Haiti Civilians Picking Up Where Official Efforts are Failing
Posted on March 22, 2010.
Even with the massive humanitarian response to the January earthquake in Haiti organized by the developed world, the New York Times’ Lawrence Downes reports that the reconstruction effort is failing to meet the needs of all citizens. Security concerns have not been met in some of the sprawling re-settlement camps. Debris and rubble left over from the earthquake has yet to be cleared in order to allow for new construction. Sufficient clean water is not being delivered, and as a result sanitation is suffering. But there is still hope, as Downes contends in his article “Haiti’s Do-It-Yourself Recovery.”
To make up for the lapses in the organized reconstruction effort, the Haitians have taken it upon themselves to rebuild. In most cases, these efforts are exemplary of one of Global Washington’s principles of aid of effectiveness: local ownership of aid projects.
Haitians have organized volunteer patrols to provide safety in areas of refugee settlements not overseen by any United Nations security presence. With the help of a retired engineer, Frantz Liautad, a group of Haitians have begun their own campaign to deliver clean water and food to the refugee settlements, as well as clear debris still left over from the earthquake.
Also, in an effort to increase transparency, coordination and local ownership of aid projects, three of our principles of aid effectiveness, Haitians have created the Civil Society Watchdog Group. The Civil Society Watchdog Group has charged itself with monitoring and evaluating the humanitarian efforts in Haiti to ensure the aid groups are accountable to the Haitian population. In order to strengthen coordination, this group is working to facilitate communication between the organizations and projects responsible for Haitian reconstruction. To promote local ownership, the Civil Society Watchdog Group encourages Haitian citizens to take a more active role in the reconstruction process.
It is encouraging to see that where the top-level efforts have come up short, local citizens are taking it upon themselves to ensure Haiti’s reconstruction. Such a show of commitment and ingenuity is a positive sign that sustainable development can be achieved if the right steps are taken. Using our principles of aid effectiveness as a framework, we can reform the aid process and take the right steps in order to ensure everyone the opportunity to achieve a happy and healthy life.
To learn more about Global Washington’s principles of aid effectiveness, please download and read our white paper.
March 2010 Newsletter
Posted on March 18, 2010.
Welcome to the March 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
Greetings-
Happy Norooz and happy spring from Global Washington! I hope the extra hour of sunshine at the end of the day is working its revitalizing magic on your spirits.
I am thrilled that so many of you responded to our survey. We gathered a lot of insightful information on how Global Washington can delve deeper into our membership services and programming in order to expand upon and enrich what we offer to the global development community in Washington State. Thank you for contributing your valuable time and your feedback. We are currently in the process of analyzing the data and we will report the results next month in our April newsletter.
March has been an exciting time for Global Washington! We have convened experts to host informative capacity building workshops focused on fundraising, strengthening leadership skills, developing effective communication strategies, and responding to disasters. In the upcoming months, we are bringing together a variety of phenomenal guests from far and wide to engage with our community and contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding key global development issues, including an intimate forum with voices from developing world about the effectiveness of foreign aid. We hope you, as a vital participant in Washington State’s global development community, can join us in these opportunities to both learn from experts and share your knowledge with others.
In unity,
Bookda Gheisar, Executive Director
Featured Organization: RenegAID™ – Fostering innovative disaster relief efforts
When Eunice Stime, a registered nurse, arrived in Mississippi and Louisiana’s Mississippi Delta to assist disaster victims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, she quickly discovered what it means to confront utter chaos. Expecting to utilize her medical training and expertise, Eunice instead realized that having a vehicle was the most useful asset she could contribute to provide immediate assistance.
“Even though I’m an RN, I needed to go up and down streets and connect survivors and humanitarian staff to relief distribution locations. I had to forget what my college skill was and do what needed to be done,” she said. “Another way to look at it would be to see the entire disaster as an open air hospital and I was doing my nursing rounds.”
Eunice’s observations and experiences in the aftermath of Katrina inspired her to found RenegAID, a nonprofit dedicated to “innovative disaster relief”. Many disaster response efforts, as seen in post-Katrina Gulf Coast/Mississippi Delta, Indonesia, and 
most recently, Haiti, are crippled by the amount of lag time between when supplies arrive, and when they get to survivors. Relief efforts, even when guided by the most sincere intent to help those in need, suffer from chronic logistical problems and muddled distribution strategies that continue to be replicated in disaster areas all over the world.
To say that collapsed infrastructure, lack of organization and collaboration among governments and response teams, and the ensuing chaos after a disaster are all significant obstacles that contribute to the prolonged delay of distributing food, water, and critical medical supplies to survivors is like a professional bridge builder saying that there was difficulty getting a bridge built because there was a river in the way. Inherent in catastrophic disaster is total chaos and disorder. They can not be used as excuses for our lack of timeliness.
