Sen. Bob Corker
“The issues that we face today- from chronic poverty and hunger to violent acts of terrorism- require that we work seamlessly toward identifiable goals.” Senator Richard Lugar opened with a strong statement on the importance of aid reform yesterday at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that I attended called The Case for Reform: Foreign Aid and Development in a New Era. Witnesses at the hearing included Peter McPherson, President of Public and Land Grant Universities and former administrator of USAID, Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Rev. David Beckmann, President of ONE partner organization, Bread for the World and Co-Chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.
The hearing highlighted a bill written by Senators Kerry, Corker, Menendez and Lugar that seeks to strengthen USAID and thereby strengthen the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance. The bill has three main facets:
- To strengthen the monitoring and evaluation program of USAID by creating an “internal evaluation and knowledge center” and reinforce the partnership between USAID and the State Department to make sound decisions relating to development.
- To coordinate all U.S. agencies that have a role in foreign assistance by promoting information sharing and appointing a Mission Director at USAID to coordinate all development and humanitarian assistance within all countries where the U.S. works.
- To create a high-level task force at USAID and increase training within USAID and other U.S. development programs to alleviate the disorganization that has arisen with increased funding and decreased staffing at USAID.
McPherson, Sachs and Beckmann spoke very highly of this bill and were in agreement with the idea that the U.S. must increase their capacity in foreign assistance through higher level leadership and monitoring and evaluation. If these steps are taken, USAID will become an effective long-term development agency rather than the short-term disaster relief organization, which it has evolved to in recent years according to Senator Kerry.
Jeffrey Sachs had many strong words of advice to the United States development community. He stated that the framework of development assistance should focus on agriculture, healthcare, education, infrastructure, small business development and climate change, emphasizing that progress on these issues will promote resources which would in turn reestablish law and order in countries like Kenya where it is lacking.
Rev. Beckmann mentioned that the American people value aid reform and increased resources to developing countries, even in hard economic times. He praised ONE along with other NGOs for reaching out to members to voice these opinions and encourage their representatives to support initiatives such as the Water for the World Act and the Global Food Security Act.
- Leah Moriarty
Recently Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Bob Corker (R-TN) went on a fact-finding trip to Africa as part of their work on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Senator Isakson is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on African Affairs. He invited Nancy Bauer and me to represent ONE at a special private debriefing of his trip at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta. Others invited to attend included CARE state chairs Amy Kelly and Janis Sundquist, Emory University President Jim Wagner, and newly-appointed CDC chief Tom Frieden.
The trip took them to Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. In Sudan the Senators monitored the progress of the 2005 agreement between the northern and southern regions of Sudan, especially in light of the recent situation regarding removal and reinstatement of NGOs in Darfur. According to Senator Isakson, many NGOs who were expelled by the Khartoum government earlier this spring had already begun to return at the time of his trip, “but under different names, and with new restrictions.” Because the NGOs provide the only real source of healthcare (among other resources) for many people in this war-torn region, according to Senator Isakson, the continuation of humanitarian efforts for Darfurians is imperative. The key to making real change in Sudan, he added, is “making the Comprehensive Peace Agreement a reality.” Without the complete deployment of African Union troops, the region will continue to remain unsecured. The Senator also drew parallels between Sudan and the Congo with regards to the safety of women in both countries, saying, “rape is still being used as a military tool.”
Senator Isakson’s remarks, which lasted about 40 minutes, expanded on his theme of “Africa as the continent of the 21st century,” and stressed the importance of the relationship between the U.S. and the entire African continent. He noted the differences between this recent trip to Africa and another trip he took in 2002, pre-PEPFAR, and observed that the strides being made in HIV/AIDS treatment bring hope to those infected and affected. He asserted that “the drugs are working.”
Senator Isakson also lauded the work that CARE, based in his home state of Georgia, is doing on the continent. He shared a charming anecdote about a meeting he attended with a Village Savings and Loan Association at a CARE project in Tanzania, in which he witnessed the approval process for receiving a micro-loan. The loan committee had a cash box with three locks, and three different women each held a key. A prospective recipient would go before the committee to ask for a loan to open a business such as making garlic paste, dyeing batik fabrics, or making baskets, and if all three women agreed, the cash box would be opened. Then, with a wink and a laugh, he credited the success of such a program to the fact that it’s run by women – to great applause from the audience.
After his presentation, I was able to talk with Senator Isakson about his views on various topics, including the recent debates about aid to Africa and to thank him for his support of legislation that helps the world’s poorest people. I also got to meet CDC Director Tom Frieden. I was so pleased to hear Frieden ask Senator Isakson to make maternal and child health a priority, noting that although certain strides are being made with disease reduction, treatment and prevention in Africa (HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria), the infant and maternal mortality rates have not improved since 1990, according to a recently-released WHO study.
I look forward to working with Senator Isakson and his office to make sure that Africa ––and all the issues surrounding global poverty ––remain the highest priority.
-Kristi York Wooten, Atlanta ONE
Late last week, hundreds of ONE members called to urge Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee to ask questions about global poverty during Hillary Clinton’s Secretary of State confirmation hearing.
Some of those senators didn’t even get a chance, because Secretary-designate Clinton answered their questions before they could be asked. Her opening statement featured a long section on the two billion people worldwide living on less than $2 a day. She emphasized that the plight of the poor is “not marginal to our foreign policy but integral to accomplishing our goals.”
Opening remarks by Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts) also included a strong statement about the ongoing global hunger crisis. “The United States is uniquely situated to help the world feed itself and has the opportunities to recast its image by making the eradication of hunger a centerpiece of United States foreign policy,” he said.
In the subsequent question-and-answer period, ten out of fifteen of the Foreign Relations Committee Senators raised issues related to ONE issues, including these:
- Senator Bob Corker (Tennessee) asked about reforming and modernizing U.S. foreign aid, referring to the “maze of aid efforts that are underway” and the need for the State Department to examine and streamline these efforts.
- Senator Barbara Boxer (California) stated that “HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis — Africa, Asia, Latin America need our attention,” and went on to describe the persecution of women in the developing world.
Clinton responded with this assurance: “I want to pledge to you that as Secretary of State I view these issues as central to our foreign policy, not as adjunct or auxiliary or in any way lesser than all of the other issues that we have to confront.”
- Senator George Voinovich (Ohio) inquired about how “smart power” — (more…)
