On the final day of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit yesterday, President Obama announced a new U.S. Global Development Policy.  The global development community has been waiting for this policy for a long time, and it includes many of the elements that Global Washington and the rest of the development community have been pushing for over the past year.  MFAN, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, has led this charge through its cadre of thought-leaders on international development policy.

Here are some elements of development reform that MFAN has pushed for over the past year:

• Elevating development as a central pillar of our national security policy, equal to diplomacy and defense;
• Making a long-term commitment to rebuilding USAID as the U.S. Government’s lead development agency, including “robust policy, budget, planning, and evaluation capabilities” and “leadership in the formulation of country and sector development strategies”;
• Institutionalizing a U.S. Global Development Strategy to be approved by the President every four years that will clarify our development goals and how to achieve them;
• Ensuring that development expertise is represented in the policy- and decision-making process by including the USAID Administrator in relevant NSC meetings;
• Establishing an Interagency Policy Committee on Global Development to set priorities and coordinate policy across the Executive Branch (it is also noteworthy that the White House specifies that the NSC staff will stay involved to coordinate the implementation of the policy directive on development);
• Creating a U.S. Global Development Council representing the private sector and civil society to provide high-level input; and
• Committing to a close working partnership with Congress in establishing a shared vision on global development.

In its blog, MFAN has compiled links to news articles and opinion pieces about the new development policy.   Also check out Larry Nowels’ article about the policy on the ONE blog, President Obama delivers at the UN. Now he needs to deliver in Africa. And read USGLC’s analysis of the new policy.

White House fact sheet on the new policy.

Watch President Obama’s speech announcing the new U.S. Global Development Policy at the UN MDG Summit.

Watch the webcast of President Obama and First Lady at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting.

Welcome to the September 2010 issue of the Global Washington newsletter. If you would like to contact us directly, please email us.

IN THIS ISSUE

• Note from our Executive Director
• Featured Organization: All As One
• Changemaker: Marty J. Kooistra –  Building a Better Global Future
• Spotlight: Community Based Education in Afghanistan
• Book Review – Up and Out of Poverty: The Social Marketing Solution
• Announcements
• Global Washington Events
• Other Events

Note from our Executive Director

Greetings,

Thanks to all of you for your involvement and participation in our summer programs. We were thrilled to have close to 500 of you present for the event with Raj Shah on August 13th. If you missed the event, you can still watch the entire program or read a event recap on our website.

Global Washington is growing. Our diverse and growing membership now represents more than 120 member organizations. Members include some of the world’s most respected companies, NGOs academic institutions, businesses and foundations. By drawing together this community with its unrivalled knowledge networks and hands on experience, Global Washington is raising the profile of Washington State as a vibrant center and respected voice for global development.

Our first annual conference held last December brought together 350 members of the national and local development community. Building on last year’s success, Global Washington will host its 2nd Annual Conference, Bridges to Breakthroughs: How partnerships and innovation are changing the world, on November15th and 16th.

The conference will convene top policymakers and thought leaders to explore how our region can best harness our resources to tackle some of today’s most challenging issues. We will be joined by some of the nation’s senior officials and experts to pursue the following key objectives:

• Explore leading trends and opportunities in global development
• Share best practices in public/private partnerships, social entrepreneurship and resource development
• Explore areas of cooperation and synergy between organizations and across operational sectors
• Build a shared strategy for Washington as a center for global development leadership for 2011 and beyond

We are working to create many opportunities for you all to connect at our conference and to share the work of your organization. You are all doing valuable work in the field, and Global Washington aims to provide a space for you to exchange ideas, share best practices, and troubleshoot challenges with other individuals and organizations in the sector doing similar work.

Hope to see you at the conference.

In unity,

Bookda Gheisar, Executive Director

Featured Organization: All As One

On January 18, 2002, the civil war that shattered Sierra Leone for roughly a decade officially came to an end. But the end to such a brutal conflict was not the end of Sierra Leone’s struggle.

With its infrastructure reeling from the war, and its economy struggling to reincorporate the hundreds of thousands of refugees that fled during the conflict, Sierra Leone was faced with a daunting task of reconstructing the nation. However, in its plan for reconstruction, the government overlooked the weakest and most vulnerable of humans: children.

With very limited access to healthcare and nutrition, one in every four children born in Sierra Leone dies of preventable causes before reaching the age of five. One in eight pregnancies result in the death of the mother, leaving the child infinitely more vulnerable to the harsh realities of life in an impoverished community. As of 2007, UNICEF estimates that 350,000 children in Sierra Leone live as orphans, after having lost one or both parents.

Such statistics illustrate the dire situation children face in Sierra Leone on a daily basis. As such, it is hard to imagine a future where these children live without fear of going unfed, unsheltered, or un-nurtured. Thankfully, All as One has stepped in to ensure a future of education, good health, and gainful employment.

Founded in 1997, All As One was initially created to serve the needs of orphans of AIDS victims in Zimbabwe, and later the Gambia. It was in the Gambia that Deanna Wallace, founder and Executive Director of All As One, met refugees from the Sierra Leone civil war whose depiction of the situation led Ms. Wallace to visit Sierra Leone. That first visit in 2000 quickly evolved into a much longer stay, ultimately resulting in a shift in focus from Zimbabwe and the Gambia, to concentrate on the children of Sierra Leone.

All as One primarily concentrates on meeting the needs of the orphaned and abandoned children of Sierra Leone. To create an environment that will facilitate the positive growth and development of the children under its care, All As One engages in three mutually reinforcing strategies.

To provide shelter, stability, and nutrition to orphaned and abandoned children, All As One operates an orphanage called the All As One Children’s Center. Currently 50-70 orphans are cared for at the Freetown-based compound. While at the Children’s Center, children are provided food, clothing, shelter, and loving, personal care.

All As One also runs a school for both orphans living at the Children’s Center, and children living in the surrounding area. Instructing children in pre-school through eighth grade, the school’s curriculum includes traditional subjects such as Math, Social Studies, Science, and Literature. In addition to this traditional curriculum, children under All As One’s care have had access to lessons in music, computers, and art.

All As One’s third strategy to facilitate a future for the children of Sierra Leone is healthcare. At All As One’s health clinic, children from the Children’s Center, local staff, and members of the local community have access to medical treatment. Professional health-care providers staff the clinic and the registered nurses on duty 24 hours a day ensure the children have readily accessible health care any hour of the day.

