Beginning in just a couple hours, Oxfam will host a livestream of their event “Can Country Ownership Work?: Field Perspectives on Strengthening Health Systems”.
Here’s a brief description of the discussion via Oxfam:
Have doubts about country ownership? Want to hear more about how it works in practice? Right now, President Obama’s Global Health Initiative, the Global Fund, and the International Health Partnership are all seeking to increase country ownership of donor health funds. Civil society and health ministries in developing countries have experience with a range of donor approaches: from disease-specific initiatives to health system strengthening to direct budget support. Please join Oxfam America and Management Sciences for Health a live webcast and listen to first-hand perspectives on country ownership from government and civil society health providers. Webcast will feature a chat room where online listeners can ask questions during the Q&A portion, and a twitter feed, please use #oxfammsh. Tough questions are welcomed.
You can stream the event live when it begins at approximately 2 PM EST here:
As promised, here’s the video from Friday’s great session– hosted by Oxfam America– on improving aid to developing countries. You can check it out below. (One note- the event doesn’t actually begin until about the 8 minute mark.)
This morning I attended a great panel discussion hosted by Raymond Offenheiser and Oxfam America on improving aid to the developing world. As moderator Josh Rogin of Foreign Policy magazine noted, this particular discussion came as the White House and the State Department are weighing and evaluating an overhaul/rethinking of US development policy. (In fact, it was Josh himself who broke news of the leaked Presidential Study Directive which proposed a massive restructuring of US development strategy.)
Throughout the discussion, John Githongo did a great job of illustrating and explaining– with some personal anecdotes– what ownership looks like… that is, what it means for a developing country’s people to really take responsibility for aid implementation, good governance, building infrastructure, etc. As Offenheiser also noted, “Oxfam and the US government don’t ‘do development’… the people do development.”
It was also interesting to hear John talk about what he described as the “declining relevance” of US aid in Africa in part because of other developed countries that are really getting in the game (China, Russia, etc.) and because African economies are growing. He did, however, talk a lot about how American values are perceived and shared around the globe, and how they influence development assistance.
Just as the institutions of religion should not be confused with the faith of people, aid industry institutions have developed in ways that put distance between them and the values that informed their establishment – ending poverty and inequality and promoting prosperity that emerges from people’s labor, thus affirming and dignifying them as owners of their own destiny. These values are as relevant today as they ever were. Africa is approaching an economic, political, and social tipping point, and smart donor support that leads to the empowerment of ordinary people is needed at this moment of risk and opportunity.
It was an aspect of development assistance I’d not heard much about before. I’m guessing Oxfam will post the video of today’s event shortly– I’ll let you know when they do. And I might have a bit more to add once I’ve had some time to digest what I saw and heard today.
PS– Oxfam’s report “Ownership in Practice” was referenced pretty heavily throughout this morning’s event. You can check it out here.
Tomorrow I’ll be attending a panel discussion hosted by Oxfam. Under the title “How Can We Improve Aid to Developing Countries?” the discussion will be centered on how U.S. foreign aid can produce better results by promoting country ownership and bolstering anti-corruption efforts. Below is the list of panelists. You can watch a livestream here beginning at 9 AM EST.
Josh Rogin, author of The Cable blog at ForeignPolicy.com, Washington Post columnist (Moderator)
Raymond C. Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America
John Githongo, Chief Executive of Inuka Kenya Trust and Head of Twaweza Kenya (Keynote)
Esther Tallah, Manager, Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria; board member of UNITAID
Honorable Minister Amara M. Konneh, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, Liberia
If you tried to draw a diagram of the U.S. government’s toolkit for fighting global poverty and meeting the MDGs, you would quickly find yourself submerged in a spaghetti bowl of conflicting responsibilities and mandates, with no clear goals, and no shared vision. This confusion in Washington leads to confusion on the ground, with very real costs for the world’s poor.
