The 2018 foreign assistance cuts proposed by the Trump Administration have set off significant debates about the priorities for US investments abroad. Moreover, with ambitious reviews of both the Department of State and USAID about to begin, there are even more questions about how the US can most effectively deliver foreign assistance. As both the Administration and Congress make decisions on the shape and size of this agenda, it is vital that they possess a solid understanding of the impact of their decisions, both domestically and abroad. This requires access to quality foreign assistance data. One starting point for this much needed intelligence is the International Aid Transparency Initi
We need the few giants to look past self-interest and towards building the humanitarian system of tomorrow, creating a win-win situation for donors, UN and non-UN agencies, taxpayers and, above all, affected populations.” Excerpt from: Too Important to Fail – addressing the humanitarian financing gap, January 2016 It was with these sentiments that 30 major humanitarian aid donors and implementers brokered a ‘Grand Bargain’ at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. The goal being to make humanitarian aid delivery more efficient, and to devote more resources directly to local organisations and populations by May 2018. We’ve now just passed the mid-way point through that process, so it is a
It is an anxious time. The development community is fraught over a complex of issues, only a few of which are the 20 million people facing starvation in Africa, no end in sight to the devastation of Syria and the refugee exodus, the impact of the re-imposition of the global gag rule, proposed budget cuts, and possible bureaucratic reorganization. But let’s focus for a moment on two positive notes: the prospect that a highly competent and respected administrator at the United States Agency for International Development may soon be in place and the continued progress that agency is poised to make on aid transparency. On May 10, President Donald Trump nominated Mark Green to the position of adm
