This week's update includes a note about a Supreme Court case on Monday, summaries of three USAID hearings on the Hill, and a list of recommended articles.

Leading NGO alliance InterAction supports efforts to reform food assistance programs and urges U.S. lawmakers to retain the focus of these programs on reaching the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. 

The Rev. Eugene van Kramberg, of Eldorado Park, South Africa, works with other pastors and community members to address criminal activity through restorative justice mediation. MCC supports this initiative.

In a new report, Childhood Under Fire, launched to mark two years of violence in Syria, Save the Children details the impact of the conflict on children, showing that many are struggling to find enough to eat; are living in barns, parks and caves and are unable to go to school with teache

Three global NGO consortia – InterAction, ICVA and VOICE – are dismayed at the Security Council’s decision for all UN functions in Somalia to be integrated under one UN umbrella. The NGO consortia believe this decision will jeopardize the delivery of impartial humanitarian assistance in the country.

In this letter, 40 NGOs urge Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Jeffrey Zients to take steps to increase the humanitarian accounts to levels approved by the relevant Senate committees for FY2013, as the current Continuing Resolution expires.

The 40 organizations that signed this open letter are urging Congress to ensure that funding levels approved for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 are commensurate with humanitarian need. There is deep concern that current resource levels for humanitarian assistance are not sufficient, which will prove harmful to both U.S.

World Vision is extremely concerned about the plight of girls and young women in northern Mali, amid growing reports of young women being beaten, sexually assaulted and forced to become 'brides' for armed opposition groups.

In this December 2012 article in The NonProfit Times, InterAction President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington identifies foreign assistance priorities in advance of President Barack Obama's second term. The piece was one of four submitted by sector leaders for a NPT special post-election report.

An exploration of the Aga Khan Development Network’s approach to understanding program effectiveness

The Basic Education Coalition (BEC) announces the release of its recommendations to shape a new set of global education goals.  In Each Child Learning, Every Student a Graduate, the Coalition stresses that education must remain a priority of any new global strategy.  

As Congress debates the upcoming fiscal cliff, InterAction President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington released the following statement regarding a possible threat to charitable tax deductions.

Media advisory for Dec. 19 National Press Club panel and White House launch of Action Plan on Children in Adversity

On December 1st, Microsoft and Plan International USA signed a strategic alliance to support bringing digital access to yout

Plan International USA and the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) have entered into a formal asset acquisition agreement. In this innovative transaction, CEDPA will join talents and projects with Plan to strengthen existing programs and more effectively protect and promote the rights of women and children around the world.

This document, researched and produced by Mercy Corps, shows the differences in the House and Senate FY2013 spending plans for the International Affairs Budget's maternal and child health spending. It lays out the global need, the significance of funding levels, the importance of the funding and the impact of past funding.

This document, researched and developed by Mercy Corps, shows the differences in the House and Senate FY2013 spending plans for the International Affairs Budget's international disaster assistance. It lays out the global need, the significance of funding levels, the importance of the funding and the impact of past funding.

This document, researched and developed by Mercy Corps, shows the differences in the House and Senate FY2013 spending plans for the International Affairs Budget's development assistance accounts.

This document, researched and developed by Mercy Corps, shows the differences in the House and Senate FY2013 spending plans in agricultural appropriations for the following programs: Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition.

InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs, announced the Best Practices and Innovations (BPI) award winners on Thursday.  ACDI/VOCA, Alliance to End Hunger and Lutheran World Relief received the awards, which focus on building the capacity of local implementing pa

Against the odds of rampant poverty, recurring regional violence, and deep ethnic and economic divisions, Liberia has made tangible political and development progress since the end of its devastating civil and regional wars.

On October 22, 2012, U.S. presidential candidates will hold their third and final public debate – this time focusing on foreign policy. CBS moderator Bob Schieffer is expected to ask the candidates about their views on issues ranging from the recent events in Libya and the conflict in Syria to America’s role in the world and what constitutes effective U.S. foreign assistance.

Joel Charny, Vice President for Humanitarian Policy and Practice, is interviewed about the balance of humanitarian and technical assistance in the aftermath of the crisis in the Sahel. 

InterAction is issuing a call for workshop proposals for Forum 2013, to be held April 29-May 1 at the Gateway Marriot in Crystal City, VA. Any interested parties may submit a proposal. All proposals must be received at InterAction by November 15, 2012, via email, to workshops@interaction.org.

This report is produced by the OCHA Mali office in collaboration with humanitarian partners and is issued by OCHA Headquarters in New York. It covers the period from 11 to 25 July 2012.

Humanitarian groups partner with UPS to increasing their efforts to curb a recent outbreak of cholera in Mali, an area already devastated by drought, fighting, and food shortages.

