Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S. 1524)

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I got two thank you emails over the last couple of weeks, which I am now getting around to sharing. One of was from Tom Hart of ONE.org.

You and more than 28,000 ONE members have already signed on to tell your senators to Upgrade Aid, but with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee now set to discuss the bill on October 20, we have a little more time to build momentum around this important cause. Please forward the message below to your friends and ask them to join you in supporting an aid upgrade that will help make U.S. foreign aid better, smarter and stronger.

Thank you,

Tom Hart, ONE.org

I got it for supporting S. 1524 along with, at last count, 45,392 others. They've reached 90% of their NEW goal of 50,000 signers! S. 1524 will give USAID the tools and people it needs to better fight hunger and poverty around the world, but this bill critically needs more support to push it through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, now scheduled for November 10, 2009. Tell your senators to upgrade aid now.

Please strengthen U.S. foreign aid by cosponsoring the bipartisan Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S. 1524).

Ultimately, it means better USAID programs to help the most difficult-to-reach farmers grow crops and feed more of Africa's 265 million hungry people. It means better support for treating 6.6 billion liters of water in Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia. And it also means better immunization, polio eradication, nutrition, diarrhea and pneumonia care, and maternal and neonatal healthcare through USAID programs across the African continent.

The other was from Senator Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator

Mr. Dowling

Thank you for writing to express your support for the "Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009" (S. 1524). I appreciate hearing from you regarding this legislation and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Like you, I want to help alleviate the suffering of people living in poverty worldwide, and believe that organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) must be adequately funded and staffed, with robust congressional oversight to ensure transparency and accountability.

Indeed, it is important to examine ways in which the Federal agencies tasked with fighting global poverty, such as USAID, can be reformed and strengthened to better achieve their mission. As you may know, S. 1524 is designed to achieve this through such measures as directing the Administrator of USAID to develop a comprehensive workforce, human resources strategy, and a related task force to support the objective of promoting development and reducing global poverty. As you may know, this legislation is currently awaiting consideration by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, on which I do not serve. Be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should the full Senate have the opportunity to debate this bill.

Further, you may be interested to learn that the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, recently approved its version of the fiscal year 2010 State -Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (S. 1434), which includes $1.4 billion in funding for USAID to support programs such as the Development Leadership Initiative (DLI), which will provide an additional 350 USAID Foreign Service Officers. Please know that I read your comments with interest and will be sure to keep them in mind as I continue to examine U.S. foreign aid funding.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope that you will keep in touch on issues of importance to you. If you have further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Tell the G20 to go to Africa Again. Why Africa? Ask Africa or Draw the G20 a Picture

Sphere: Related Content The folks from ONE are again asking everybody to Ask the G20 to go to Africa.
Africa must be part of the global economic recovery, and we can help make that happen by asking the G20 to hold an upcoming summit in Africa.

I have already signed and as of this post they have 76,846 which means they reached 76% of their NEW goal of 100,000 signers. This is a reblog of a couple of ONE emails, but hopefully it does some good and arguably the push to have the G20 meeting in Africa can continue after Pittsburgh.

ONE is taking two approaches. One is from Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank.

In my job as President of the African Development Bank, I see the potential of Africa every day. But it is necessary that the G20 see that potential, too—and include Africa in their plans for a new global economic foundation.

That is why I support ONE in asking the leaders of the G20 nations to hold an upcoming summit in Africa. Bringing the G20 to Africa would make it impossible to ignore the role Africa must play in any successful global economic recovery. You can click this link to sign ONE's petition and add your voice to this urgent campaign:

The petition reads:Dear G20 Leaders,
Please hold an upcoming G20 Summit in Africa, and see for yourselves how its one billion people can be part of the global economic recovery.

As this group of twenty of the most powerful world leaders gather in Pittsburgh this week, I hope you'll join me in asking them to host an upcoming summit in Africa and see for themselves that Africa is part of the solution:

Sincerely,

Donald KaberukaPresident, African Development Bank

The other is mural is in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh, where the G20 – a group made up of the leaders of twenty of the world's most powerful nations.

