G8 remarks on the global economy.

At the Camp David Summit, G8 leaders recognized that the development of and universal access to environmentally safe, sustainable, secure, and affordable sources of energy is essential to global economic growth and to their overall efforts to address climate change.

Bill Gates commended today’s announcement by President Obama of investment in Africa’s agriculture to help millions of people lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.

Save the Children welcomes the G8 "New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition," but leaders must not allow the Eurozone crisis to derail their leadership needed to fulfill its promise. G8 leaders can't let the economic crisis in Europe cast a dark shadow over the bright promise they rolled out with African leaders this weekend.

As the Camp David G8 Summit winds down, international agency Oxfam criticized G8 leaders for failing to renew measureable funding and policy commitments to help address global food security. 

Michael Elliott, President and CEO of ONE, issued the following statement on the new G8 food security plan announced at the Camp David Summit.

The G-8 renewed its commitment to the Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition, and welcomed the steps already taken, in partnership with others in the region, to support economic reform, open government, and trade, investment, and integration. The G-8 also committed to further work during the rest of 2012 to advance the goals of the Partnership.

Leading NGO alliance InterAction welcomes an announcement by President Barack Obama on Friday that the Group of Eight  nations will commit to a new food security alliance during talks in Camp David this weekend and  urges G8 nations to follow through on previous promises.

This week's coverage focuses on the House State, Foreign Operations Subcommittee spending bill approved this week. 

DATE: Monday, May 14th, 10 am to 5 pm

LOCATION: Fordham University at Lincoln Center, 113 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023, Lowenstein Building, 12th floor lounge

RSVP: iiha@fordham.edu

InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs, expressed grave concern over the deep 9 percent cut in the discretionary spending allocations for FY2013 foreign affairs programs passed today by the House Appropriations Committee. 

Concern Worldwide CEO, Mr. Tom Arnold, was among the global leaders appointed today by Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, to a high-level international working group tasked with tackling child malnutrition in the world’s poorest countries.

Concern Worldwide U.S. Operations Director and Co-chair of the Humanitarian Policy and Practice Committee, Dominic MacSorley OBE, was recognized last night by the Northern Ireland All Party Group on International Development (APGID) for his outstanding contribution to international humanitarianism over the past 30 years.

Learn how the "Give a Goat" Coffee House is empowering families to provide for themselves, and how the Church of Guatemala's micro-finance program is helping small businesses grow.

Learn how our Haitian partners are empowering young people to take leadership roles in ongoing earthquake recovery efforts, and how a committed group of youngsters in Wyoming doubled the impact of their spaghetti dinner fundraiser.

This report highlights three examples of Episcopal Relief & Development’s disaster response work from the past year, putting the organization’s activities in the context of different stages on the “disaster cycle.”  Episcopal Relief & Development supports local Church and ecumenical partners as they assist the most vulnerable in

The Rev. Canon E. Mark Stevenson (Louisiana), Meredith A. Brown (Long Island), Lindsay Coates (Washington) and Judith Morrison (Washington) begin their terms effective January 1, 2012.  The Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls (Ex Officio) began his Board term in September 2011, upon the retirement of the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Episcopal Church, Linda Watt.

After a week of rumor and innuendo, amendments and points of order, the FY2012 Senate State, Foreign Operations (SFOps) bill appears headed for inclusion in a nine-bill omnibus that leadership will attempt to push through by mid-December.

Judith Hermanson, an accomplished NGO senior executive with over 17 years of hands-on experience directing and growing nonprofit organizations, will join the Pan American Development Foundation as its new Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer effective February 1, 2012.

La Agencia Episcopal de Alivio y Desarrollo y el Fondo de Inspiración NetsforLife^®  se complacen en ofrecer una selección de materiales educativos en español para invitar una mayor participación en la campaña de la Iglesia Episcopal que busca apoyar la lucha contra la malaria. 

Did you know…
… that together, InterAction members and U.S. corporations manage an estimated $19.4 billion in international development program funds? Together, we represent more than half of the total U.S. private investment in developing countries.*

A recent survey of InterAction member CEOs, presidents and executive directors revealed:

This year’s Gifts for Life catalog is filled with ways to delight those on your holiday gift list and help communities worldwide to flourish.

Read how atoll permaculture in the Solomon Islands is helping to secure the food supply in spite of rising sea levels, and about the 150-year-strong Eight O’May luncheon that benefits organizations including Episcopal Relief &

On Capitol Hill next week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a markup hearing of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2012 on Wednesday, July 20 at 10:00am in room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Check for other upcoming hearings in the Update below.

Read about clean water and sanitation work in Nicaragua, and a bake sale in California that raised money to help with the Japan earthquake and tsunami response. 

Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting disaster-impacted dioceses as they transition from emergency relief to long-term recovery. 

InterAction's analysis of the FY2011 federal budget for the last half of the year, to be signed by President Obama today. The analysis covers several humanitarian and development related accounts that InterAction tracks for members.

Note: Last updated April 20, 2011.

Policy brief from InterAction partner MFAN that makes the case for foreign assistance reform in this challenging budget environment.

"If you don't want to use military force any more than you have to, count me in. State Department, USAID, all of these programs, in their own way, help win this struggle against radical Islam. The unsung heroes of this war are the State Department officials, the [Department of Justice] officials, and the agricultural people who are going out there."

“For the first time, there’s been an attempt to rationalize the role of U.S. diplomats and development officers around the world and how diplomacy and development advance U.S.

After a brief hiatus due to the mid-term elections, the weekly update is back!

InterAction President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington, in representative of the alliance of U.S. NGOs applauds the President Obama’s new global development policy.InterAction looks forward to co-work with the Administration to turn the policy framework into results.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduces a CR in support of the MDGs.

 In 2005, in Gleneagles, Scotland, G8 nations committed to “act with resolve and urgency” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Letter from InterAction's President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah regarding the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance's announcement that it would reduce funding across all regions to make room for its massive response in Haiti

Statement from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Obama Copenhagen speech. 

Latest draft text (on December 15, 2009) from the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), a  key working group under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).   In 2012, the Kyoto Protocol expires and it is assumed that this six page paper may be the framework for a new global agreement to combat climate change.

An InterAction Viewpoint on the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.

Response to discussion in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) rewrite process with ten proposed reforms and other responses/suggestions from the InterAction community.

See also: HFAC Discussion Paper #1