To address the problem, President Obama has mandated a presidential review of global development policy (the “PSD”). And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has launched the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (the “QDDR”). But these efforts are at risk of becoming an operational plan without a guiding mission.
In an op-ed on foreignpolicy.com Friday, Oxfam America President Ray Offenheiser calls on the Obama Administration to step back from simply stirring this spaghetti and articulate a clear vision for how the United States will fight global poverty.
To figure out whether our aid actually works, we need to know what we are trying to accomplish. Is our primary goal to reward our allies? Is it to keep our enemies from gaining power? Or is it to help people escape poverty and build a more hopeful future for themselves? The Obama Administration needs to answer this question first to get the best structure for our foreign aid.
That’s why Oxfam and others are calling for the Obama Administration to step back and deliver a clear strategy to fight global poverty and meet the MDGs – call it a National Strategy for Global Development.
Check out foreignpolicy.com to read the full op-ed.
-Porter McConnell, Aid Effectiveness Team, Oxfam America
The survey of more than 1,700 people found that amongst the people of Haiti’s most pressing needs, jobs led with 26% with schools and homes following with 22% and 10% respectively. The survey’s results are really fascinating, and one of only a few examples I’ve seen feedback directly from Haitians.
I’ve been thinking about that answer [jobs], and how it relates to all the ideas I heard at a panel discussion sponsored by Oxfam’s aid effectiveness team in Washington last week that focused on ways aid can help or hurt Haitians rebuild their country. Many of those ideas will get aired again at the UN today when international donors and government officials from Haiti meet to hash out next steps for the country.
But one idea stands above all the others: the need for Haitians to be in charge of rebuilding their country. Every one of the experts on the panel—including Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph, prominent Haitian Americans Paul Auxila and Joel Dreyfuss, and professor Robert Maguire–made that same point.
And they went further. They cautioned us not to think of Haiti as a blank slate.
Auxila, the chief operating officer for Management Sciences for Health, put it this way: “We need to realize we’re not starting from scratch.”
Haitians, from ordinary citizens to the Haitian government, have made tremendous efforts to improve their situation in the last decade. If we Americans are going to help Haiti recover from this terrible disaster, we need to use Haitian institutions, not build new ones apart. If we want Haiti to be better prepared the next time disaster hits, we need to make sure we’re not setting up temporary solutions with temporary technology and know-how that will fall apart when we leave.
Another key finding from Oxfam’s survey: Over 70 percent of those surveyed praised the actions of foreign governments during the post-earthquake relief period.
AmeriCares
Chief of Staff Carol Shattuck recounts her experience on AmeriCares first emergency airlift to help Haiti with earthquake and humanitarian relief.
Concern Worldwide
Program Officer Susan Finucane offers a video update of Concern’s work on the ground in Port-au-Prince.
Leon H. Sullivan Foundation
“In the aftermath of the largest earthquake to hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti in more than two centuries, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation has initiated a relief effort to help meet the population’s immediate needs and participate in long-term efforts to restore normalcy to a country plagued by natural disasters.
“To merely replace the unsound buildings and feed people temporarily will not be enough. My organization is working on projects to help Haiti and its people become more self-sufficient over the long term,” said Hope Masters, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sullivan Foundation. “We who have so much must never forget to help those who have so little.”
TransAfrica Forum
An online resource for the latest news on the earthquake and its aftermath. TransAfrica Forum also held a candlelight vigil at the Haitian Embassy in Washington DC earlier this afternoon.
World Food Programme
“Within the next week, we aim to move the equivalent of 10 million ready-to-eat meals so that people whose homes have been destroyed, and who have no access to cooking facilities, can feed their families,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We are also procuring 4.2 million rations of supplementary ready-to-use foods specifically designed to give children the calories and nutrition they need each day.”
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If you tried to draw a diagram of the U.S. government’s toolkit for fighting global poverty and meeting the MDGs, you would quickly find yourself submerged in a 