This stunning visual petition asks those leaders to host a future summit in Africa and focus the attention of the world on how Africa can be part of a stronger, more stable global economy. And trust me, the presidents, prime ministers, and members of the media following them here in Pittsburgh won't be able to miss it.

Ask others to add their voices and check out this powerful message-by-mural, and you'll be doing everything possible to tell the G20 to host an upcoming summit in Africa:

Related Posts:

• African campaigners unite in call for more action against poverty

• Accession of African Activists. A DIY approach to the MDGs

  
  

No Leadership or Consensus Regarding Climate Change as Nations Meet

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The New York Times now has the same storyline as the China Daily News and that is that the new climate change agreement is in trouble. The problem is that there is neither a consensus nor a leader arising to form the consensus required as called for in this Note from the Secretary-General to Heads of States and Governments on Mobilizing Political Momentum for Copenhagen.

SCIENCE / ENVIRONMENT | September 20, 2009 No Climate Change Leader as Nations Meet
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR: As nations gather for a major summit meeting on climate change, none want to take the lead in fighting for significant international targets.

While virtually all of the largest developed and developing nations have made domestic commitments toward creating more efficient, renewable sources of energy to cut emissions, none want to take the lead in fighting for significant international emissions reduction targets, lest they be accused at home of selling out future jobs and economic growth.

The problem is that there isn't consensus at any geographical level even when there should be common goals.

SOUTH ASIA: Disunity Hovers over a Region Battling Climate Change - IPS ipsnews.net

KATHMANDU, Sep 20 (IPS) - As the Copenhagen Conference on climate change draws nearer, South Asia, which appears poised for severe threats from the impacts of climate change, faces a stiff challenge on two fronts.

For one, South Asia’s member states – home to half the world’s poor – need to convince the developed world to take steps toward the mitigation of future climate-related risks in the region.

For another, divergence of ideas among these countries over some crucial issues arising from the impact of this global concern on the region is a potential stumbling block to training some of the global climate change spotlight on South Asia.

The World Bank World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change demonstrates that this lack of cooperation and lack of consensus will most negatively impact the poorest of countries.

As Neil Bird of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Blog tells, us we still have long way to go on climate change: seven issues to consider from the World Development Report 2010.

Everyone talks about reaching a global deal over a successor to the Kyoto Agreement at Copenhagen, but as the World Bank’s new World Development Report comprehensively outlines there is a long way to go to secure an adequate response to tackling climate change.

The video makes a very important point in it's opening and that is that the World Development Report focuses on the impact of climate change on the developing world's struggle to rise out of poverty.

Our interest in climate changes starts and ends in many ways with our interest in development.

Marianne Fay - Co-director of World Development Report and
Chief Economist, Sustainable Development Network

Related Posts:

• One of the Morally Urgent Questions of Our Moment

• 7th of 8 days: 8 Goals Personal Stories behind the Millennium Development Goals

• 2 Steps Forward, 2 Degrees Back

• Different Paths to Saving the Climate - All Up Hill

• Two Pathways For Having Your Say on Climate Control

Upgrading Foreign Aid ONE important step in reaching the Millennium Development Goals

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The folks at ONE are reminding us that the law governing U.S. foreign aid policy was written in 1961, when Kennedy was president, roughly half of Africa was still under colonial rule, and the Beatles were just a bar band in Liverpool. I am basically just passing on what they said plus, as usual, adding a few links to provide more information.

So they want us all to take opportunity to bring our foreign assistance into the 21st century, so its is, as they say, better reflecting American ingenuity, generosity and values and more effectively fighting global poverty.