Upon leaving the care of All As One, the children embark on a path of their own choosing. Some leave for higher education, some leave for formal vocational training, and some for jobs. But just as in any loving family, support for the children does not end when they leave All As One’s care. All As One works tirelessly to ensure the children are equipped with the best tools possible so that they can be self-sufficient, contributing members of society.

In the future, All as One plans to construct a compound in which all components of All as One’s mission are housed. Plans for the compound include a medical center with a much larger capacity to better serve the children and families of the surrounding community, a larger school with plans to include secondary education in the curriculum, an expanded Children’s Center, as well as a dining hall and playground. The idea is construct this compound as a model for replication across Sierra Leone.

But in order to build such an important project, All As One needs funding. Currently, All as One primarily relies on the charitable donations from individuals all over the world, with some assistance from businesses and NGOs. All As One offers many ways to become involved and contribute to their work including donations, child sponsorship, volunteer opportunities, and the use of websites such as iGive.com and GoodSearch.com. But perhaps the most essential way to contribute to the growth and development of the children of Sierra Leone is through corporate or organization sponsorship of shipping certain necessities such as baby bottles, children’s clothing, household items, educational equipment, and other items on the All As One wish list.

Ultimately, anyone and everyone can have an impact and make a lasting contribution to the well-being of children in Sierra Leone. Thanks to the passionate, dedicated work of organizations like All As One and their donors, the children of Sierra Leone, once destined to a short life of malnutrition and suffering on an unimaginable scale, now have a future.

For the full wish list and a complete listing of ways one can support the activities of All As One, visit their website at www.allasone.org.

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Changemaker: Marty J. Kooistra – Building a Better Global Future

Marty Kooistra, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Seattle/South King County, has contributed to housing and human settlement throughout his career.  While running a diversified construction business, Kooistra returned to college as a non-traditional student planning to study architectural engineering.  The professor in his first sociology course, however, altered that forever by illuminating the connections between housing and all aspects of livelihood.  Kooistra’s bachelor’s degree in social work allowed him to merge his passion for the built environment with his deep-seated commitment to social justice and poverty alleviation.   This, in turn, led him directly to the affordable housing sector and a career of more than 20 years with Habitat for Humanity, including serving as senior director of global program design and implementation for the organization’s international headquarters.

When asked to define his personal mission in life, Kooistra described an ongoing commitment to service.  In everyone’s life, he noted, there are points of discovery of both personal vulnerabilities and personal strengths. This kind of outlook, he said, has driven his lifelong sense of responsibility to share his assets and gifts and to be “awake and alert” for ways to learn from those of others.  To the extent that this shared perspective exists, Kooistra says, challenges can be recognized and solutions formulated in ways that contribute to community and global transformation.

The extent of the relationship between Habitat for Humanity and global development surprised me; the organization actually serves more people outside the U.S. than within.  Being in Washington, one of the most diverse states, our lives are often tightly knitted with things happening in other parts of the world.  Kooistra affirmed that global work has been core to the mission of both Habitat for Humanity International (the organizational headquarters, which actually started in Africa in the mid- 1970s) and to its Seattle/South King County affiliate. Habitat’s direct service provision focuses on creating truly affordable and sustainable housing and on preventing homelessness worldwide.  But their mission also has an explicit mandate to serve as a partner and catalyst for global development in ways that go far beyond home construction and financing.

Kooistra said, “When there are disasters such as those in Chile, Haiti, and China, we tend to see people unify around the notion that vulnerability requires us to think about global responses.  So, it’s important for us as an organization to be a global partner and to encourage the public to become sustained global citizens.  One of the strengths of Habitat is its capacity to garner public participation.   We think that our greatest responsibility is helping people move not just from curious individual to casual volunteer, but to committed advocates for a robust housing continuum and revitalized sustainable communities around the world.  And truly, the original model for Habitat was the result of the founders seeking an engaging way for people to broaden their understanding and think more deeply about being global citizens.”  In addition to their local programs, Kooistra pointed out that 10 percent of the funds raised by all of Habitat’s U.S. affiliates go to support programs outside the U.S.; in this way, the Seattle/South King County affiliate supports the work of Habitat national programs in Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines and Tajikistan.

The Philippines

Let us look at a couple of examples of Habitat’s work in these target countries.  This year alone, Habitat has helped 5,329 families in the Philippines.  They note that “due to urbanization, 30 percent of the poor currently live in urban areas, but, by 2025, more than half of the urban dwellers will be poor.  The government estimates that between 2005 and 2010, the country needs some 3.8 million new homes.”  Through its urban renewal program, HFH Philippines builds efficient and affordable medium-rise condominium-type structures in areas where land is scarce and expensive.  In addition, Habitat developed a comprehensive Housing Resource Center, a large and multifaceted volunteer program,  and a “Peace Builds” program in the Philippines.

Kenya

The many challenges Kenyans face – 60 percent of people living in poverty, ethnic violence, rising urbanization, and periodic drought and flooding – include very poor living conditions.   Inadequate, overcrowded homes, typically with only one room and no windows –breeding grounds for many life-threatening diseases—are commonplace.   Since 1982, Habitat for Humanity has built over 2900 homes in partnership with families and over 70 local communities.  Habitat’s appropriate technologies strategies tailor construction to local conditions.  Houses in Kenya utilize concrete foundations and floors, corrugated galvanized iron roofs and durable walls made of locally-produced brick, stone, rammed earth or stabilized soil block.  This kind of simple, durable construction also supports family health.

Habitat’s community-based programs recognize that housing and shelter solutions are sustainable only when considered as part of holistic poverty alleviation efforts.  Their projects are accomplished in full partnership with families, local government entities and local and international NGOs.  Kooistra is a strong believer in leveraging partnerships and alliances to obtain the efficiency and holistic outcomes that support sustained success.  He speaks from experience:  while he was in India preparing land for a large-scale project, Hurricane Katrina hit.  He was asked to serve as Vice President of Collaborations and Strategic Partnerships and in that role, convened two powerful Gulf recovery coalitions involving Enterprise Community Partners, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, HFHI, LISC, NeighborWorks, RALLY, Tulane University, and World Vision.   The gulf response actually served as a kind of controlled test environment for Habitat’s new global strategic focus on advocacy, collaboration and systemic change.  Lessons learned from those recovery efforts laid the groundwork for an enterprise focus on serving as catalysts for transforming the systems that limit access to secure housing and livelihood.

