This week's update includes:

• An analysis of the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012 in the House;
• A list of upcoming hearings;
• Summaries of Senate hearings on Sudan and South Sudan, and on the USAID FY2013 budget request; and
• A list of recommended articles from this week.

Identified as a key principle of effective development, country ownership has become an ever-present part of the foreign assistance reform debate. While the Obama administration has embraced country ownership in the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development (PPD) and other executive initiatives, it remains unclear how to put this principle into practice on the ground.

Samuel Worthington is quoted in this piece about Haiti's recovery on the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake.

Joel Charny is quoted in this radio piece about marketing and fundraising for the Horn of Africa crisis.  InterAction members The ONE Campaign and IRD are also quoted.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/not-exactly-aiding-relief

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

Country ownership empowers and supports effective states and citizens to take responsibility for their own development, using local systems and resources to build capacity and create change in communities that they are committed to sustaining.

Sam Worthington is president and CEO of InterAction. He served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Fourth High-Level Meeting on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea.

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.

InterAction News Release: G20 leaders meeting in Cannes tomorrow must not solve the sovereign debt crisis on the backs of the world’s poor and should take the lead on fulfilling previous commitments, particularly on food and agricultural assistance, said the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs.

Read how leadership training in Sierra Leone is improving gender equality, and how one young woman's entrepreneurial spirit is raising awareness and funds for NetsforLife^®.

Steinberg's remarks are titled, "Delivering Effectivev Development Assistance in a Changing Global Landscape."

InterAction President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington quoted in article.

Recent developments in the aid strategy of the United States — such as reversing a previous reduction in technical experts, and promoting more country-driven, outcome-oriented systems — have been endorsed by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic

Famine has been declared in parts of Middle Shabelle, IDP settlements along the Afgooye Corridor, parts of Mogadishu hosting IDPs, Lower

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.

A new USAID program allows companies of all sizes including large corporations, to send professionals abroad to local governments and groups in developing nations. Sam Worthington is quoted in a MSNBC article saying that a partnership of government, corporations and non-profits is essential for achieving the Millennium Dvelopment Goals.

At the G-8 summit in France, Obama wins support for aid to shore up emerging democracies and movements. Aid groups are skeptical, noting that the G-8 is behind on previous financial pledges.

This week, House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers (R-KY) announced a disappointing FY2012 subcommittee allocation for State, Foreign Operations that continues the radically downward trend in spending for international affairs begun in FY2011.

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.

InterAction is continuing to monitor the humanitarian situation in West Africa resulting from post-electoral violence in the Ivory Coast.

InterAction's G8/G20 Task Force released a 2011 G20 Summit Policy Paper entitled G20 Must Increase Its Fight Against Corruption earlier last week.

“We estimate that between 2005 and 2010, nearly half a billion people escaped extreme hardship, as the total number of the world's poor fell to 878 million people. Never before in history have so many people been lifted out of poverty in such a short period.”

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.

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. 

InterAction responds to the Obama administration’s recent Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy review by welcoming the long-term commitment to the development needs of the two countries but also highlighting several concerns with the overall assistance strategies in the countries.  

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.

This document, published by the CAADP Working Group on Non-State Actor Participation on October 20, 2010, is a summary of an action planning workshop designed to boost non-state actor participation in the CAADP process. 

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.

FACTS AT A GLANCE:
The global Red Cross network is providing:

Six months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, there is still much to be done, however, the communities Plant With Purpose works with have made significant progress by planting trees, constructing soil conservation barriers, and providing incomes to support their families through our “Cash for Work” program.

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.  

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.

Report of InterAction member organizations' activities in Iraq for 2009.

A progress report on Sri Lanka and providing full diplomatic and financial support for civilians since publication of InterAction’s 2008 Foreign Assistance Briefing Book.

Report of InterAction member organizations' activities in Afghanistan for 2009.

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

Critical Problems, Recommendations, and actions for the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress

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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In this issue, we explore the role of NGOs in major development initiatives. From Presidential programs to global efforts, we will look at how NGOs have helped to achieve results in some areas and how we can be better engaged in others.

This synthesis, published by Zaza Curran of the Overseas Development Institute in October, 2005, looks at civil society’s participation in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers process and examines whether the recommendations made by civil society organizations were included in the final PRSP documents. 

This briefing paper, published by Oxfam in January, 2004, focuses on civil society partnership and participation in the PRSP processes and offers recommendations for the IMF and World Bank on four specific content areas: macroeconomics, trade, gender and education. 

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.