Fight for the World's Most Vulnerable Thru Foreign Aid Reform

The U.S. government has finally reached momentum for reforming U.S. foreign aid with two acts and two sweeping agency reviews coming before Congress in the next months. But which way is reform going to go?

Nearly all sides -- Democrats, Republicans, and the non-aligned -- are looking for more peace for the buck, modernization, and innovation. But there are serious disagreements about how foreign aid should be conducted.

One thing's for sure, foreign aid reform is not just about foreign wars and global economics. It also has a lot to do with national security and the American economy. And to advocate well on policy, activists are behooved to rally around their home district congressional offices. Here's a run down of the latest details.

U.S. Foreign Aid Reform Update

Recently, I had a great chance to chat with Lorelei Kelly, a longtime Washington insider currently with the Afghanistan Congressional Communications Hub, and ask her how this reform movement is evolving and how activists might get involved. Admittedly, like so many others, I do care passionately about these issues but have been so distracted by three million other things that I've been completely lost on how policy advocacy is moving today in Washington, and in home district offices.

Currently, taxpayer funds are used all over the world for humanitarian response, counter-poverty development, democratization, post-war reconstruction, and -- ahem -- some aspects of counter-insurgency. Republicans and moderate Democrats -- represented by Senators John Kerry and Dick Lugar, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- wish to prioritize democratization, broad public health, civil-military partnerships, and contracting aid largely through corporations in order to increase speed and reach. They believe in the use of aid not only in the peaceful spheres but also in counter-insurgency, despite the many controversies.

Meanwhile, more progressive Democrats and independents -- represented by numerous think tanks, nearly every human rights group including Human Rights Watch, and all of the oldest humanitarian agencies including Oxfam, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, and the International Rescue Committee (the highest decision-maker likely to be USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, though I'm unable to confirm how far he may be on this side) -- advocate for a greater prioritization of maternal and child health, peacebuilding, education, and a firm separation of the military from the humanitarian space in regions where that military is a belligerent. Here's where the two sides pour all their ideas together and forge something vague and confusing but hopefully helpful.

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton just presented the Fiscal Year 2011 International Affairs Budget Request;
• House Representative Howard Berman (D-CA) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) introduced the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009, or "HR 2139" (you can search the congressional websites with this easier than other key words), back in April and so far have rallied 125 cosponsors. They'll reintroduce it in the spring;
• Senators John Kerry (D-MA, and now he's also a Change.org blogger!), Dick Lugar (R-IN), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduced the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009, or "S 1524," in July. Now a Bill, it has 23 cosponsors;
• Before these Acts / Bills are finalized and voted on this early spring, the Obama Administration is churning out two major reviews. The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) was started by Secretary Clinton in July to cover State, USAID, and potential avenues for improvement;
• Finally, there is the Presidential Study Directive (PSD), a government-wide review to include the National Security Council and National Economic Council. An interim version of the study report will be ready for the congressional discussions, but the final won't be ready until fall.

Taking Part in Reforming the System

There's a great deal of work going on. So how does a regular person get their head in the game? You can follow the growing debate throughout the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, the Web site of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or through the aid agency forum, InterAction. Also, be sure to follow Ed Pomfret's humanitarian campaigning project for Oxfam-GB at www.twitter.com/edpomfret and www.conflictvoice.org.

I'm rooting for USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah to not only advocate for humanitarian core values, prioritization of mother and child health, peacebuilding, and emergency preparedness. I also hope he will be the voice, backed by congressional leaders yet to be determined, for re-asserting the independence of foreign aid from corporate interests and the military, as well as the separation of the humanitarian space from civil-military partnerships in order to reduce threats to emergency and health programs where they are most needed.

Whether you are ready to rally behind these priorities or others, Lorelei Kelly has some advice. First, consider what kind of world we'd have if the movements for development and diplomacy were as powerful as the defense field.

And when campaigning for issues, remember that policy-makers are being bombarded by a noise of shouting and crowd burst emails. Many of them will respond better to building personal relationships with people, particularly those from their home district.

"It makes such a big difference," Kelly says, "when it comes from the district. If it doesn't come from the district, you'll never compete with corporations and their vast commercial influence." That's why even foreign policy is as local as it is global.

Photo credit: U.S. Army (U.S. Soldiers in Iraq)