Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN)

MFAN applauds yesterday morning’s release of Publish What You Fund’s 2024 Aid Transparency Index, which uses 35 indicators to monitor and score donors’ progress on aid transparency. This year, the Index recorded the highest ever scores -- including improvements on metrics such as the quality, quantity, and timeliness of aid data. The Index’s data is critical to not only development agencies, but also for journalists, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders. As stated by PWYF CEO Gary Forster during the Index launch event at the The Brookings Institution, “Aid data allows stakeholders to assess global promises and challenge donor claims. It allows informed decision making, better planning and hopefully better results.” Among the Index’s key findings was the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s third-place finish overall and its ranking as the world’s most transparent bilateral development donor (for the third edition in a row). In response to the Index results, MCC Vice President for Policy and Evaluation, Alicia Phillips Mandaville, stated "By sharing evaluations, underlying data, and program information, we not only show the impact of MCC's programs, but learn publicly for future investments.” While other U.S. agencies (see below) such as USAID were scored as “good” in the Index, there is significant room for improvement. Scoring 25th out of 50 organizations, USAID must build on its progress by publishing more results and impact information. Additionally, the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are currently far behind compared to other U.S. agencies. HHS is currently ranked as “Poor”, and State fell to the lower half of “Fair” due to its failed quality checks for project descriptions and lackluster publication of standardized organizational references for its implementing partners. Both agencies, as well as USAID, need to make transparency a higher priority, as evidenced in the Index. #development #aideffectiveness

A big win today with the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s bipartisan approval of legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation! Authored by Committee Chair McCaul (R-TX) and Ranking Member Meeks (D-NY), along with key amendments by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), H.R. 8926 contains several important provisions that will enhance the impact of the DFC and reinforce its development mandate. MFAN was very pleased to work with the Committee on the bill. Details and our full statement here: https://lnkd.in/e57wT8ex #development #aideffectiveness

At a time of acute levels of global hunger, ensuring U.S. international food assistance programs operate nimbly and effectively to help more people in need is paramount. That’s why MFAN, which focuses on strengthening the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance to maximize its impact, is very concerned with a measure in the House’s FY25 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill that would mandate specific spending for ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). RUTF is a highly effective treatment for severe acute malnutrition, but helping children suffering from malnutrition requires much more than just this product – and dictating spending on one product will hamstring medical and aid personnel on the ground who know best what is needed to save children’s lives. Read our letter to the Senate detailing our concerns about the measures impact on aid effectiveness and urging the Senate’s opposition: https://lnkd.in/eNS45eWC hashtag #foreignassistance #aideffectiveness

The House’s FY25 State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill, recently approved by the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 31-26, has very concerning budget cuts to USAID, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and many programs, but also some important #AidEffectiveness provisions. The prosperity and security of the U.S. and our key allies and partners requires smart, strategic, and innovative investments in economic and humanitarian aid programs, and the House’s budget cuts will set back these investments.   While the bill overall was cut 11%, of particular concern for the impacts on modernizing and enhancing the effectiveness of foreign assistance is the 28% (-$480 million) cut to Operating Expenses (OE) for USAID. Such a draconian reduction will take a heavy toll on our nation’s chief development agency at a time when there is widespread recognition that USAID has inadequate staffing levels to effectively manage its current workload, much less meet the additional demands placed on it from record levels of procurements due to unprecedented global needs. OE funds are essential for continuing to strengthen the agency’s oversight of program implementation, to measure and evaluate impact, and to apply a strong learning agenda for future programming.   On the positive side, the House bill includes important measures on issues such as: (1) integration of USAID’s Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Modernize, Burden Reduction Program (BRP), and localization initiatives; (2) reporting on USAID’s progress toward advancing locally-led development; (3) greater USAID use of impact evaluations; and (4) better transparency from the State Department by quarterly reporting to Foreign Assistance.gov. Full details in our co-chairs’ statement 👇 https://lnkd.in/gPTGyhQi

MFAN Executive Director Tod Preston moderated a panel discussion yesterday at USAID about the importance of increasing local leadership and inclusivity in USAID’s policy formulation and implementation process. Co-hosted by Save the Children US and USAID, the event focused on the agency’s recent revision to ADS 200 and Save the Children’s recent study (https://lnkd.in/eJWstEDQ) on ways to strengthen the ADS to enhance local actor feedback. The speakers included leaders with USAID’s @Bureau for Planning, Learning and Resource Management and pillar bureaus, local organizations such as Caritas Antilles' Marcia Haywood and Uganda National NGO Network's Moses Isooba, and Save the Children's Smita Baruah and Jenny Russell. The focus of the conversation was on USAID’s forthcoming three policies and position papers - multi-sector nutrition, the local systems framework, and humanitarian-development- peace nexus - and how they can effectively engage local and national actors throughout the policy drafting and feedback process to take a more inclusive and locally led approach. '#aideffectiveness #locallyleddevelopment

MFAN was delighted to partner yesterday with InterAction and the bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance, co-chaired by Congresswoman Young Kim (R-CA) and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA), for a congressional staff briefing on the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Our panelists (pictured below) – Julie Bulgrin, Robert Mosbacher Jr., George Ingram, Porter DeLaney, Jennifer Marron, and Tod Preston – discussed the vital #development role of private sector-led investment and what’s needed to boost the DFC's impact. It was a timely discussion, as activity ramps up on Capitol Hill to reauthorize the legislation that created the DFC: the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act (BUILD) Act of 2018. Earlier this year MFAN a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for the reauthorization, which include: modifying the scoring of its equity authority to more accurately account for future returns on investments; reinforcing the agency’s development mandate and its focus on low- and lower-middle-income countries, while also improving the process for considering projects in upper-middle-income countries; increasing the agency’s risk appetite; strengthening transparency; and optimizing the role of the agency’s Chief Development Officer and the Office of Accountability. #foreignassistance #aideffectiveness Read more: https://lnkd.in/eZD7WUei

In the latest installment of our new #aideffectiveness series, we’re profiling another success story of U.S. #GlobalDevelopment: Indonesia. Located on the Strait of Malacca connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indonesia is another example of the transformative and strategic impact of U.S. foreign assistance. Check out the case study: https://lnkd.in/ekSgUDr2

In the latest installment of our new #aideffectiveness series, we’re profiling another success story of U.S. partnership and assistance: the country of Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa. Check out our new case study here: https://lnkd.in/e-isPG2v

We were delighted to co-host a roundtable discussion this week with Humentum on the administrative challenges of working with USAID, especially for new and local implementing partners. Topics discussed included translating procurement documents into local languages and using Annual Program Statements (APSs) and fixed amount awards (FAAs) to cut down on time-consuming administrative tasks. Justin Fugle, a co-chair of MFAN’s Policy Working Group, provided an update on the policy context in Washington behind USAID’s burden reduction work and the link between reducing administrative burdens and greater #locallyleddevelopment. The roundtable - "Working with USAID: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations" - comes on the heels of USAID's recent announcement of its External Burden Reduction Program, which aims to reduce the administrative burdens of working with the Agency, and this joint Humentum-MFAN report on operationalizing locally led development. https://lnkd.in/eNvTxH-w

The final FY2024 State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill recently signed into law is a mixed bag for #AidEffectiveness. MFAN’s analysis of the final bill and report summarizes the pro’s and con’s – including troubling cuts to USAID Operating Expenses (OE) account and a large rescission in MCC funding but a new directive to ensure better and more timely reporting by the DFC on its investments and new authority for the DFC to use the fees it charges clients to cover project-specific transaction costs. #development #aideffectiveness Details here: https://lnkd.in/eU6zeHts