McCaskill supports increasing effectiveness of foreign aid

By Ellen Dillon

Last month, U.S. Sen Claire McCaskill cosponsored S. 1524, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act. This bill is an important first step toward comprehensive foreign-aid reform. The legislation will help ensure that the United States is appropriately equipped to meet the foreign-policy challenges of the 21st century such as combating extreme poverty and global instability.

Our current system of aid is guided by the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, a complex relic of the Cold War. The world has changed drastically since the Cold War, and we have learned a great deal about foreign assistance in the last half a century. We know how to focus on helping people pull themselves out of poverty rather than simply feeding them for a day or a month at a time. What we need now is a new foreign assistance act that addresses 21st century challenges and reflects our deeper understanding of how to address the root causes of poverty.

The responsibility for development programs is currently scattered across 12 different federal-level departments and over 25 different federal agencies that operate in the absence of overarching strategy for global development. We need to streamline our approach to global development by creating a clear governmentwide strategy which ensures we have the capacity to carry out effective programs. In the last 30 years, USAID, the lead agency in providing humanitarian and development assistance, has suffered from lack of funding for hiring and maintaining development experts resulting in a drop in the number of permanent employees by nearly half from 1980 to 2008.

The FARAA seeks to resolve some of the issues that challenge the effectiveness of our foreign aid programs. It restores policy and planning capacity to USAID so that it can take a more strategic approach by determining which programs work and which do not. It also creates steps to build USAID's human resources so that it is staffed by enough people with the right skills to effectively oversee our foreign-aid programs. The bill also creates ways to increase transparency in the U.S. aid mechanisms and streamline aid spending. By cosponsoring S. 1524, the senator proves that she understands both the need for effective foreign aid and for using U.S. taxpayer dollars wisely.

U.S. foreign aid has the potential to be an even more powerful tool in reducing global threats and improving our image around the world. U.S. engagement in the struggle against poverty serves to prove our good intentions and helps to create allies where once there were enemies. Foreign aid reform is one step to promoting security as well as combating hunger and abuse. However, we must provide assistance in smart and efficient ways and foreign aid reform is necessary to ensure we are achieving the greatest results for our efforts.

Senator McCaskill's co-sponsorship of this bill is an endorsement for efficient and intelligent aid programs, transparent government, a more secure nation and moral accountability to the world's poorest people. I applaud the senator for her leadership by cosponsoring this important legislation.

Ellen Dillon is a Cape Girardeau resident.