This is a joint posting with Sheila Herrling
This week the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, a fast-growing bipartisan coalition of international development and foreign policy leaders that I am privileged to co-chair, will be sending to the Presidential Transition Team its recommendations for jump-starting the process of strengthening our development programs. A growing number of voices agree that now more than ever, we must substantially bolster our capabilities to fight poverty and create economic opportunities around the world, both through increasing our investments over time and by making these investments much more efficient and effective. Strengthening these programs may well be one of the best investments we can make over the long term to restore global...
From the ashes of the global economic crisis, rose a stunning number of calls this week to avoid U.S. protectionism and isolationism through sustained engagement in international development initiatives and efforts to modernize foreign assistance.
At yesterday's White House Summit on International Development, President Bush and Secretary Rice warned that the financial crisis shouldn't lead lawmakers to cut pledges of aid for poor nations or back off commitments to free trade. Says President Bush:
During times of economic crisis, some may be tempted to turn inward -- focusing on our problems here at home, while ignoring our interests around the world. This would be a serious mistake. America must stay committed to international development for reasons that remain...
Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and International Environmental Protection, said he was proud to support any initiative highlighting the global development agenda for the next U.S. president during CGD’s Capitol Hill discussion of The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President last week. Menendez and CGD President Nancy Birdsall urged improvements in U.S. foreign assistance as part of the global development agenda in the U.S. national interest at the event and in testimony they each delivered earlier in the week to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
In his remarks during the White House...
The Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, like the Democratic National Convention in Denver the preceding week, featured high-level side events on global poverty. Despite a much smaller audience and far fewer international attendees in Minneapolis, global poverty made a brief appearance on center stage at the Republican convention.
CGD President Nancy Birdsall joined the ONE Campaign's panel on "growth, opportunity and stability in the developing world" moderated by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is currently co-chair of the ONE Vote 08 campaign, to get the presidential candidates talking about global poverty and development in the elections.
Other panelists included:Dina Habib Powell, director of Global Corporate Engagement with the...
Everyone says August in Washington, D.C. is quiet. That is of course, unless you are planning to attend the presidential conventions and from what I can tell, just about everyone is sending someone to the conventions. And this time around, CGD is going to both of them.
CGD President Nancy Birdsall and I are headed to Denver next week for the Democratic National Convention and to Minneapolis the following week for the Republican National Convention. While some may think we’re going for the parties (Kanye West? Willie Nelson? LeAnn Rimes? Rage Against the Machine?) we are not. There is actually a lot more going on related to global development at the conventions than one might expect.
For starters, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and friends are hosting an...
The U.S. Congress launched a new bipartisan Caucus for Congressional-World Bank Dialogue at a packed event on Capitol Hill July 16. The caucus, co-chaired by Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Betty McCollum (D-MN), provides a forum for members of Congress to engage the World Bank, parliamentarians and policy experts on poverty reduction, global development and trade.
As many Hill and Bank-watchers know, World Bank rules prevent its president and senior staff from testifying before Congress and restrict discussions to closed-door meetings. While some argue this protects the bank from type of congressional meddling that has hobbled USAID, it also means that the bank misses opportunities to educate and inform Congress about its work through public, congressional testimony. Reuters' reporter...