A New Vision for the USAID-U.S. NGO Relationship is a policy brief prepared by InterAction’s CEO Task Force on Aid Reform and Effectiveness. The paper outlines our community’s rationale for a strengthened USAID and U.S. NGO partnership; lists our value added; identifies the weaknesses in the current USAID-NGO relationship; and offers actionable recommendations.

As the food crisis in the Sahel continues, Mali is experiencing an IDP crisis. As of June 26, donors have only contributed 37 percent of the funds needed to aid the crisis. Currently, the World Food Program is supplying food assistance for residents of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released report that highlights the growing food crisis in the Sahel. Currently, locusts are threatening crops, the arrival of rainy season means a high risk of cholera and low rain predictions later in the season could threaten crops further. In the meantime, assisting Northern Mali remains a logistical difficulty.

Conflict continues in Mali, where there are currently over 158,000 internally displaced people and 181,742 refugees in neighboring countries. Thus far, 37 percent of the required $213 million has been met and the WFP continues to distribute food to high-need areas in Mali.

UNICEF breaks down the amount of supplies they have provided to over 1 million children affected by the food crisis in the Sahel.

The World Food Program is attempting to scale-up their aid activities in the Sahel region, where families are facing growing food insecurity in addition to the upcoming rainy season. WFP is especially concerned about the status of adolescent girls, children and young mothers, who are disproportionately affected by a lack of food and poor nutrition.&n

On Wednesday, the forum began with a session on the future of development assistance. Panelists from the government, private sector, and academia answered questions regarding the changing nature of development. Topics open for discussion included aid effectiveness, the appropriate use of limited resources, recent successes in development, and public-private partnerships.  

As a food crisis intensifies across the semi-arid Sahel region of West Africa, millions of farming and herding families are struggling to get enough to eat.  

UNICEF urgently requires US$ 67 million to address the immediate needs of children and women affected by the Sahel nutrition crisis in the first half of 2012, which is part of UNICEF’s total 2012 requirements of US$ 120 million.

USAID report looks at the future of food security in the Sahel, projecting outcomes of November 2012. 

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, delivered a speech on food scurity at an annual symposium hosted by the Chicago Council on May 18, 2012.

InterAction’s 197 member NGOs are troubled by the proposed 10 percent cut in support for international development and humanitarian response which was passed by the House Budget Committee late on Wednesday.

On March 1, 2012 AKF USA and the Mott Foundation hosted an event with 45 philanthro

President and CEO of InterAction, Sam Worthington states that NGOs unfairly get the brunt of the blame for slow progress in Haiti, NGOs cannot be the only face of recovery.

InterAction CEO, Samuel Worthington addresses the progress of funding for Haiti aid two years after the quake.

Written by Tawana Jacobs, InterAction's Associate Director of Public Relations.

As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance (CCEFA), Congressman Smith supports initiatives and advocates for legislation that improves the transparency and accountability of U.S. foreign assistance programs.

“Country ownership” has become an often used term in international development. The purpose of this paper is to provide some clarification by presenting InterAction’s definition along with an outline of its core elements and recommendations for ensuring meaningful stakeholder participation in U.S. government development processes.

The Busan Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation is the outcome document of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held November 29 - December 1, 2011 in Busan, South Korea.

Carolyn Long, InterAction Director of Global Partnerships, is quoted in this article.

BUSAN, Nov 29 (IPS) – Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from around the world attending the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) in this South Korean port city have a rare opportunity to be on equal footing with governments and donors in a global conference.

Carolyn Long, InterAction's Director of Global Partnerships is quoted.

The draft outcome document for the Busan aid effectiveness forum is still under negotiation as African countries push for a 2013 deadline to end practice of linking aid to purchases from companies in donor countries.

NGO alliance InterAction applauds the recent introduction of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2012 by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA).

InterAction President and CEO Sam Worthington is quoted in this Horn of Africa story.

InterAction President and CEO Sam Worthington is quoted.

Three new areas in southern Somalia have deteriorated into a famine situation. These are parts of Middle Shabelle region, the Afgooye Corridor settlements home to roughly 400,000 displaced people since 2007 and parts of Mogadishu which are hosting displaced populations.

This week, the House State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee unveiled its draft bill for FY2012, which contained substantial cuts for humanitarian and poverty-focused development assistance.

Samuel A. Worthington writes about the prospective 2012 U.S. presidential candidates who want to limit our engagement abroad and  those lawmakers who propose  cuts to the 2012 foreign affairs budget have forgotten a basic budgeting rule.

InterAction News Release: Members of Congress and U.S. NGOs announce the need to integrate global development and environmental policies with the launch of InterAction's new policy paper titled "The Nature of Development," which calls for alignment of the two issues in order to improve the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy investments.