The idea is to call your senator(s) and tell them to "upgrade aid" now by cosponsoring the bipartisan Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S. 1524):

Mine in California are:

• Senator Dianne Feinstein
  Phone: (888) 441-3347
• Senator Barbara Boxer
  Phone: (888) 441-3346
  

You can find instructions and talking points and report your call here:

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to discuss this bill next Tuesday, September 22. To get S. 1524 moved on to the full Senate, we need to show support now for making U.S. aid programs better and smarter. Call your senator(s) today:

Introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), S. 1524 strengthens our ability to identify which aid programs work and which don't. It empowers USAID—the U.S. agency responsible for international development—to improve staff expertise and strategic planning; increase transparency and accountability; coordinate U.S. development programs; and align those programs with what's important to beneficiaries on the ground.

The connection with the Millennium Development Goals should be obvious. If the United States is not taking a leadership position on this issue both financially and morally, it is not likely that we will make any real progress. As ONE states:

U.S. foreign assistance has saved millions of lives, and thanks to your support for results-focused initiatives such as PEPFAR, the Global Fund and the Millennium Challenge Account, many of our investments are making a difference. But the way much of our aid is organized and delivered leaves room for an upgrade.

Tell the G20 - Go to Africa

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The current economic crisis has dealt a hard blow against the already lackluster efforts to implement the MDGs. We have already dealt with the fact that the Financial Industry Receives 10 Times More Money in 1 year than Poor Countries Receive in 49 Years. It doesn't look any better in the future. A Reuter's story by Laura MacInnis back on July looked at the dialogue between the G8 and the World Bank and determined that 2009 will remain dangerous a year.

The Group of Eight nations should not presume a global economic recovery is near, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a letter to G8 host Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi obtained by Reuters on Monday.

In his letter, Zoellick stressed the July 8-10 summit should also "focus on the plight of the poor in the developing world."

In the year to June 30, the World Bank committed $60 billion in aid to developing nations, much of it for infrastructure projects. Zoellick said wealthy nations should not hold back on further aid commitments in spite of the economic uncertainty.

There has been some signs that things may be staying the same. G-20 Ministers Back Stimulus, but Pay Limits Are Elusive BUSINESS / GLOBAL BUSINESS | September 06, 2009 By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and JULIA WERDIGIER

The world's financial ministers vowed to keep their multi-trillion-dollar stimulus efforts in place, but at a meeting failed to agree on any firm limits on bankers' bonuses.

Britain’s chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, said members of the G-20 “have to make sure that we finish the job we started.” He added: “There is still a lot of risk, a lot of uncertainty and a lot of obstacles to negotiate.”

So what kind of statement can be made to influence how the world's economic leaders look at the plight and potential of developing countries?

Well the folks from ONE have an idea. When the world's Presidents and Prime Ministers fly to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 24 for the G20 Summit (the latest in a series of high-level talks on the global economy, covering everything from international trade to the rules governing financial markets), ask that the G20 to host an upcoming summit in Africa and put that continent's potential on the political map.

ONE argue that if an African country is picked next to host an upcoming G20 summit, it would bring new attention to the role Africa can and must play in any successful global economic recovery. This blog has no problem supporting that idea having long featured TED Talks Africa, The Next Chapter which proves the point.

Click the link to add your name to our petition

The petition reads:

Dear G20 Leaders,

Please hold an upcoming G20 Summit in Africa, and see for yourselves how its one billion people can be part of the global economic recovery.

David Lane of ONE tells us that,

The Africa I've seen is ready to join the global marketplace and help drive economic growth. And its agricultural resources, if fully developed, could feed the world. In a recent visit to Ethiopia—where malaria deaths have been halved in only two years—I visited the new Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), a first of its kind electronic, international exchange for coffee, grain and other agricultural products. The ECX is entrepreneurialism at its best, helping farmers and traders get fair prices for their goods.

This kind of success is being repeated across Africa. Through smart aid and African-led innovation, poverty and disease are giving way to trade and opportunity. Now, we need the leaders of the G20 nations to go to Africa and see it for themselves.

Tell the G20 that one of their upcoming meetings must be in Africa:

Here is Economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin in a 2007 TEDTalk outlining the ambitious vision that became the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX).