Marty Kooistra certainly has dedicated his life to building for a better global future.

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Spotlight: Community based education in Afghanistan

Did you have a chance to read the article in the New York Times about the impact of education and schools in Afghanistan?

Global Washington Member organization, Ayni Education International, will be presenting at the Global Washington conference about their work.  Here is a bit more about their approach:

Week after week, headlines are filled with stories of terrorism and extremism. Al Qaeda operatives brutally murder 10 foreign aid workers in Afghanistan, including an eye doctor and dentist; an suicide bomber blows himself up at the gates of the presidential palace in Mogadishu; a road-side bomb kills another U.S. soldier. What’s the best way to reduce threats of terrorism? More soldiers? More security cameras? Full body scans? As in past years, we’ll pour millions of dollars into new gadgets and military build-up. But, threats will continue largely undiminished, because we continue to put our monies and energies far downstream from the source of the problem, which is rooted in poverty, hopelessness, and growing economic disparity.

We actually know what works to reduce these problems.  Educating and empowering girls, in particular, may well be the highest rate of return in the developing world. Having now built or repaired 40 schools for approximately 25,000 kids in Afghanistan over the past 8.5 years, I can verify that it is a building block to eliminating poverty, oppression and extremism.  Come learn more about the importance of investing in women and girls, as well as effective strategies and solutions, at Global Washington’s annual conference in November.

When Julia Bolz and her American colleagues first started working in north-central Afghanistan in January 2002, Afghanistan led the world in child and maternal mortality, homelessness, and landmine victims. Life expectancy was 43 years of age. And, in north-central Afghanistan, the literacy rate was 6.5%. Responding to the call “Build us schools!” from communities visited, government and religious leaders, Julia began work. To date, Ayni staff and supporters have equipped and built or repaired some 40 schools, serving some 25,000 students. Additional projects focus on teacher training, community development, and strengthening the Afghan education system.

Before joining the grassroots movement for gender equality, Julia worked at one of Seattle’s most prestigious law firms, Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland as a successful business immigration lawyer, representing Fortune 500 companies worldwide. . She received Seattle’s Tom C. Wales Citizenship Award for her combined humanitarian efforts.  Bolz graduated from Smith College.

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Book Review

Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

By Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

2009 Alfred A Knopf Publisher

“Women hold up half the sky”, Chinese Proverb

Development experts from Kofi Annan to PATH’s Chris Elias have stated that the most important thing we can do to bring about positive change in this world is to empower women. Half the Sky is a call to action to do just that. The authors clearly show that the worldwide struggle for women’s equality is “the paramount moral challenge” of our time. It is a powerful and gripping collection of true stories of the outrageous treatment of women around the world – some so brutal that they are difficult to read. And yet it is also an illustration of women overcoming unfathomable hardships. Half the Sky was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist, and his wife, distinguished journalist and editor Sheryl WuDunn. Their aim is to “recruit” us all to support women around the world in their struggle for real freedom and gender equality. There are stories of the harsh reality of sex trafficking and slavery in Asia and Eastern Europe, honor killings in India, and female genital mutilation. They also talk about rape being used as a weapon in many conflicts such as the current fighting in the “world capital of rape … eastern Congo”.

In the opening pages of this call to conscience, the authors talk about 60 to 100 million “missing” women and assert more girls and women die from preventable causes in any given decade “than all the genocides of the 20^th century.” They tell of Prudence Lemokouno, from Cameroon. Her sad story is repeated countless times in rural villages around the world. She received no prenatal care and after three days of difficult labor, a well-meaning birth attendant jumped up and down on her belly, rupturing her uterus. Prudence’s family paid a man to take her 75 miles to the nearest hospital, where the doctor demanded more money. An operation was finally performed, but several days too late, neither the mother nor baby survived.

Half the Sky tackles real life atrocities by giving poignant portraits of survivors, imparting factual information and showing the capacity of ordinary citizens, including Americans, to bring about change. They tell the story of an Ethiopian girl suffering from fistula who was able to have corrective surgery at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Having finally been cured of this debilitating condition, she stayed on at the hospital making beds and assisting the surgeons. Eventually, she learned to perform fistula operations herself. Though she is still learning to read and write, she now teaches others to perform this surgery.

Kristof and WuDunn note the analogy between women’s status today and the evolution of the abolitionist movement. They point out the overwhelming struggle to create the profound social change that ended slavery and what is needed today to eradicate the pervasive worldwide mistreatment and degradation of women. One of many shocking facts – female slavery is more pervasive today than it was in the 18^th century.

Government programs and large charities – with the exception of CARE, which has recently made the empowerment of girls and women a priority – get little coverage. The authors do highlight a few individual Westerners, whom they describe as “social entrepreneurs”, who are doing extraordinary work. They include Zach Hunter, a twelve year old from Atlanta tackling forced labor and child slavery, Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea”, who is building schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Harper McConnell who works with rape victims in a HEAL Africa hospital in eastern Congo.

Kristof and WuDunn demonstrate through these women’s stories that it is possible to “turn oppression into opportunity.” Half the Sky closes with a call to arms. The authors suggest steps that each of us can take to end the brutal treatment of women and provide a roadmap to empower all women.

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Announcements

Check out Humanosphere–KPLU-NPR’s New Global Development Blog

Interested in our region’s growing leadership role in global development? Take a look at KPLU-NPR’s new blog Humanosphere. Hosted by long-time Seattle journalist Tom Paulson, Humanosphere aims to be your go-to online site for news, dialogue and maybe even humor about matters of global health and development. Take a look. Follow Tom on Twitter (@tompaulson). The site is still taking shape and he wants your ideas, thoughts and critiques.

