A two-week edition of InterAction's Weekly Public Policy Update, which includes an analysis of the current FY2013 budget situation, a summary on a hearing about terrorist threats in Africa, and a list of recommended articles.

This week's wrap-up of happenings on Capitol Hill includes an analysis of the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee allocations for FY2013, a list of upcoming hearings and a list of recommended articles. 

This week's Update includes a hearing summary around U.S. foreign assistance priorities in Latin America and a list of recommended articles.

Samuel Worthington is quoted in this article about President Obama's nomination of Jim Yong Kim to head The World Bank. 

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.

Summaries of five different hearings on Capitol Hill this week, an analysis of two hearings by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on the agency's FY2013 budget priorities, a list of upcoming hearings for next week, and a selection of articles of interest.

Weekly Public Policy Update for Feb. 27-March 1. Includes a list of upcoming hearings for next week, summaries of two hearings on U.S. forieng policy priorities and two hearings on the FY2013 State, Foreign Operations budget request from this week, and a list of articles of interest.

With the completion of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, an estimated 1.5 million Iraqis remain displaced within their own country and continue to face serious challenges in restarting their lives. The overall security situation remains unstable, with several violent attacks in recent months.

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.

When we went to press Friday afternoon, the House had passed H.R. 2055, the “megabus” conference agreement on the nine remaining appropriations bills including State, Foreign Operations. The vote was 296-121.

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.

This week House and Senate appropriators inched closer toward a nine-bill omnibus spending package to complete the FY2012 appropriations process by Dec. 16, which is the date when the continuing resolution currently funding the government is set to expire. Please see the Washington Update section for more details on the end game for FY2012 appropriations.

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, Oxfam and Save the Children are quoted in the Croatian news publication.

http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/119130/siromasnima-ne-pakovati-krizu

ActionAid today issued the following reactions at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Cannes, France.

“The G20 summit outcomes show progress on tax and banking secrecy but fall far short of what is needed to resolve the world`s food crises,” said Soren Ambrose, Head of Policy for ActionAid.



 

Sam Worthington quoted.

A proposal for a financial transaction tax to raise new new funding for poor countries failed to win the backing of the G20 although France President Nicolas Sarkozy said he planned to still pursue the idea.

Sam Worthington quoted.

Sam Worthington quoted.

CANNES, Nov 4 (IPS) - While the Greek bailout and stimulus package dominated discussion among the Group of 20 (G20) major industrialised and emerging market economies at the high-level summit in Cannes, France, this week, the proposed financial transactions tax (FTT) received meagre attention.

InterAction News Release:

The outcome of the G20 summit in Cannes was mixed, with progress on tax havens but not enough concrete action to ease the burden of the financial crisis on the world’s poor, said InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based NGOs.

John Ruthrauff, InterAction's Director of Intl Advocacy, was interviewed about the G20.

http://english.cntv.cn/program/newshour/20111103/110252.shtml

InterAction News Release: G20 leaders meeting in Cannes should heed recommendations by philanthropist Bill Gates today in his innovative funding report and invest in inclusive and sustainable growth, said the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs on Thursday.

Sam Worthington quoted in Chinese news clip.

http://news.china.com.cn/2011-11/02/content_23799833.htm

Sam Worthington quoted in article

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global development groups on Friday called on G20 leaders to step up to their commitments to tackle global food security and come up with new ways to boost world growth that also benefit the poorest.

Late last week, the Obama administration announced that it has sent a “small number of U.S. military advisors” to central Africa to assist forces in the region that are pursuing the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

This week, House and Senate committees scrambled to submit their recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (JSC) before today’s deadline.

This week, the House of Representatives cleared a short-term continuing resolution (HR 2068) that will keep the government running through November 18.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations finally released their FY2012 report, available here.

The budget table details account levels for international poverty-focused and humanitarian assistance as well as other pertinent accounts within the U.S. International Affairs Budget (Function 150) that InterAction tracks and analyzes for its members.

On September 26th, grassroots activists across the U.S. will mobilize for a national call-in day.

This week the House Appropriations Committee unveiled the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2012, a stopgap measur

InterAction News Release:

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

InterAction continues to monitor the situation in the Horn of Africa and advocate for the needs of the over 12 million people who have been affected by the drought that has engulfed the region.

CARE and The World Wildlife Fund released a joint statement in applauding Senator John Kerry's inclusion of language linking conservation and development in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2012-2013.   

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

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.

InterAction Statement: House Republican appropriators today continued their assault on U.S. international efforts to reduce poverty, address climate change, and respond to famine and other disasters. This comes a week after the House Foreign Affairs Committee also sought to gut core development accounts.

Calling it "debilitating to my efforts to carry out a considered foreign policy and diplomacy," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning members of the House of Representatives that she "will recommend personally" that President Barack Obama veto a bill pending in the House that would severely restrict State Department operation

On July 21, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed H.R.2583, the FY2012 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, on a party-line vote of 23-20. The mark-up, which clocked in at over 30 hours, was thoroughly partisan with very few substantive bipartisan amendments adopted.

RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund is in its fourth decade as a grassroots advocacy group committed to creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. Planning advocacy strategies that have clear, powerful outcomes – and tracking organizational outcomes when you’re working in coalition with others – can be tricky.

The Senate's FY 2012 budget resolution (also the Democratic counterproposal to Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) FY 2012 House budget resolution).

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.

Today's edition of the Weekly Update includes news on the debt limit deadline and the Senate Budget Committee’s long-awaited draft FY2012 budget resolution. It also includes the regular menu of upcoming hearings, hearing summaries (including the contentious Senate Foreign Relations hearing on U.S. involvement in Libya), and articles of interest.

This presentation will share the preliminary results of a mini-campaign Mercy Corps is doing on hunger. The model we are using is a "low threshold" model suitable for organizations with limited resources to devote to campaigning, but with a desire to more fully engag

This week, The House this week passed its FY2012 Agriculture appropriations bill, containing deep cuts to international food aid grant funding—even as volatility in global food prices persists.

This week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was busy with several nominations hearings, including one for former U.S. ambassador to both Pakistan and Iraq, Ryan Crocker, who this time is up for the position in Afghanistan. Furthermore, Dr. Ariel Pablos Mendez testified on Tuesday to be the next USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health.

When critics suggest that the Obama administration is hard on the corporate sector, they may be missing specific elements of the Obama agenda that have lots of corporate sector promotions built into government programs. Take the volunteerism program of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

InterAction News Release:

DEAUVILLE, May 27– G8 leaders meeting in France promised in their final declaration to be “fully transparent” in meeting development pledges but NGOs are troubled by vague timelines, particularly in the crucial areas of food and agriculture.

 Almost six years ago at the Gleneagles Summit, the G8 promised to increase overseas aid by US$50 billion by 2010, with $25 billion of it going to Africa. But today, the G8 have failed to deliver on their aid promises to the world’s poor.

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.

Attention this week focused like a laser-beam on U.S. involvement and assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Previously scheduled Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings (summaries in the document below) provided a platform for senators to question experts on the utility of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and whether and how our assistance strategy to Pakistan should change.

Yesterday, the compromise FY2011 full-year appropriations bill (HR 1473) passed through Congress, with a 260-117 vote in the House of Representatives and an 81-19 vote in the Senate. President Obama will sign the bill sometime today.

On April 14, 2011, InterAction President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. His testimony, below, championed the importance and value of the poverty-focused development and humanitarian accounts administered by USAID and the State Department.

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.

This is the product of a two-month collaborative process among InterAction's members to develop analysis and recommendations in three core areas: leadership, coordination and finance. It will be the basis of InterAction's engagement with the U.S. government and with the UN in the coming months on humanitarian reform issues.

NGO alliance InterAction calls on Congress and the Obama administration to think long-term and preserve our government’s 2012 investment in international development, diplomacy and humanitarian assistance.

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

Last week, General David Petraeus and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michéle Flournoy testified before the Armed Services Committee in both chambers about recent developments in Afghanistan. Find a summary of these hearings below, as well as information about legislation on Haiti recently introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and a list of upcoming hearings and articles of interest.

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

Op-ed in The Christian Science Monitor by Ken Hackett, president of InterAction member Catholic Relief Services, on the choice faced by U.S. lawmakers about whether to cut foreign assistance in the FY2011 federal budget.

Congress is doing its part by preparing to cut the international affairs budget by close to 20 percent, a move that could undermine national security, defy military leaders’ advice and endanger U.S. interests and core values. Worst of all, these cuts would be disastrous for women and children—the majority of the world’s poor.

As the Senate begins debate on the budget for the remainder of fiscal 2011, senators will have to decide what this country’s international priorities are. This article recommends that the U.S. make foreign aid a priority.

This is final list of what happened to the amendments to the House Continuing Resolution (CR) Extension. The final bill  passed at 4:40 a.m. Saturday morning, with all but three Republicans voting for it and all 186 Democrats voting against.

Transcript of a press briefing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave after a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner on the FY2011 federal budget and planned cuts to all "non-security" spending.

Article in New Republic on how the U.K. has proved that during tough fiscal times, increasing foreign assistance is better than decreasing it.

Editorial from The Washington Post on why the sweeping cuts to the FY2011 federal budget, including foreign assistance, are a mistake.

Commentary in McClatchy on why the cuts to the federal budget in foreign assistance funds is dangerous.

In past years, the State Department and foreign operations appropriation bill has passed with strong bipartisan support, often by an overwhelming margin. Members of both parties have understood how important diplomacy and development are—not only to U.S.

On the House floor,  Congressman Berman condemned House Republicans for their irresponsible slash-and-burn tactics to cut spending in a way that seriously jeopardizes our national security and hampers our country’s economic growth.