A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S President

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Nancy Birdsall, editor for Center for Global Development provided on 8/22/08 The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President.

The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President shows how modest changes in U.S. policies could greatly improve the lives of poor people in developing countries, thus fostering greater stability, security, and prosperity globally and at home. Center for Global Development experts offer fresh perspectives and practical advice on trade policy, migration, foreign aid, climate change and more. In an introductory essay, CGD President Nancy Birdsall explains why and how the next U.S. president must lead in the creation of a better, safer world.

Center for Global Development on 8/22/08 also provided The White House and the World Policy Briefs:

These Global Development Policy Briefs present the key facts and recommendations drawn from chapters of The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President.

The following briefs are available now:

• Healthy Foreign Policy: Bringing Coherence to the Global Health Agenda By Ruth Levine
• Global Warming: An Opportunity for Greatness By David Wheeler
• Power and Roads for Africa: What the United States Can Do By Vijaya Ramachandran
• Don't Close the Golden Door: Making Immigration Policy Work for Development By Michael Clemens
• U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century By Sheila Herrling and Steve Radelet

For the next U.S. president, effective development policy is not only the right thing to do, it is crucial to the future well-being of the American people. [The] new CGD volume, The White House and the World, offers practical suggestions.

Escaping poverty traps

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In a previous post, I posted about the small interventions that have been recommended by the Millennium Project. We also need to be aware of the challenges in implementing even these small changes.

Andrew Shepherd on 7/2/08 wrote on the Prelude to the Chronic Poverty Report 2008: Escaping poverty traps via Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Blog.

The ODI Blog is featured below under Millennium Bloggers with Minds of Their Own. The post is almost two months old and was found while creating this blog. It is still worthwhile including in these early posts. I have added some updated links.

[It] is clear that many of today's poor will simply stay poor, even if economic growth is sustained. They are caught in one or more of five poverty traps:

1. insecurity of life or livelihood;
   
2. weak citizenship status;
   
3. living in a deprived area;
   
4. experiencing social discrimination;
   
5. or held back by poor quality work.

The second international Chronic Poverty Report, launched next week (event), shows that the poorest can be included in progress. ...(read more)

Sounding the alarm against further erosion of the Millennium promises by nations of developers

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Two articles today in the Los Angeles Times demonstrate that the struggle to implement the Millennium Development Goals are not only a matter of realizing the so far broken promises, but to also prevent receding even further from those goals.

Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer on September 8 2008 wrote on

--------------------
Dharavi, India's largest slum, eyed by Mumbai developers
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The rich of Mumbai want to turn the prime real estate into high-rises and parks. The poor but industrious residents won't go without a fight.

MUMBAI, INDIA; Reincarnation is Kallu Khan's stock in trade.

While Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, covers a story across the globe in Europe on the same day.

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Spain's environmentalists sound alarm

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A building boom is endangering some of the most precious flora and fauna in Europe, and sucking an already arid region dry.

TOLEDO, SPAIN; A frayed copy of "Don Quixote" was tucked under the front seat of Roberto Oliveros' battered white truck as he sallied forth through the fast-changing plains of central Spain.

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

These articles bring into question the viability of Millennium Development Goal number 8. Global Partnership. Although Global Partnership refers more particularly to debt cancellation and fair trade, if the poor have no true voice their ability to negotiate on their own behalf and benefit is meaningless. In regards to the environment, we have 3 types of resources, those that can be renewed, those that cannot be renewed and those that can only be squandered.

How effective is social enterprise? Compared to World Government Inaction?

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This blog does not put all of its faith in the well meaning efforts of those trying to influence world leaders into making the responsible decisions regarding the Millennium Development Goals, and it puts even less faith in those leaders themselves.

Without a doubt, those efforts must be made and governments must be addressed and held accountable, but other (borrowing from Jeffery Sachs) innovative on-the-ground interventions addressing these challenges are also essential. The old models of aid are not only being challenged they are being supplanted by social enterprise.

A recent article from Business & Human Rights Resource Centre on 8/29/08 addressed the question of How effective is social enterprise?