Social Innovation and Collaborative Leadership in Global Community: iLeap International Fellows Panel Discussion

Global Issues & Perspectives is a free lecture/discussion series sponsored by the Center for Creative Change to address the question: What do we need to know to become effective global citizens? The series is an enriching opportunity to hear, learn from and be inspired by individuals — many of whom are from other cultures and countries — who are invited to Antioch to share their values and vision.

iLeap: The Center for Critical Service is an international nonprofit organization with an intention to cultivate and inspire a new generation of global citizens. iLeap conducts hands-on, educational and professional training programs in Seattle and innovative international travel programs in partnership with communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. All of our programs incorporate academic experiential learning, and leadership principles designed to support personal and professional development. Our carefully crafted programs prepare participants with the practical skills, critical thinking, and global community of support necessary to create sustainable social change in the world.

When: September 29^th at 7 p.m.
Where: Antioch University Campus, Room 100, 2326 Sixth Avenue
Who: Britt Yamamoto, iLeap executive director, is C3 core faculty.
More info:  contact Shelley Dove at 206-268-4908.

To find out more about the Center for Creative Change, visit this page. To see more events in the Global Issues & Perspectives series, visit here.

Share Social Enterprise Growth Stories with the SEEP Network and Beyond Profit

Want to share a story about a sustainable international social enterprise improving income and benefits of many low-income people? Want to tell others about the amazing growth of a social enterprise? The SEEP Network, Beyond Profit and other partners need your stories about growth, scale, and transition to highlight both organizational successes and challenges.  The SEEP Network is a U.S. NGO that works with associations and organizations to create opportunity for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Intellecap’s Beyond Profit is the leading publication on social enterprise and development innovation in the developing world.

We need stories about:

• Sustainable social enterprises (non-profit, for-profit, and hybrid)
• Enterprises that create jobs, financial sufficiency and benefits to poor communities
• Rapid growth, scaling up (and its process)
• A challenging transition
• From developing countries and the Global South

The SEEP Network will post stories online at www.seepnetwork.org reaching thousands of social development practitioners. Beyond Profit will publish the best three stories reaching more than 10,000 people in over 75 countries. The authors of the top three submissions will present at the Social Enterprise Learning Symposium at The SEEP Network Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 1-5, 2010. The winner will receive a travel stipend.

Deadline for submissions is September 24. Email socentstory@intellecap.com.

Click here for a template to write your stories. The best stories will have a narrative shape, and will use photographs, graphics and images to convey the organization’s value. The questions under each section are suggestions for documentation. Please contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for your contribution!

Volunteer Opportunities in Seattle Schools with Bridges to Understanding

Bridges to Understanding is currently recruiting volunteers for our Seattle fall school programs. We have some exciting new projects and participants this fall, and hope that both new and returning volunteers will join us in helping make these projects successful. They’re definitely going to be fun!

Bridges volunteers will work alongside Bridges teachers and staff to apply digital storytelling tools to the classroom curriculum. As a classroom volunteer, you will generally work with a small group of students in a middle or high school classroom from week to week, to help them create digital stories. Activities will include reading and discussing articles relevant to digital story topics, photo shoots and media management, reading and discussing messages on the Bridges website, composing and posting messages to the Bridges website, writing scripts, recording narrations, and editing a multimedia story.

In some cases there may also be all-day field trips and/or special events that we would love to have volunteers be involved with.

These positions are ideal for volunteers who enjoy working with youth ages 12-18, are comfortable with technology, would describe themselves as very patient, and are excited about being part of a dynamic learning environment.

Click here for more information about volunteering, including requirements, orientation sessions, and contact information.

RESULTS Book Club & Panel– Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

SAVE THE DATE & START READING!
When: Thursday, Oct 28, 2010, 6:30-8:30PM
Where: Life Enrichment Bookstore, Columbia
City, 5023 Rainier Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98118-1926 – 206-650-8791

Join RESULTS Seattle for a book club open to the public. There will be a panel discussion on the book and the issues raised by the authors of forced prostitution, trafficking in women, gender violence and maternal mortality and how the most effective way to fight global poverty is to unleash the potential of women. The book features the stories of courageous women and their supporters around the world who have successfully overcome extreme oppression.

The book: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
Vintage Books, NY, NY, 2010. By Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Panel of Speakers on areas covered in the book:

• Anisa Mohamed Ibrahim , a 2nd year medical student at UW and volunteer with the medical student run Al Shifa clinic serving low income people without health insurance, will provide a brief synopsis of the book.
• Dr. Laura Hart, is a RESULTS activist, past President of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and a Seattle urologist who travels the globe training and assisting physicians to do surgery on women with fistulas from child birth injuries in developing countries
• LueRachelle Brim-Atkins works with Cultural Reconnection Mission (CRM) based in the NW African-American community. She travels to Africa each year as a member of the Vision & Planning Team of CRM. This group of African American women has several sustainable joint ventures in Kenya, East Africa and in Ethiopia, including libraries, water projects and women’s economic development projects. One project is in Kogelo, ancestral home of President Obama.
• Someireh Amirfaiz is Executive Director of Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA), a Seattle nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive services for refugee and immigrant women and their families, including programs to assist refugee and immigrants impacted by domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual assault.

The book is available in paperback. Copies will be available at Life Enrichment Bookstore. For more

information about the book club, contact Ellie Graham at gramgary@earthlink.netor 206-721-0141.

Apply now for the University of Washington Foster School of Business’s 7^th Annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition

GSEC seeks student-generated innovative social business ideas that target poverty alleviation in developing economies. GSEC provides cross-cultural, transformational practical learning experiences for student participants to hone their business skills, expand their networks, and access new resources.

Each year, GSEC brings the world to the University of Washington: a select group of semi-finalist student teams attend GSEC Week in Seattle where they visit regional companies, present their business ideas to judges, and compete for at least US$30,000 in prizes, including an ICT and two global health prizes.

Watch the 2010 GSEC video for an overview or take a look at the GSEC banquet photo album featuring keynote speaker Bill Gates Sr.

Application deadline November 4, 2010
Contact gsec@uw.edu with questions.
Visit GSEC online for more information.

Development Associate Position Available at Prosthetics Outreach Foundation

Seattle based Prosthetics Outreach Foundation is seeking a talented, highly organized and self-motivated Development Associate to support a broad range of development activities.  Responsibilities include supporting special events, grants, individual gifts, and communications and marketing.  For a full position description, visit www.pofsea.org.  E-mail cover letter with salary expectations, resume and references to hr@pofsea.org by September 30^th.

