reflects our efforts to operationalize the relief to development continuum.

This year, we have requested funds for a food security initiative in Africa. Unless there is sufficient food produced and available for consumption in Africa the prospects for sustainable development are minimal. Conflicts within and between states will emerge from the shortages, with the inevitable tragic humanitarian consequence. I am convinced that, acting together with our development partners -- in the United States, in the developed world and in the African countries -- we can prevent, or at least minimize the impact of starvation, malnutrition and violent confrontation.

USAID cannot focus its programs just on survival, but must also help to build sustainable, long-term solutions to development problems. For example, we must not just seek to save children's lives, but also must help those children obtain food, health care, and basic education that enable them to grow up and become productive citizens with families of their own.

In a regional and worldwide context, USAID seeks solutions for a sustainable planet. For example, we work to help preserve vital environmental resources such as rain forests for future generations.

Our programs are designed to produce an integrated whole, i.e., healthy, productive people who are able to take care of their families and participate in and contribute to their nation's future in those developing countries with democratic institutions and free market economies. These countries then become partners in and contributors to a peaceful, stable world.

USAID: FUTURE PROSPECTS

Despite all of the tasks to be accomplished and the noble aspirations expressed, there are still questions raised about why USAID needs to exist. Four years ago I believe that was a fair question to be asked, and in fact, I asked it myself. We believe, however, that our success in reforming the agency and producing results answers that question effectively. More than any other agency, we have taken to heart the Congressional requirement for a results-driven allocation of funds, and we have applied that tough criteria to every one of our programs. We have also:

* Shifted our emphasis from welfare programs to self-help programs like microenterprise lending;

* Focused our programs on helping countries graduate from aid to trade;

* Graduated countries and left countries that were not interested in helping their own people; and

* Opened the door for more U.S. institutions to work with the agency in its programs -- 800 new partners in three years.

Fiscal year 1997 represents the first full fiscal year using the program, policy, and administrative guidance emanating from our reengineering exercise. Based on our experience, we can report concrete results in terms of improved efficiencies, more effective programs, and more focused and defined goals and objectives. We also have expanded partner and customer participation in activity and program design. We are daily demonstrating to the American people the value and efficiency of our activities. The reforms undertaken by the agency have resulted in a leaner, more focused and more effective foreign assistance program.

During the past year, USAID has delineated three categories of countries where we work. Our "full" missions are located in countries where specific development needs have been identified, where measurable results can be achieved, where distinct foreign policy interests are at stake and where the governments and other institutions demonstrate commitment to the achievement of our mutual objectives. U.S. assistance levels have forced the agency to reduce its staff to the bare minimum level required to manage the programs. If further budget declines occur in FY 1998, additional program reductions and mission closures will have to occur.

USAID also has the capacity to work in a maximum of ten "transition" countries that have moved from political and economic crises to more stable conditions of growth and development. Such programs are currently active in Bosnia, Rwanda, South Africa, Haiti, and Cambodia. While it is difficult to project the precise location of similar assistance efforts five to ten years hence, USAID is ready and able to respond quickly and effectively, in collaboration with other U.S. Government agencies, to specific foreign policy priorities in a post-conflict or rapid transition setting.

A second category of countries will have a more limited USAID presence. In these settings, USAID's programs will be restricted to two or three agency goals. Nonetheless, our presence will permit ongoing policy dialogue with the government and will allow us to maintain the same management-for-results standards as exist in our full missions.

A circumscribed amount of foreign assistance resources also will be expended in countries where there is no U.S. direct-hire presence. Programs in these countries will focus on discrete objectives, often involving specific global problems such as the environment or rapid population growth, or addressing particular foreign policy priorities such as support for a transition election. The programs in these settings will be managed by the Centers of Excellence in USAID's Global Bureau and will be implemented by USAID's nongovernmental and private sector partners.

To ensure continued effective implementation of program activities and the attainment of measurable results, USAID will maintain the skills necessary to help nations manage natural disasters, emerge from civil conflict, encourage conflict resolution and address the problems facing the poor worldwide. We will also maintain a modest research and evaluation budget, which will allow us to develop mechanisms that enhance our development capabilities and to learn from our experience.

Development and humanitarian assistance remain crucial components for realizing this Administration's and Congress's vision for our nation's future and its relations with the rest of the world. The FY 1998 request is the minimum level necessary to address the Administration's foreign policy goals; it is also consistent with President Clinton's plan to balance the budget by 2002.

The employees of this agency recognize that the United States has neither the solutions nor the resources to deal with all the needs that exist in the world today. But we know that this nation's history, -- with its commitment to democratic freedoms, values, and the rule of law, respect for the rights and dignity of the individual, and reliance upon individual initiative and self-help -- has made the United States the continuing envy of much of the rest of the world. Let us combine our innate strengths with the experience of more than three decades of leadership in the development arena to actively represent the interests of the American people in expanding our nation's values and standard of living around the world.

I look forward to working with each of you in this effort.

[USAID Home]
[USAID Home]
CP 98
[CP 98 Home]