[W]hat is social enterprise and can a business have an ethical dimension? [Township Trades] in South Africagives poor people in a township the chance to develop new skillsThe business[trains] localsto make soap from natural ingredients, which is then sold at market stallsJonathan Bland, the SEC's [Social Enterprise Coalition] chief executive [said] "a social entrepreneur's main aim is to use the power of business to address social or environmental issues and use the profits generated to further these goals Howeverin developing countries, where wages are lowerthere is a danger that social entrepreneurs could be viewed as using the "ethical business" tag to reduce overheads[However] Mr Blandsaid "good working conditions, a fair wage, diverse workforce, and employee empowerment are the bedrock of the social enterprise business" [also refers to Elvis & Kresse Organisation, Divine Chocolate]

Accession of African Activists. A DIY approach to the MDGs

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The last post talked of the failure of developing countries to met their promise of the Millennium Development Goals. This post deals with those taking on the responsibility themselves. They may not speak of the Millennium Development Goals but they are working to fulfill its promise. These, and more, are all from TED Talks Africa, The Next Chapter, which can be found at the right-hand column under Learning More About the Issues.

Ory Okolloh: The making of an African activist
Ory Okolloh tells the story of her life and her family -- and how she came to do her heroic work reporting on the doings of Kenya's parliament. Watch this talk >>

Elene Gabre-Madhin on Ethiopian economics.

Happiness is not just a privilege for the lucky few, but a fundamental human right for all, and what is happiness? Happiness is the freedom of choice. Freedom to choice where to live, what to do, what to buy, what to sell, from whom, to whom, when and how. Where does choice come from and who gets to express it? And how do we express it? Well one way to express it is the market. Well functioning markets provide choices and ultimately the ability to express one's pursuit for happiness.

Euvin Naidoo on investing in Africa

About this talk

South African investment banker Euvin Naidoo explains why investing in Africa can make great business sense.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on aid versus trade

About this talk

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister of Nigeria, sums up four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade on the closing day of TEDGlobal 2007, and shares a personal story explaining her own commitment to this cause.

Millennium Project Late Start

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This blog is in actuality a learning tool for myself, I am simply making it available to others who are also interested in learning about the same issues. I had gathered a good deal of resources before starting this blog. Those resources helped me find yet more resources on the web including Rav Casley Gera's African Development for the Completely Bloody Ignorant. Rav not only provides even more resources, he does a good job of putting those resources into context. I already blogged (re-blogged?) on Rav's latest post.

In one of his earlier posts, he wrote on Millennium Project: Getting Started. I am going to skip the depressing parts of his post and go to the crux.

The goals remain the most comprehensive and internationally supported development framework ever agreed. So even if 2015 is unachievable, aiming for 2017 seems better than giving up.

This is were my skeptical, fledgeling, libertarian sympathies get mixed with my usual progressive views. I don't believe that governments are going to succeed or even make a true effort to accomplish the millennium development goals. What will be accomplished is greater awareness of the need of the goals and the failure of existing governments to act. I have far greater faith in an increase in social-entrepreneurship in the world by private citizens and organizations. The term non-governmental organization (NGO) seems inane to me. That will not stop me though from supporting positive approaches to bringing the Millennium Development Goals about. Rav tries to look on the bright side and so shall I. Truth is that, despite being positive, Rav also puts forward a pragmatic, dare I say, business-like view of what needs to be accomplished.

So let's pretend that, a little behind schedule, the world is now eager and ready to fund and support the UNMP's recommendations. Where do we start?