World Affairs Council’s Global Leadership Series Features Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayake

The World Affairs Council presents Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki as a part of our 2010-2011 Global Leadership Series. Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki of the Republic of Niger is the head of NEPAD’s Planning and Coordinating Agency, headquartered in Midrand, South Africa. He worked as a Professor of Public Administration in Niger and Venezuela from 1976 to 1987 before joining the Uranium industry in Niger as a Senior Executive. During 1996 and 1997 he was successively appointed Minister in charge of African Integration and Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In November 1997, he was appointed Prime Minister, a function he held until January 2000. In August 2000, he set up the Analysis Centre for Public Policy. From 2000 to 2004 he was a guest Professor at the University of Paris XI, where he lectured on International Relations and Organizations; he also led research at the Research Center on Europe and the Contemporary World within that University. In 2004 he was appointed as the Executive Director of the Rural Hub, a multilateral think-tank based in Dakar, Senegal, from where he was recruited as Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD. Dr Mayaki is the author of the book, “La caravane passe…” focused on his political career.

Thursday, October 7, 2010, 6:30pm
Africa Connected Series
Global Leadership Series: 
Leadership and Development in Africa with Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki

For more information and registration, please visit http://www.world-affairs.org/event_gls_mayaki.htm

Bridges to Understanding Receives Top Recognition for K-12 Education Program
We would like to congratulate Bridges to Understanding!  Their citizen diplomacy program, The Bridges Collaborative: Supporting 21^st Century Education Worldwide, was selected as a Top Program by the K-12 Task Force of the U.S. Center for citizen Diplomacy (USCCD).  The program is a joint project with the CREATE Lab, a division of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. It uses cutting-edge digital and robotic technology to connect teachers and students in middle and high classrooms in Seattle, Peru, Guatemala, India, South Africa and other countries around the world. As a Top Program, The Bridges Collaborative will be highlighted as a key component of the upcoming U.S. Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy, to be held November 16-19, 2010 in Washington, DC.

“We are honored to be selected for this recognition on the eve of our tenth anniversary of connecting youth around the world to explore how they can be active, responsible global citizens,” said Joyce McClure, Executive Director of Seattle-based Bridges to Understanding. “The vision of our founder, Mercer Island resident and renowned humanitarian photographer Phil Borges, of a harmonious, interconnected world in which youth are actively engaged as global citizens, has inspired Bridges to become what it is today.”

A complete listing of the selected Top Program organizations, and detailed information about the U.S. Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy may be found at: www.usc4cd.org/summit. For more information about Bridges to Understanding, please visit www.bridges2understanding.org.

Veterans for Smart Power–Petition for Diplomacy and Humanitarian Development

Next week, the US Global Leadership Coalition will have a big opportunity to move their agenda forward at our annual conference by introducing their Veterans for Smart Power program.

Veterans from across the country have been signing a petition over the past few weeks to urge Congress to elevate diplomacy and humanitarian development alongside a strong defense.  In just under a month, there are already 8,300 dedicated supporters.

We all know veterans, and it would be a tremendous help if you simply forwarded this to your friends who are veterans or military families and ask them to sign up at www.vetsforsmartpower.org.  You can also click here to join us on Facebook and ask your network to stand with veterans and military families.

submit your events to our calendar!

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Global Washington Events:

November 15 & 16

Global Washington’s Second Annual Conference—Bridges to Breakthroughs: How partnerships and innovation are changing the world

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Other Events:

September 22

University of Washington School of Social Work’s 3rd Annual Practicum Kickoff

September 25

Bridges to Understanding presents: “Bring the Power of Digital Storytelling into Your Classroom”

Bo M Karlsson Foundation’s Third Annual ‘Mahilaa Night’

September 29

SeaMo September Microfinance & Microbrews: Learn About Jolkona – Your Choice. Your Impact. Your World

Social Innovation and Collaborative Leadership in Global Community: iLeap International Fellows Panel Discussion

October 5 – November 30 (Tuesdays)

UW Lecture Series – Food: Eating Your Environment

October 7
World Affairs Council: Leadership and Development in Africa with Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki

October 14

Mercy Corps: Redefining Emergency Response

October 28

RESULTS Book Club & Panel: Half the Sky

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The UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals kicked off in New York today, and will continue through Wednesday, Sept 22^nd.    World leaders are gathering to discuss the progress made and work to be done toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  On Wednesday, the event will culminate with an address by President Barack Obama.

If you are looking for background and general information on the MDGs and the Summit, take a look at some of Global Washington’s previous blog entries on the MDGs.  Bono also wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times on the importance of the MDGs, which serves as a primer for New Yorkers who are fed up with the Summit-related traffic jams on the upper east side.  The UK newspaper The Guardian has a whole page devoted to live MDG Summit updates and news.  Finally, the Brookings Institute has a page full of links with research and commentary on the MDGs.

This morning, the Gates Foundation sponsored a TEDxChange event, featuring a live broadcast from New York City coinciding with the Summit kickoff.  Speakers at this event included Melinda Gates, Hans Rosling (“the most entertaining statistician in the world” according to Tom Paulson on the Humanosphere), India’s own “Mr. Condom,” (a family planning and AIDS activist), and Graca Machel (Nelson Mandela’s wife).  You can view a recording of this highly engaging webcast here.

You can also view the actual Summit live on the UN Webcast, which features 6 different channels- you can watch each world leader’s statement with English translation or in the original language, if you want to practice your French or Croatian.  The UN News Center also has rather comprehensive live Summit news.

MFAN puts the spotlight on the prognosis for US foreign aid reform, and tells us what to watch out for at the Summit.  If you are interested in US policy, you should also take a look at a new bill introduced by Representative Barbara Lee (CA-9) last week, which is a resolution supporting the ideals and objectives of the UN Millennium Declaration and related MDGs and calling on the President to ensure the United States contributes meaningfully to the achievement of the MDGs by the year 2015.

The Center for Global Development offers a different perspective in What’s Not to Like about the MDGs? – a critical look at the MDGs.

Submitted by Linda Martin

On September 8, the world focused its eyes on education, in honor of International Literacy Day 2010. Yet as millions celebrated, results from the Millennium Development Progress Report 2010 concluded “Hope dims for universal education by 2015, even as many poor countries make tremendous strides.” Is it possible to mobilize the resources and political support necessary to turn the tide? Can a more integrated approach help accelerate progress in reaching all the MDG goals?