Eunice compares the philosophy behind RenegAID’s mission and operational framework to a Phoenix effect, where loss and regeneration borne out of disaster are like a birth—where survivors simultaneously experience a total loss of identity and a total dependence on a new world reality. Part of RenegAID’s mission is to help equalize the power dynamic between the givers and the receivers of aid in order to reject the idea of aid as charity or welfare and create sustainable solutions.
“We, as humanitarians, have some words turned around or backwards when we discuss Disasters. The host is not the nation that has experienced a catastrophic disaster. They are the stranger in their own land. A host takes care of and feeds the stranger. We (humanitarians) have been using the word host to refer to a country that is in need of hospitality/hospital care. If the damaged/injured country is truly the host and if the humanitarian world is indeed the stranger, then the damaged/injured country by hospitality traditions should be meeting the needs of the humanitarians. That makes absolutely no sense. If we are ever going to get our humanitarian response right, we need to see ourselves as the host (or hospital).”
RenegAID’s purpose is driven by the humanitarian and pragmatic desire to close the lag time between supply delivery and distribution to survivors and to urge the international community to rethink the current system of disaster response. “We need to get supplies out to individual survivors in the first couple of days. Otherwise there is a tremendous amount of justified anger,” Eunice explains. “We haven’t learned how to do distribution well. We are missing the piece of how to transport supplies to the survivors.”
Part of RenegAID’s strategy for streamlining supply distribution post-disaster is the organization’s Ready-to-Go Disaster Relief Bicycle Project. Modeled after Dave Schweidenback’s widely successful “Pedals for Progress”, a project that facilitates the shipment of donated bicycles to locations in developing countries worldwide, RenegAID received permission to adopt Schweidenback’s model and refocus the project for disaster areas.
The intent of the Ready-to-Go Bikes Project is to facilitate small shipments of bicycles through existing humanitarian disaster response organizations into disaster zones as part of the initial response, providing alternative emergency transportation for survivors to begin connecting and to find points of distribution which tend to move around every few days. Inexpensive parts and maintenance, easy transport, and no fuel costs make bicycles useful when cars are not even able to maneuver debris and may also provide an opportunity for survivors to support existing shops or start small, local bicycle repair businesses.
RenegAID’s Ready-to-Go Bikes Project addresses sustainability in post-disaster zones, attempting to tackle the issue of how to prevent turning disaster survivors into passive recipients of aid without agency or access to their own income generating opportunities. Without ways to cultivate sustainable economic growth, post-disaster communities languish in protracted displacement and poverty. “We are creating slums with the current disaster response system,” says Eunice.
RenegAID advocates strongly for supporting grassroots efforts to rebuild the local economy, and the organization believes part of the solution for helping survivors regain a sense of power over their own lives is through survivors giving to others who have experienced similar disaster-related trauma. According to RenegAID, this system of giving helps foster “individual 
sustainability” that “balances the survivor’s need to give with their need to receive in chaos after disaster.” RenegAID’s “Keeping Hope Alive” projects connect survivors of world disasters to one another, such as the Children’s Blanket Label Disaster Healing Project, where children at Pointe Aux Chenes Elementary School on the Mississippi Delta made labels for blankets that were delivered to children in Indonesia.
In addition, RenegAID is currently designing a course at Spokane Falls Community College that offers students the unique experience of attempting to understand catastrophic disaster and the regeneration process from a survivor’s perspective. The goal is that students will be better equipped to handle themselves in a disaster and also respond to others in disaster locations.
For more information on RenegAID’s mission, projects, and partners, please visit: http://www.renegaid.org/drupalsite/?q=node/10
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Changemaker: Sean Dimond of Agros International
Sean Dimond is a talented and compassionate man who has lived through past life-threatening circumstances to tell a story of beauty and compassion about a world where human dignity is more powerful than war and extreme poverty.
As the acting Director of Communications for Agros International, Sean has applied his diverse background in communications, philosophy, and media-arts to connect the people of the developed world with those suffering in the developing world.
“Agros not only teaches the poor how to fish, but also enables them to own the pond.”
Throughout Central America, rural people have suffered from decades of armed conflict and extreme poverty. Many of these families have been forgotten and left for dead. In most of the developing world, and in Central America specifically, the rural poor depend on land for basic survival. If rural families are able to access their own farmable land, this can create a foundation for food, a secure home, and a path of progress. This is where Seattle-based Agros International comes into the picture.
Agros’ development approach takes into account that while single interventions (such as microcredit or vaccines) are important, in order to sustainably alleviate poverty it is critical to take a holistic approach, or as Agros calls it, “360˚ Development.”
Agros is focused on the long-term alleviation of poverty for entire rural communities by extending long-term loans to purchase farmland, and then partnering with families in applying sustainable agricultural and community development practices. The goal is to empower families to create, develop, and own a thriving, sustainable village.
In summary, Agros does not reduce the causes or solutions of poverty to just the individual, but instead works to alleviate poverty horizontally across an entire community, and vertically so this impact affects future generations.
