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. 

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.

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.

InterAction's Weekly Public Policy Update, covering Feb. 21-24, 2012. The update includes a list of upcoming hearings for next week in both the House and Senate, a summary of a hearing from last week on the situation for NGOs in Egypt, and a list of recommended articles that have come out 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.

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.

The UN’s integration policy requires the close alignment of all objectives and activities of UN entities, including its humanitarian bodies, to achieve political ends. This is fundamentally incompatible with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence -- all essential to operating safely in situations of armed conflict and other political violence.

“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.

InterAction and Oxfam were mentioned in news clip about G20 outcomes.

http://www.haixiainfo.com.tw/166004.html

Sam Worthington quoted in article.

Last Friday, we reported that the next Senate minibus would likely include the State, Foreign Operations bill, along with Financial Services and Energy-Water and that it would move to the floor sometime this week.

Sam Worthington quoted. Members ONE and Oxfam were also quoted.

Bill Gates has urged politicians to use the proceeds from a financial transaction tax to fight poverty and disease

Sam Worthington quoted.

The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, had planned to use his leadership of the G20 this year to highlight some of the needs of the developing world. Instead, the focus of G20 summit in Cannes has been on the threat of a Greek default and destabilization of the eurozone.

Sam Worthington quoted in news story published by multiple international outlets including El Mundo (Spain).

InterAction and Oxfam (Mexico) are quoted in this article.

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.

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).

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.

This week the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved its FY2012 State, Foreign Operations bill by a 28-2 vote. The bill provided $44.6 billion in discretionary spending, with an additional $8.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

InterAction News Release: NGO alliance InterAction supports the level of 2012 funding for international affairs approved Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee in a bipartisan 28-2 vote.

After a nearly month-long recess, Congress—and thus, InterAction’s Weekly Update—rolled back into town this week.

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

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.

A statement by the Somalia NGO Consortium from July 20, 2011, on the UN's declaration of the first famine of the 21st century, in two regions in southern Somalia.

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.

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

InterAction watched with interest this week President Obama’s speech on troop levels in Afghanistan. With much of the attention centered on the aspects of the security transition, the face of long-term development in Afghanistan remains to be seen. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that the U.S.

Robust foreign assistance helps governments in developing countries build more stable, prosperous societies, and can be a catalyst in pulling a country out of poverty.

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.

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.

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.

The G8 is committed to aid effectiveness in the areas of global health and food security. Food security is central in the G8's development concerns as the countries focus on financial aid as well as research. The G8 has also mobilized over 40 percent of the $60 billion that was pledged towards global health in 2007.

ONE's 2011 DATA Report is about how donor funding up to 2010 has not matched the amount agreed to by G8 nations at the 2005 Summit in Gleneagles.

May 13, 2011 InterAction News Release: InterAction President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington said on Friday he was very disappointed with the latest cuts made by U.S. House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) in the  2012 foreign operations budget.

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.

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.

In preparation for the November G20 summit’s consideration of innovative financing a number of leading institutions have produced analyses of financial transaction tax options (the IMF having done two).

NGO alliance InterAction welcomes World Bank President Robert Zoellick’s speech today in which he described the importance of civil society's role in development economics.

Collaboration is often key to advocacy success, and coalitions are one of the most common forms of collaboration. Understand coalitions and networks from an evaluative perspective, and learn about how to assess coalition member capacity, coalition capacity, and coalition achievements. 

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.

Our thoughts are with those in Japan and other countries across the Pacific Ocean that have been affected by the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami. InterAction member organizations have strong partnerships with civil society groups in Japan that are responding.

Earlier this afternoon, the Senate Appropriations Committee released detailed text of its Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011.

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.

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

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.

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.

U.S. Department of State fact sheet on an agreement to develop the North Industrial Park in Haiti to create 20,000 permanent jobs.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled the final report of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). The report provides a blueprint for elevating American "civilian power" to better advance national interests and to be a better partner to the U.S. military.

John Ruthrauff,  InterAction’s International Advocacy Director, is quoted in this article about World Bank reforms to increase lending to 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.

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).

This policy brief, published by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network in November, 2010, explores the lessons from Orissa and advocates for a greater need for political engagement and leadership; high-level administrative coordination and inter-departmental consultations; broad stakeholder consultation; and integration with regular planning and budgetary processes.

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.

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.

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.

The June 2010 issue of Monday Developments Magazine

6 months later, Haitians are still struggling to rebuild their nation after a devastating earthquake hit the country in January.

InterAction has published, Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): The Road Forward for the U.S., a policy paper that outlines key recommendations from U.S.-based international NGOs on each of the eight MDGs.

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.

 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 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. 

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