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U.S. Urged To Simplify Foreign Aid Structure
By Peter Slevin, Washington Post Staff Writer
From WaPo - © 2003 The Washington Post Company
The Bush administration should overhaul its approach to foreign aid and streamline a bureaucratic structure that is growing unwieldy with the addition of new programs and layers of authority, the largest U.S. alliance of international development organizations contends. InterAction, which represents 160 aid groups, alleges a fragmentation of foreign assistance and "a loss of coherence in the field as multiple federal agencies pursue similar goals with little coordination." The consortium also warns in a report to be released today that new projects and the increasingly expensive reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan are coming at the expense of long-standing humanitarian and development needs. In the White House budget request for the coming year, InterAction reports, $350 million was cut from other accounts to complete the funding of $2.1 billion in new initiatives.
Part of the budget process is setting priorities. Even in the federal budget, where the dollars flow in breathtaking quantity, there are only so many dollars. New, high priority requirements are supposed to edge out lower priority requirements.
"As Congress further pares back the administration’s funding request, a Hobson’s choice has emerged between funding for core development programs versus high-profile new initiatives and emergencies, such as HIV/AIDS, conflict prevention or post-conflict reconstruction," the InterAction report contends. InterAction’s members include such organizations as Save the Children, World Vision International, Mercy Corps, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam America. The report comes amid a debate over the goals and function of U.S. foreign aid.
Given the membership of InterAction, I think we can guess how the debate's going to line up...
Next year, President Bush’s pledge to "lead by example" is scheduled to begin with the funding of the Millennium Challenge, designed to reward countries that battle corruption, reform their economies and channel help to their people. The program, pledged to deliver $5 billion annually by 2006, is joined by Bush’s promise to contribute $15 billion over five years to fight HIV/AIDS in 14 countries. The leaders of InterAction’s member organizations welcome the expanded efforts but see an "increasingly stark gap between funding rhetoric and reality." In calling for a full-scale review of U.S. foreign assistance programs, the aid consortium contends that "flaws" of the U.S. Agency for International Development have "largely been ignored" as separate government entities have been created to manage fledgling projects. "Foreign aid activities in the field are scattershot," the report maintains, "as representatives of as many as five separate U.S. agencies may be carrying out activities on HIV/AIDS, for instance, often without the knowledge of the U.S. ambassador, the USAID mission director or appropriate local government officials."
Reorganizing Aid efforts would probably make a lot of sense as I’m sure there are overlaps and gaps - there seem to be a lot of cooks in the kitchen. What surprises me most (How naive I am - is everyone else aware of this???) is this:
Interaction is composed of NGOs who receive US Foreign Aid, our tax dollars, and they are playing politics in unconcealed attempts to undermine US Foreign Policy - especially in Iraq.

Hmmmm. How, um, fascinating. I recall watching an Oxfam Int’l spokesdink on the BBC who relentlessly bashed the US and Bush for the Iraqi War - this was while it was in progress. It was very personal and very offensive. And I distinctly recall that Oxfam pulled out months ago. And these assholes get to distribute and take credit fo my tax dollars? Do I get a refund if they pull out? Grrrrrrr. Damn right it’s time to reorg how our money is spent - and especially by whom.
Posted by: .com 2003-11-01
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=20641