“A quality inclusive education for all is the key to achieving each and every one of the Millennium Development Goals, from reducing poverty to improving health, empowering women and ensuring environmental sustainability,”

Irina Bokova,
Director-General, UNESCO

UNESCO’s new Web site Education and the Millennium Development Goals illustrates ways in which education acts as a potent catalyst for human development. Examples include:

MDG Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases – A study covering thirty-two countries, “found that women with post-primary education were five times more likely than illiterate women to know about HIV/AIDS”.

MDG Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger – According to UNESCO, “Doubling primary school-age attendance rates for rural populations is associated with an average 20 to 25 per cent decrease in food insecurity”.

MDG Goal 4: Reduce child mortality – Examples of the impact of primary education include “Having a mother with primary education reduces child death rates by almost half in the Philippines and around one third in Bolivia”.

What does it mean to be literate?
A “bare bones” definition of literacy is the ability to read and write. UNESCO provides a definition more applicable to our increasingly complex and inter-connected world. Literacy is the “ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.”

Monitoring adult and youth literacy, and global trends.
UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS) monitors international literacy targets associated with the MDGs. Adult and Youth Literary: Global Trends in Gender Parity-UIS Fact Sheet, September 2010, states that in 2008, 796 million adults worldwide (15 years and older) reported not being able to read and write, of which 64% were female. The overall adult literacy rate was 83%. Adults who lived in Southern Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa comprised three quarters of adults worldwide, who did not read or write. Gender disparity was greatest in Southern Asia, where almost three quarters of all men but only half of the women had the ability to read and write. The literacy rate in Southern Asia was 62%, and in sub-Saharan Africa, 63%.

In comparison, the global youth literacy rate was 89% (92% for males and 86% for females), with 131 million youth worldwide lacking basic reading and writing skills, of which 61% were female (3% less than adult female rates).  Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were home to 86% of all youths unable to read and write worldwide.

According UNICEF’s report, State of the World’s Children 2009, “although improving, the educational status of young women is still low in several developing regions”.

“Literacy programs, especially when linked to life and livelihood skills, empowerment and peace-building initiatives, have the potential to improve human security, promote reconciliation and prevent future conflict.”

The Global Literacy Challenge

Female net secondary school attendance

• World 44%
• Sub-Saharan Africa 22%
• South Asia 43%

Female youth (15-25 years) literacy rate

• World 85%
• Sub-Saharan Africa 68%
• South Asia 74%

*http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09-Figure-2.2-EN.pdf

At the primary level, the newly published report, Progress for Children – Achieving the MDGs with Equity (Sept. 2010), notes that 100 million children of primary school age were out of school in 2008, 52% of them girls. South Asia had 33 million children out-of-school, followed by West and Central Africa (25 million), and Eastern and Southern Africa (19 million).Learn more about Monitoring and Evaluation studies from UNESCO’s monitoring Web site.

MDG  Summit in New York, September 20-22
Leaders in the international community will have an opportunity to suggest ways to accelerate progress at a High-Level MDG Summit being held in New York, September 20-22. This is an opportunity to share information about successful cross-sector programs, best practices learned from experienced INGOs and other innovative players, and to forge ahead in partnership to address unreached goals.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article, Barriers to Education and Bridges to Achieving MDG Goals.

Related Links

Education and the Millennium Development Goals

UNESCO – Education

Progress for Children: Achieving MDGs with Equity
Millennium Development Progress Report 2010

The Global Literacy Challenge

MDG Info 2010 and MDG Data Wizard

United Nations Girls Education Initiative

UNICEF- education and gender equality resources
UNESCO- The Global Literacy Challenge
The State of the World’s Children 2009
Global Literacy Program, Inc.

Safe Schools – Amnesty International

Center for Global Development

National Institute for Literacy

On Tuesday, September 8^th, a standing room-only crowd gathered at the Montlake Library to hear Congressman Jim McDermott and Kimberly Ann Elliott of the Center for Global Development discuss opening markets for the poor by reforming and expanding trade preferences.

The United States currently provides special access to its markets to products from developing countries through a few different trade preference programs.  The program that reaches the most countries is called the Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, and this program covers the fewest products and has the most restrictions.  It has been in place since the 1970s and needs to be renewed by Congress every few years- in fact, it expires at the end of 2010, so if Congress doesn’t act, many countries will lose their special access to the U.S. market.  Other trade preference programs are for specific geographic regions, which are the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI).  There are also special trade preferences for Haiti. 

Under AGOA, African least developed countries (LDCs) get the most product coverage and the most flexible rules of origin of any U.S. trade preference program.  As Kim Elliott pointed out in her presentation, AGOA covers about 98% of products for African LDCs, and includes flexible rules of origin on apparel items, which is where AGOA has had the greatest economic impact.  She noted that the main omission from AGOA is in the area of agricultural goods, where African countries are still subject to U.S. quotas in a number of key products, not to mention competition from subsidized U.S. cotton.  Agriculture is very important to African economies, with about 60-70% of the workforce directly involved in agricultural production.  AGOA was initially passed in 2000, and is set to expire in 2015 unless Congress renews it.

Kim Elliott’s presentation included the recommendations and findings of the CGD Working Group on Trade Preference Reform.  They have five main recommendations:

1. Expand coverage to all products from all least developed countries.  The reason for expanding coverage to all products is that even when only 3% of products are excluded (as in the current Doha agreement), countries have room to leave out all of the products in which an LDC is most competitive.  The Working Group found that allowing 100% product access to all LDCs would have a minimal effect on competing producers in rich countries – LDCs account for less than 1% of non-oil imports in rich countries.
2. Relax restrictive rules of origin.  Rules of origin can prevent developing countries from taking advantage of preferential market access, because they are often vague and opaque, and commonly stipulate that all inputs must come from one country.  Poor countries must be able to source inputs globally, as they do not have the capacity (or the market size) to vertically integrate their industries.  They also do not have the resources to wade through heavily bureaucratized processes to prove origin.
3. Make trade preferences permanent and predictable.  Investors need to know that the market access will last long enough for them to get a return on their investment.  Without this guarantee, they will not invest in a country.  Most poor countries need foreign investment to spur growth.
4. Promote cooperation between countries giving and receiving preferences.  This includes trade capacity building to help countries improve their infrastructure to promote export growth, and identifying other non trade barriers to exports, such as difficulty meeting technical standards for imports.  Kim Elliott pointed out that African agriculture is a good example of this- African agricultural exporters have a difficult time meeting U.S. sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards, so they export very little to the United States.  These same exporters are able to meet European standards, which are no less strict than U.S. standards from a safety perspective, but for some reason they are easier for Africans to meet.  18% of European agricultural imports come from Africa, where less than 2% of U.S. agricultural imports do.
5. Encourage advanced developing countries to implement trade preference programs that adopt the above principles.  Advanced developing countries such as Brazil, China, Turkey, and India have recently announced trade preference programs for LDCs.  These programs would have greater impact if they adopted the above principles.