InterAction member CARE's statement on the FY2011 Continuing Resolution.

Statement by U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on the FY2011 Continuing Resolution.

A line-by-line look at how InterAction is crunching the numbers in the House of Representative's 2011 "Continuing Resolution Extension" bill.

Note: Last updated June 27, 2011.

“In a tough fiscal environment, the Obama administration has presented a responsible and sensible FY 2012 international assistance budget; one that will help save lives, create economic prosperity here and abroad, and reduce future deficits by preventing bigger security outlays in the future.

 As the United States seeks to get its fiscal house in order, Congress must realize that cuts to foreign assistance now will only cost our country more later. Such a strategy would-–in the most basic terms-–be penny-wise and pound foolish.

The term “budget process,” when applied to the federal government, actually refers to a number of processes that have evolved separately and that occur with varying degrees of coordination.

Asked to estimate how much of the federal budget goes to foreign aid the median estimate is 25 percent. Asked how much they thought would be an "appropriate" percentage the median response is 10 percent.  In fact just 1 percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid.

The unrelated crises roiling Egypt and the federal budget have at least one thing in common: They both have brought calls to eliminate foreign aid.

As the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs for 10 years, and chairwoman for the past four, I know we can come together because we have. And our cooperation must continue — even as major foreign assistance has been put on the chopping block — because our national security demands it.

Article in the Huffington Post on Feb. 3, 2011, on the fight to protect the U.S. foreign assistance budget from cuts in FY2011. InterAction's president and CEO, Samuel A. Worthington, is interviewed.

UNICEF report six months after the 2010 floods in Pakistan.

“When I took office a year ago, the development community made clear if the United States was to play a leading role in international development, USAID would have to be strengthened and empowered with certain authorities that have been stripped from the agency over the course of decades. We heard you.”

U.S. government fact sheet on moving from humanitarian relief to reconstruction in Haiti since the January 12, 2010, earthquake.

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.

Transcript of a U.S. Department of State Special Briefing on Haitian food security from January 7, 2011.

Agence France Presse (AFP) article in the Montreal Gazette exploring both sides of the debate on NGOs in Haiti.

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.  

The capacity to respond to the urgent needs of vulnerable people in emergencies around the world is a central pillar of the U.S. government's foreign assistance portfolio. It should exemplify the impartial outpouring of humanitarian response in the wake of unthinkable tragedy.

John Ruthrauff, InterAction’s International Advocacy Director, is quoted in this article about the World Bank’s International Development Association agreeing to boost funding for low-income countries.

Sam Worthington quoted in Devex.com's report out on the QDDR.

InterAction members continue to respond to the cholera outbreak in Haiti. Find more information on our crisis response page.

InterAction members continue to respond to the cholera outbreak in Haiti. The international humanitarian community and Haiti’s government are acting quickly and coordinating efforts to respond to the outbreak and prevent further spread of the disease.

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

The Department of State, after consultation with the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), submitted this report detailing planned uses of certain funds appropriated for Haiti in the FY 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Bill passed by Congress on July 27, 2010 and signed by President Obama on July 29, 2010 (HR 4899).

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. 

InterAction is very pleased that President Obama has followed through on his promise to elevate global development to be as important a U.S. foreign policy component as defense and diplomacy.

 InterAction suggests that the Administration consider the MDGs as a key issue to the U.S. foreign policy and urges President Obama to take the lead in supporting the MDGs.

InterAction applauds for President Obama’s action of announcing his MDG plan on July 30-over a month prior to the U.N. MDG Summit in September. Meanwhile, we strongly urges the Administration to consider the following key recommendations on each of the eight MDGs as the plan is finalized.

Concern Worldwide has been working in Haiti for 16 years with currently close to 400 staff.

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.

Since January 12, 2010, Medical Teams International has:

Long before the crippling earthquake of January 12, 2010, Jesuit Refugee
Service had a grassroots presence in Haiti, providing humanitarian assistance
to displaced Haitians both in the town of Ouanaminthe on the northeastern
border with the Dominican Republic, and in the Dominican Republic itself. JRS

Tents fill every open space in Port-au-Prince: public parks, empty lots, even traffic
medians. For thousands of earthquake survivors, these crowded camps are the only
housing option.

Just six months after the earthquake, Habitat is:

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.

Almost a year since more than three million people fled fighting in Pakistan’s Swat valley and surrounding areas, the crisis is far from over. Over a million people are displaced, more are being forced into displacement every day, and two million are struggling to rebuild their lives after returning to their homes to find their villages destroyed.

The G8 and G20 countries have made significant commitments during past summits. However, their success is not determined by the contents of the communiqué but on whether their commitments are kept. InterAction applauds the G8’s preliminary accountability report and its commitment to develop a consistent and comprehensive G8 accountability framework. We urge the U.S.

 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.

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

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.

Discussion paper on rewriting the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

See also: InterAction's Response to HFAC Discussion Paper #1

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