Recent news
July 2011
Congressman urges reform of US foreign aid
July 26, 2011 -- In a new post on the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) blog, House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Howard Berman calls on his colleagues to work together to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Berman plans to release a discussion draft of his rewrite in September.
“In this tight budget environment, one thing that can unite Democrats and Republicans is a commitment to make our foreign assistance programs more efficient and more effective,” Berman writes in the blog, adding, “We may have differing views on how much aid to provide and to which countries, but we should all agree to deliver aid in a way that reaches the intended beneficiaries and achieves its desired objectives.” According to Berman, a “vital first step” in reforming foreign aid is to change “our foreign assistance system from one that is almost exclusively based on inputs—how much we spend—to one focused on outcomes—how much we achieve.” See the links below for more information.
Other recent posts in the MFAN blog, including:
- Former Congressman Mark Green
- Former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer Connie Veillette
- Former Congressional Research Service expert Larry Nowels