Congressman McDermott added his thoughts on why better market access for LDCs is important- and what else is needed to make market access work.  He said that it is important to help poor people from all developing countries, not just those from a certain geographic region.  During the question & answer session, he remarked that trade and development are complex, and when large projects or policy changes are undertaken without an appreciation of the complexity involved, unintended consequences may arise.  He offered the example of building dams in developing countries without regard for the potential consequences- something that was problematic in Ghana and elsewhere.  Congressman McDermott has been working on trade preferences for developing countries for many years- he is the author of AGOA, which he first introduced in 1995 and it took five years to pass Congress and get signed into law.  He has since introduced the New Partnership for Trade Development Act of 2009, which includes some provisions similar to the CDG working group’s recommendations.

“Like many who call the Rainier Valley home, I feel as if I live in two communities: The one where I wake up each morning and the one where my web of cultural and personal connections links me to. Nothing represents this as clearly as my work with the Blue Nile Children’s Organization.”

Local Diversity Drives Global Impact (OP-ED)
Rainier Valley Post |  Selamawit Kifle, Blue Nile Children’s Organization | September 2, 2010

Global Partnerships Closes $20 Million Fund Aimed At “Microfinance Plus”

Social Investment Fund 2010 will provide capital to 20 MFIs across Latin America

Seattle, Wash., – Global Partnerships (GP), a 16-year-old nonprofit that supports microfinance and other sustainable solutions to poverty, announced today that it closed its fourth social investment fund at $20 million. Over the next five years, Social Investment Fund 2010 (SIF 2010) will provide much-needed loan capital to up to 20 select microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America.

“By investing in MFIs that are having exceptional impact, this fund will help hundreds of thousands of people living in poverty earn a brighter future for their families,” said Rick Beckett, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Partnerships. “The fact that we raised $20 million in a challenging economic climate is a testament to the strength of our model.”

Like GP’s three previous funds, SIF 2010 is a five-year debt fund that will provide affordable loans to a select portfolio of MFIs that are financially sustainable and that reinvest profits in programs that benefit people living in poverty. With this fund, GP has sharpened its social criteria even further, prioritizing MFIs that reach people most in need of credit, such as the rural poor, and that provide innovative “microfinance-plus” programs, including preventive health services, business education, and assistance related to rural economic development.

Forty-one investors have contributed to SIF 2010, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC), which both invested in two previous GP funds. Other investors include Linked Foundation and Perls Foundation; Seattle University; faith-based institutions including the Mercy Partnership Fund; and 23 accredited individual investors. The law firm Strasburger & Price provided pro bono assistance to establish the Fund.

Investors cite a range of reasons for their interest in the fund, including the combination of well-managed risk and moderate returns, the excellence of GP’s fund management and the fund’s focus on social impact.

Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of OPIC, which invested $6.9 million in SIF 2010, said, “OPIC’s longstanding collaboration with Global Partnerships has yielded impressive and sustainable results for MFIs by providing vital capital to the small business owners and farmers who serve as the engine of economic activity in emerging markets.”

Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen, principal investment officer of IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative, which invested $5 million in SIF 2010, said: “We’ve been very impressed with Global Partnerships’ approach to social investment. By working with microfinance institutions to offer additional services, they are helping to bring microfinance to the next level.”

Seattle University has invested in SIF 2010 and GP’s 2006 fund because of the alignment with the University’s mis sion and GP’s rigorous due-diligence processes. “It’s a win-win. We’re doing the right thing, seeing a social return, and still getting a financial return on our invest ment,” said Ron Smith, Seattle University’s Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs. “The more you learn about GP the more impressed you are.”

GP will begin disbursing loans to new MFI partners in October of 2010. MFIs to receive initial loans include Pro Mujer in Mexico, which serves women borrowers with an integrated package of microcredit and health services and education; Fondesurco, an MFI in southern Peru that provides loans and technical assistance tailored to their agricultural clients; FRAC, a World Vision affiliate that works in some of the poorest areas of Mexico; and Comixmul, a savings-and-credit cooperative in Honduras that serves very poor women with financial and non-financial services, including training in specific trade skills and access to basic health services.

Out of the 48 million people in Latin America who could benefit from access to microcredit, only an estimated 15 percent, or 9 million, are being reached. Microfinance, especially when combined with other high-impact services, can improve the lives of borrowers who use the profits from their business to improve the living conditions for their entire household. GP estimates that over the five-year lifespan of SIF 2010, it should fund more than 200,000 microloans.

About Global Partnerships: Global Partnerships (GP) is a 16-year-old nonprofit organization that expands opportunity for people living in poverty by supporting microfinance and other sustainable solutions in Latin America. As of June 30, 2010, GP had $37.7 million invested in 27 microfinance institutions, which in turn provide microcredit and other services to more than 845,000 borrowers. Find out more at www.globalpartnerships.org.

More information:

Backgrounder on Social Investment Fund 2010 (pdf)

1-minute animation of how the investment fund model works

Microcapital Q&A with GP CEO Rick Beckett on GP’s strategy, June 2010

Both the Senate and the House Appropriation Committees have recently approved a cut in the FY2011 foreign aid budget, despite pleas from many, including Secretary Clinton.  The amounts approved are $54.06 billion by the Senate and $52.6 billion by the House; both lower than the $56.6 billion requested by the Obama Administration.  In the atmosphere of budget deficits and economic constraints, the cut did not come as a surprise.   However, as the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is soon approaching, the need for continuing U.S. efforts to reach these goals has never been greater.  There is a conflict here, between the great need for foreign aid, and the current economic difficulties.  It leads us to ask: do Americans identify with the urgent need to continue to provide foreign aid to meet the MDGs?  Also, do Americans agree with the international development community on the U.S. responsibility to contribute to the millennium development goals?  