InterAction's PVO Standards define the financial, operational and ethical code of conduct for InterAction and its member agencies. These self-applied, high and objective standards set InterAction members apart from many other charitable organizations.

Although Congress is in recess this week, there were several pertinent hearings from last week whose summaries we did not include in the April 15 edition of the Weekly Update. Among these are an April 11 Commission on Wartime Contracting hearing regarding NGOs and Provincial Reconstruction Teams operating in Afghanistan.

InterAction's G8/G20 Task Force applauds the work of the G20 leaders to enhance financial inclusion by increasing access to financial services by low-income people. Improving the range and quality of financial services available to previously excluded individuals strengthens their ability to secure and increase their financial assets.

Negotiations over FY2011 spending between Senate Democrats and House Republicans remain at an impasse this afternoon. A government shutdown looms if an agreement is not reached by midnight tonight. Please check out InterAction’s extended coverage of the FY 2011 appropriations process in the Washington Update section below.

Japan continues to reel from the multiple disasters triggered by last Friday’s massive earthquake near its northeast coast. The media attention following this disaster has brought about a compassionate response from Americans. InterAction has developed guidelines on the most appropriate ways to help those affected by overseas disasters.

House of Representatives’ "Continuing Resolution (CR) Extension" bill for the rest of fiscal year 2011ignores the recommendations of military and business leaders and prioritizes relatively miniscule short-term budget savings over long-term security, prosperity and fiscal health.

UNICEF report six months after the 2010 floods in Pakistan.

InterAction's G8/G20 Task Force published a G20 Summit Policy Brief on innovative financing and the elimination of tax havens. The short brief provides information on the potential role a global financial transfer fee (also sometimes called a transfer tax) might play in responding to international crises.

An entry on USA Today's "Kindness" blog about projects that have been ongoing in Haiti since the January 12, 2010, earthquake, and ways that people can still help.

The $20,744,144 Food For The Poor raised for Haiti emergency earthquake relief had been spent entirely on those efforts by the end of October. The funds were used for purchasing food and other critical items that were not donated, as well as for shipping containers of relief to the country.  

Transcript of an interview of InterAction's president and CEO, Sam Worthington, and the State Department's Special Coordinator for Haiti, Thomas Adams, on the way forward in Haiti after the one year anniversary of the earthquake on January 12, 2010.

InterAction member Catholic Relief Services' one-year report on their work since the earthquake on January 12, 2010, in Haiti.

Joint press statement released by InterAction and 38 of its members on January 10, 2011, regarding the reconstruction in Haiti leading up to the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince.

Chapter Two of Bread for the World's 2011 Hunger Report examines country-led development and advocates for the United States to incorporate this principle into all of its foreign aid programs, as it has with the Feed the Future Initiative. 

An op-ed by Save the Children's CEO, Charles MacCormack, on CNN's website on the future of Haiti.

With an eye toward sharpened capabilities, one of the biggest tests of the QDDR's success will be whether it actually fosters an alignment of strategies and plans with appropriate resources, writes Noam Unger of the Brookings Institution.

The Obama administration is releasing 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.  

Sam Worthington, InterAction president and CEO, contributed chapter three to this joint study for preparation for the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.

Originally developed as part of InterAction's Africa Liaison Program Inititiative (ALPI) to foster relationships between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and nongovernmental organizations in the U.S.

Celebrate, Innovate, and Sustain: Toward 2015 and Beyond is a significant step toward a strategy for
reforming foreign assistance and meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

Six months after an earthquake devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010, Handicap International has made a provisional assessment of the situation, which you can find below along with an outline of its plans for the future. The association has a team of 480 people in Haiti, including 70 expatriate staff. It is the association’s largest ever deployment.

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake struck Haiti, devastating the nation’s capital and creating one of the most complex urban disasters in decades. More than 220,000 persons were killed and 330,000 injured. An estimated 3 million men, women and children – one in three Haitians  were affected.

Oxfam had been working in Haiti for 32 years when the quake struck. For the past six months, our programs have scaled up to provide water and sanitation, public health education, and ensuring people have access to food and basic needs through cash-for-work and cash grants programs. We are currently helping over 440,000 people through our relief and recovery programs.

Six months on, the dramatic destruction caused by the 12 January 2010 earthquake in Haiti is still synonymous with unbelievable stress for over three million people1, including 1.6 million living in 1,342 spontaneous settlements, of which 800,000 are estimated to be children.

The IRC launched programs in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the January 12 earthquake.

