USA Today—Short-staffed USAID tries to keep pace
During her Senate confirmation hearing a few weeks ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a blunt assessment of the U.S. Agency for International Development, founded under President Kennedy to revamp foreign assistance. “I think it’s fair to say that USAID, our premier aid agency, has been decimated,” she said. USA Today looks at the agency and its resources, and concludes that to a far greater extent than the State Department, USAID turns to contractors to fulfill its basic mission of fighting poverty and promoting democracy. Some experts also say that after decades of staff cuts, contract spending has outpaced the agency’s ability to manage it.

NY Times—After Departure, No Leader for U.S. AIDS Program
The abrupt departure of the State Department’s global AIDS coordinator, Dr. Mark Dybul, has led to debate over who should run what may be President Bush’s most important achievement: his commitment of billions of dollars to fighting AIDS overseas. Dybul’s resignation and the secrecy of the process to replace him has also upset some AIDS policy specialists. Last week, a coalition of 68 anti-AIDS groups sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton asking her not to fill Dr. Dybul’s post immediately but to convene a committee to identify top candidates and get many viewpoints.

Reuters—World Bank appeals for Africa as growth slows
Africa’s economic growth will slow to 3.5 percent this year and could drop to 2.5 percent in 2010 unless rich nations take action to counter the impact of the global financial crisis, the World Bank said on Sunday. Experts say initial hopes the world’s poorest continent would escape the worst of the turmoil were premature and it will be hit hard by falling demand for commodities, reduced remittances, investment, tourism and domestic tax revenues.

Christian Science Monitor—Why Zimbabwe opposition agreed to join Mugabe’s government
The Christian Science Monitor looks at how the power-sharing agreement reached Friday between Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe will work. Notably, Mugabe and Tsvangirai have agreed to share control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which includes Zimbabwe’s often brutal police. And while the agreement is a significant development, Tsvangirai made it clear that it is not the end of the deadlock. “Let us make no mistake, by joining an inclusive government, we are not saying that this is a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis, instead our participation signifies that we have chosen to continue the struggle for a democratic Zimbabwe in a new arena,” he said in a statement.

Financial Times—Doha round hopes dashed by acrimony
The completion of the Doha trade round appeared as far away as ever this weekend, when a gathering of trade ministers at the World Economic Forum in Davos descended into acrimony. Normally, the closing session of the forum displays ritualistic expectation that the trade round will be completed in the coming year, but there was little such optimism in 2009. Speaking in Davos, Kamal Nath, the Indian trade minister, blamed the U.S. election for stymieing negotiations last year and highlighted the difficulties he faced in sensitive areas such as rice. For India, he said lives were at stake, while for the U.S. the only issue was commerce.

-Steve Wilson