To answer these questions, a national poll was conducted in April 2010 by Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research, on behalf of the United Nations Foundation.  It surveyed American’s attitudes toward foreign aid and the MDGs.  Here are some key findings:

• – For the first time in five years, Americans’ view of the United Nations (UN) rose from above 50% favorable to 60% favorable.  This increase in positive impressions of the UN is due to the positive stories they have seen in the news on events such as the Haiti relief effort, humanitarian efforts in Africa, relief efforts in Chile and Peru, WHO humanitarian efforts, UNICEF humanitarian efforts and the earthquake relief effort in China. 
•  – Two-thirds of Americans believe the UN is still needed today.
•  – 59% of Americans believe international issues have an impact on them personally and only 15% believe international issues have no personal impact on them.
•  – Although 89% of Americans say they are not familiar with the specifics of the MDGs, after hearing a brief description of the eight goals, 87% of Americans believe the U.S. should be very or somewhat involved in a worldwide effort to accomplish the MDGs by 2015.  50% of Pacific residents stated that the U.S. should be very involved in accomplishing the MDGs.
•  – When asked to choose which MDGs are the most important to accomplish, Americans chose those goals that address the most basic human needs for survival.
•  – The top 3 choices for the most important MDGs were: access to safe drinking water (47%), alleviating extreme hunger and poverty (36%), and eliminating gender disparity in completing primary education (27%).

Though it is discouraging to know that a huge majority (89%) of Americans are unfamiliar with the MDGs, one positive realization did emerge from this rather negative finding.    Most Americans are supportive of U.S. involvement in accomplishing the MDGs once they learn about the specifics.  If we want to accelerate our progress towards meeting the MDGs by 2015, one thing we cannot undermine is the power of the collective action from this majority of Americans.  In addition to the strategy that the U.S. government has recently mapped out for meeting the MDGs (see recent blog post), we need to educate and engage our communities, local leaders of all sectors, local media and audience about this collective responsibility toward eliminating global poverty.  We can start by taking part in the 2010 Stand Up Against Poverty movement, when individuals and organizations around the world will stand up and make noise against poverty around September 17^th, 2010.

As Global Washington’s Conversation with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah came to a close last Friday, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) left the audience with a new way of looking at an old question.

As Congressman McDermott explained, when faced with contemplating the future of global development, one can readily apply the age-old question “is the glass half-full or half-empty?” Similarly, we can ask ourselves is this the time in world history that the human race bands together to solve the critical problems of our time, or will we allow the global financial crisis to stifle our humanitarian spirit and maintain the status quo? Can we capitalize on the momentum building up to the Millennium Development Goals and eradicate hunger, disease, and extreme poverty, or are we setting ourselves up for a big disappointment with such lofty goals?

But these questions, however important, are insufficient in finding the solutions to the world’s ills. To solve these problems, Congressman McDermott exhorted the audience to consider how to fill the glass, rather than consider how full it is already. Indeed we must not ask ourselves if we will succeed, but how we will succeed in meeting the basic needs of all. And technology is inevitably a part of the answer to that question.

Such was the purpose of this panel discussion. Bringing together the USAID Administrator, two Congressmen, and representatives from Microsoft, Washington State University, PATH, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the panel discussed the role innovation and technology plays in development projects, particularly in the health and agriculture sectors.

Before introducing Dr. Shah, Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) opened the discussion with a case for investment in development, saying funding foreign assistance can create a more stable and secure global environment. However, as Congressman Smith pointed out, the current foreign assistance structure is not efficient enough to get the most out of our resources.

Dr. Shah echoed Congressman Smith’s sentiments on the state of the foreign aid system, saying that programs are too often ineffective because projects are not guided by results and evidence from the ground. Fortunately, Dr. Shah has committed to basing programs off of conditions on the ground, beginning with the two new development initiatives Feed the Future, and the Global Health Initiative.

Using the right technology and the right means of delivering that technology may ultimately decide the success or failure of many development programs. Innovative new pieces of technology have already played a large role in improving development programs. For instance, M-Pesa allows you to safely and securely transfer money via cell phone, giving people without steady access to a bank a way to easily access their money.

With such promising technological innovations and committed leadership from our panelists, I can’t help but see that glass filling up quickly.

The Obama administration recently released the U.S. Strategy for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals, a 28-page document that emphasizes innovation, sustainability, and accountability.  After a brief recap of progress achieved to date and the serious challenges ahead, the document outlines the three pillars of the U.S. strategy: innovate, sustain, and make it work.  According to the strategy, innovation can be a “powerful force multiplier,” and can be fostered in many ways: funding research, expanding access to technology, building partnerships, and stimulating innovation through prizes and the like.  The key to ensuring sustainability is found in broad-based economic growth, well-governed institutions, investments in women and girls, sustainable service-delivery systems, and mitigating shocks.  And to make it all work, the U.S. must build the enabling environment through strengthened monitoring & evaluation, accountability, and coordination with other donors.

In order to put these ideas into practice, the strategy promises to “marshal the full range of our development policy instruments.”  This includes pledges to fund innovation, invest in sustainability, and improve accountability.

Many of the initiatives discussed in the strategy are ongoing efforts that the U.S. government has worked on for years.  Some are newer, such as the Feed the Future and the Global Health Initiative.  There is not much news in this new document.

One new and promising initiative in this strategy document is a major aid transparency initiative, where the U.S. government will work with other donors and partner governments to streamline the dissemination of country-level information about aid flows.  If this works as planned, it will make it a lot easier to figure out who is doing what in each country, what money is being spent on which project where, and what the expected and measured results are.

What is missing from this strategy?  Any mention of who is in charge- who will coordinate this government-wide response?  If no one is in charge, there can be no real accountability.  Also, there is no talk of a Global Development Strategy, which is widely recognized as an important step towards greater transparency and accountability.  In general, this strategy is sparse on details, and leaves much to the imagination.

For more commentary on this strategy, see the Devex rundown here.

To read the full strategy document, click here.