1. Every developing country that wants to be eligible for support should prepare an MDG-focussed poverty reduction strategy, a plan to achieve the goals complete with precise costings and measurements of the aid required.
2. Fast-track countries, that are most suitable to receive support, should be identified (more on this below).
3. International agencies should immediately begin working with poor countries to train thousands of teachers, doctors, planning professionals, engineers, and "village specialists" in health, agriculture, forestry, road maintenance and other basic skills. This is to ensure that once infrastructure projects such as new schools and hospitals begin, they aren't messed up by lack of staff, as has often been the case in the past.
4. The "quick wins", cheap interventions proven to be effective, should be implemented in all as widely as possible. It would take just two years, the report argues, to distribute anti-malaria bed nets to all at-risk African children.
5. Middle-income countries like China and South Africa, while they have their own poverty issues, should also be invited to join the coalition working towards the goals for poor countries. While their ability to contribute financially may be limited, they can offer expertise, training and certain key cheap materials - for example, China produces artemisinin, a key ingredient of anti-malaria medicine. (p50-55)

Each of these can be explored more deeply, as can the five separate systems that Rav provides that have recently assessed poor countries' governance and economic policies according to fairly strict standards. I am only going to focus on one though for this post.

• The US' Millennium Challenge Account, an aid initiative launched by the Bush administration which has some of the highest standards , with just 19 of Africa's 54 countries having so far qualified, including Ghana, Mozambique and Niger.

Because it wouldn't be fair to depend on Rav for all the links, here is one to the Millennium Challenge Corporation. It is the government corporation responsible for using the business-like approach to implementing the millennium development goals for the United States. What is of note to my progressive leanings is that this was started by the current Bush Administration, but when I read about it in the press names like Madeleine Albright and Ben Affleck pop-up. This needs to be studies more. What is more notable is the lack of support from Congress. Another resource of this blog is the the Center for Global Development who provides a couple of reports on the subject, Senate Takes Earlier MCC Haircut to Full Out Decapitation and Responsible Appropriation? Another Look at the Senate's MCA Slashing all posted by Sheila Herrling.

The Price Tag for the MDGs

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This weblog is a johnny-come-lately to writing about the Millennium Development Goals. When first putting it together I searched for others blogging on the MDGs. There are a number of "institutional" blogs, but I also found two impressive blogs that were personal endeavors. One which is African Development for the Completely Bloody Ignorant by Rav Casley Gera. Rav's latest post from 2/17/08 is on the Millennium Project: Why we must act - and how much it will cost. I am impressed with the organization of Rav's blog. He provides a good summary of the overall financials of the Millennium Development Goals. The importance of budgets to efforts such as this has already been commented on. This post will be a synopsis of his summary highlighting some of the important resources to which he gave access.

I am going to start at the end and highlight the Millennium Project Overview Report, the full 300+ page version, ten key recommendations, and the reports of the individual task forces provided in Rav's post. These provide a great deal of information on the cost/benefits rationale of the Millennium Project.

Rav goes through the "math" on how the proposals of the UN Millennium Project are designed to meet the Millennium Development Goals. It's definitely worthwhile going through his post, but the answer is $135 billion in 2006, with annual spending rising to $195 billion in 2015. Which sounds like a lot until you understand that it is between 0.44 and 0.54% of rich countries' GNP or you compare it to the cost of the Iraq war which some put at $3 trillion. It is still short of the 0.7% of GNP we've been promising for aid for around thirty years, first in 1970, most recently in 2003. The US, which has the economy to account for nearly half of the total extra aid needed, is currently at less than 0.2%. Only five countries -Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden - have reached the target.

Rav then provides The benefits of meeting the goals

Is it worth it? The report certainly thinks so. Meeting the goals means a host of changes of great benefit to the world's poorest people:

• 300 million more people lifted out of poverty between now and 2015 than on current trends; In Africa, 150 million people lifted out of poverty, as opposed to an increase of 75 million in the number of extremely poor people under current trends
• 230 million fewer people undernourished than on current trends; in Africa, 75 million fewer; as opposed to 25 million more on current trends
• 3.4 million fewer children dying each year, the benefits seen almost entirely in Africa

There are other benefits cited but bottom line, it is making a better world. Rav has promised a quick one-post summary of the key points for reference. He is also going to look at some of the critics of Sachs' proposals, and what it is they dislike. I look forward to both and will link when available.