JDC, the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian assistance organization, is proud to be using its expertise to bring ongoing relief to the people of Haiti in their time of need. As the process of recovery in Haiti begins, JDC is addressing the physical and psychological rehabilitation needs of those most devastated by the disaster.

Six months after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, life is slowly resuming for families in Haiti, but it is a new post-earthquake life of rebuilding communities and coming to terms with a new “normal.” The new normal includes some being able to return to homes that have been repaired. For others, it means having to find a new home - often with a relative or neighbor.

On an overcast and rainy May 25, CHF completed a payroll in Petit-Goave for 740 laborers in its ongoing cash-for-work program. Workers had spent the past two weeks demolishing crumbled buildings and removing rubble in support of the USAID-funded CLEARS program. At the payroll, CHF paid workers salaries totaling more than US$47,000, accounting for almost US$62 per person.

AMURT’s mission is to help improve the quality of life for the poor and disadvantaged people of the world, and to assist those affected by calamity and conflict. We believe that the best assistance is that which encourages and enables all people to develop themselves.

JUNE 2010 marks 6 months since a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the island nation of Haiti…While the recovery process has begun, devastation in Port-au- Prince, and many areas beyond, remains without precedent. As many as 3 million people were affected by the quake, 1 million left homeless, 300,000 injured, and over 220,000 killed.

To continue supporting Haiti after the 7.0 earthquake on January 12, Giving Children Hope is transitioning from an immediate recovery response to a season of long-term reconstruction.  To date, Giving Children Hope has distributed over $7 million worth of life-saving medicines, medical supplies and other relief items.

This report is compiled following a request by the Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)2 at a meeting on 6 May 2010. The report is written 6 months after the 12 January earthquake in Haiti and is concerned primarily with

Our efforts in Haiti continue as we meet the current rehabilitation needs of the amputees through an amputee clinic being managed at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in the Central Plateau by Hanger Orthopedics, Christian Medical Mission Board, and other founding members of the Haitian Amputee Coalition, including Physicians for Peace.

The humanitarian response to the earthquake in Haiti represents the most challenging and complex emergency effort Save the Children has ever undertaken. The country’s

January 12, 2010 was a day when the world turned its attention to Haiti. A powerful earthquake rocked the country's capital, Port au Prince, killing an estimated 230,000 people. More than 300,000 had been injured and over one million made homeless. It was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years.

This is a step-by-step guide to assist InterAction members in developing and implementing policies to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of beneficiaries and vulnerable members of the community in countries where members work.

A summary of recommendations from InterAction's G8/G20 Coordination Group policy briefs on global health; climate change; food, hunger, and agriculture; accountability; global safe drinking water and sanitation; global economic crisis and;  basic education.

This policy brief, published by Save the Children in May, 2010, explores how to support local ownership and build national capacity by applying a flexible and country-based approach to aid instruments.

The world’s poorest countries had no hand in creating the global economic crisis and yet continue to bear the brunt of its ricochet effects.

 Notes from the "Consultation with the Global NGO Community on Building Back Better in Haiti" which occurred on March 25, 2010 in New York City.  The event was co-hosted by the European Union, InterAction, and the U.N. Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti.  

Letter from InterAction's President & CEO Samuel A. Worthington to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees on InterAction's recommendations for the anticipated FY2010 supplemental funding measure.

This is the latest version of InterAction's budget table, which include numbers from the President's FY2011 Budget Request and the FY2010 Supplemental Request.

This brief, published by Save the Children in 2010, explores issues for policymakers and practitioners to consider as part of a renewed emphasis on stakeholder participation in development programs. 

A progress report about Sudan and the need to ensure access to those who require assistance since publication of InterAction’s 2008 Foreign Assistance Briefing Book.

A progress report on Afghanistan since publication of InterAction’s 2008 Foreign Assistance Briefing Book.

 Text of the Final Communique issued by leaders of the G20 member states

Approximately 75 million children—55% of which are girls—lack access to quality, basic education. This education deficit effectively cripples the ability of these countries to participate in the global economy, build stable and democratic government systems, and protect their citizens from abuse and ill health.

This document, published by the Millennium Challenge Corporation in February, 2009, is designed to provide eligible country partners with an overview of how consultations are inte­grated into compact development and implementation, and to explain MCC’s expectations with regard to manage­ment and reporting on this process.

The current effort to reform US foreign assistance grew out of an understandable desire to better align US assistance with US interests and to improve the coordination, efficiency and transparency of that aid.

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This paper, published by the World Bank in 2005, assesses the World Bank’s recent relations with civil society organizations and proposes new options for promoting effective civil engagement in the future.

This document, written by Harry Blair in 1998, examines civil society participation and democracy building through five case studies, from which he offers a number of lessons for international donors planning assistance to civil society.