By Filmona Hailemichael and Todd Shelton

December 9, 2010

Next week, the Obama administration is expected to release the most comprehensive review of U.S. development and diplomacy efforts in half a century. The system which now delivers U.S. foreign assistance is based on legislation that was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Since then, there have been hundreds of amendments and executive orders but no comprehensive assessment of how the two major civilian components of our foreign policy work together to support America’s national interests around the world. Called the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), it is being released ahead of the 50th anniversary next year of the original Foreign Assistance Act and the creation of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The hundred-plus page QDDR is the culmination of a 17-month review involving hundreds of State Department and USAID staff. It is expected to include the imprint of Secretary Hillary Clinton's new “civilian power” strategy, detailed in her recent essay in Foreign Affairs magazine, in which diplomacy and development are closely coordinated to achieve U.S. interests and global security. By clearly articulating diplomacy and development’s contributions to security, the Secretary of State hopes to convince Congress to support the budgets of both the State Department and USAID.

A recently leaked summary of the QDDR offers insight into what will become the short-, medium-, and long-term blueprint for U.S. diplomatic and development efforts. Based on what we’ve seen so far, InterAction expects the final report to reinforce other recent U.S. government efforts to modernize U.S. foreign assistance, namely the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development (PPD) and USAID’s internal reform agenda called USAID Forward. The QDDR, along with these other reform measures, is significant because it will underscore development as a priority in achieving U.S. national interests and the benefits in making its delivery more effective and measurable.

InterAction hopes the final report will retain some of the elements highlighted below while at the same time address our concerns.

Positive Elements of the QDDR Summary:

Support for Strengthening USAID: The draft QDDR supports USAID’s internal efforts to bolster its policy leadership, build budget capacity, increase mid-level hiring, institute procurement reform and introduce a new evaluation policy.

Increased Recognition of USAID’s Role as the U.S. Government’s Lead Development Agency: USAID will assume leadership of President Barack Obama’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative and, in time, will lead the administration’s Global Health Initiative. Albeit with State’s oversight, the draft QDDR also gives USAID new authorities to prepare a comprehensive USAID budget proposal by FY13 and to formulate the development component of integrated country strategies.

Focus on High Impact Development: The draft summary embraces some of the core aid effectiveness principles that InterAction has long supported, including broad-based country ownership, donor coordination, monitoring and evaluation, managing for results, transparency, and gender integration.

Concerns and Remaining Questions:

Potentially Competing Humanitarian Assistance Structures: There is concern that the proposed new State Department Office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights may compete with the already existing Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at USAID. On humanitarian action, the proposed distinction between natural disaster response, to be the purview of USAID, and response to protracted, conflict-driven emergencies, to be led by State, is far from clear, as the current case of Pakistan demonstrates. Furthermore, for the time being, civilian emergency response capability lies almost exclusively with USAID, raising the issue of whether the State Department is in a position to lead the U.S. government response to humanitarian emergencies.

Balancing Long-Term Development Outcomes and Short-Term Diplomatic Objectives:  The inherent tension in the draft mirrors what has happened over the past 17 months of the QDDR process -- namely how to “build USAID as the world's premier development agency” on the one hand, and integrate both the diplomatic and development components into what is being called “civilian power” on the other. With State Department officials being granted ultimate oversight of development strategies and budget proposals, what is to prevent the prioritization of short-term political objectives over long-term development outcomes, namely poverty reduction? The summary’s omission of any reference to “poverty” is a troubling indication of the shifting priorities that may emerge in the final QDDR.

A Narrow Definition of Development Partners: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are recognized as influential, non-state actors; however, they are not included in the list of entities for partnership. NGOs play a crucial role in building local capacity, leveraging billions of dollars in private resources and bringing innovation to the development sector. InterAction would like to see the QDDR embrace the President’s Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships’ calling for “a new era of collaborative partnership between the U.S. Government and community-based U.S. NGOs toward our shared goal of global development.”

Longevity of Reforms: The draft summary does not include a plan for working with Congress to codify its reforms in legislation. If final QDDR recommendations to elevate development and strengthen USAID are to outlive the Obama administration, the State Department will need to collaborate with aid reform champions in Congress to institutionalize these changes.

InterAction applauds the administration’s efforts to strengthen and reform U.S. foreign assistance, and we look forward to the release of the QDDR final report.

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Filmona Hailemichael is InterAction’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator. Todd Shelton is InterAction’s Senior Director of Public Policy and External Relations.