Rather than build programs based on merely “fixing problems”, Agros seeks to invest in the dreams and values of poor, believing that they have the essential dignity and capacity to work their own way out of poverty.
“Rural poverty is not a statistic. It is a face, a family, a community. And if you first listen and then seek to enable the dreams of the poor themselves, you will be amazed by what they can accomplish,” Sean says.
Sean seems to be destined for international communications. His grandfather was Cherokee Indian and through his legacy Sean developed a passion for rural indigenous people. Having lived in 8 states and 22 cities, and with many opportunities to travel internationally, Sean has a keen sense of inter-connectedness in the world. What’s more, he was influenced by the arts and good communicators and developed a skill for communicating through media. The specific platform for his media skills would end up being decided by fate.
“These families don’t need charity handouts, they need opportunity”
Previous to his work at Agros, Sean owned a creative media firm called “untamed.be” that provided media and marketing communication services to Fortune 500 companies and international NGOs. His success took a turn for the worse when he was later diagnosed with cancer and was forced to close his business. As he struggled through cancer treatment, he continued to pursue one of his passions—music composition. Agros heard about him and hired him to write a score of music for their first promotional video. Sean said that even though this request came during a hard time, he could not say no, “Agros was simply one of a kind.”
After his cancer treatment Sean decided not to go back to his firm, but instead decided to look for work with an international NGO. It was truly serendipitous that at the same time Agros began to look for a Communications Director.
Since the start of his full-time employment with Agros four years ago, Sean has worked to create new fundraising platforms, increase partner engagement, and expand Agros’ visibility through multiple channels. Serving on Agros’ Executive Leadership Team, Sean believes good communications must be driven by an organizations’ strategic plan. With this in mind, he has been able to build a strong communication system for Agros that would tell stories words alone could not accomplish.
“Agros has helped us see our face”
Sean recalls one of his first experiences abroad with Agros: in the mountains of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, in the village of El Eden. It was there during a video interview that he asked a villager to describe Agros in just one word. This villager said, “I would describe Agros as a mirror. Agros has helped us to see our face; they have helped us see that we have dignity. They have helped us to see that we matter.” Sean says it is encounters like this that get him out of bed every morning, focused to help these people help themselves.
“You do a disservice when you oversimplify the complexity of global poverty”
Sean believes that “we live in a unique time in human history—the struggles we face globally have a great deal to do with questions of sustainability, whether it is about food or the environment or basic security–and in an increasingly inter-connected world I feel the work of Agros is especially important.”
Sean asserts that the unique, sustainable solutions such as those practiced by Agros are critical for this global challenge. In addition, he does not think of other organizations in the global development sector as competitors. Agros is one important contributor within the global development field, but so are other organizations in their own way. Sean sees his primary competitor as “ ‘the apathy and resignation’ that exists in the general culture; the sense that nothing will ever change”. Sean believes that lasting change to complex problems is possible, “because here at Agros I get the privilege of seeing it happen every day.”
Furthermore, Sean also believes that connecting with other organizations is critical in this work, and that only by doing so can we learn from each other. It is for this reason that Sean really values Global Washington’s ability to convene the development sector in Washington State, and is excited for Global WA to reach their full potential.For more information about Agros and how its dedicated people are working to make a difference in the world visit:
http://www.agros.org/Submitted by Luke Mohr
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Global Entertainment: Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World by Paul Hawken
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World by Paul Hawken (2007)
Some books are like English gardens, with clear, linear lines that follow formal rules, allowing the reader to see exactly where they are going at all times. Other books take the reader on a journey though an untamed forest where he or she wanders about, delighting in the joy of discovery. Paul Hawken’s book Blessed Unrest is of the latter variety. If the reader can put aside her desire for formal writing and ease into a meandering but fertile narrative, then Blessed Unrest will deliver a sense of hope and inspiration.
The book weaves together environmental and social justice history, poetry, and Hawken’s personal observations in an ambitious attempt to frame what he sees to be a singular global social movement. After years of environmental and social justice activism that brought him into contact with NGOs and social groups around the world, Hawken has come to believe that, though we may not recognize it yet, the multitude of nonprofit and non-governmental groups, educated consumers, green businesses, and concerned citizens around the world are acting in concert to save the planet and ourselves. He writes: “This is the largest social movement in all of human history. No one knows its scope, and how it functions is more mysterious than what meets the eye. What does meet the eye is compelling: coherent, organic, self-organizing congregations involving tens of millions of people dedicated to change.”
Blessed Unrest locates the roots of this global movement in the work of Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi, Leopold, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rachel Carson, but also ascribes to the movement such contemporary events as the WTO protests, public responses to the Bhopal disaster and Hurricane Katrina, the Slow Food movement, and the resistance of indigenous peoples around the world to globalization.
While the skeptic may not be convinced by Hawken’s effort weave together the disparate activities of individuals and organizations around the globe, it is nonetheless an ambitious attempt to frame and unify a movement. Indeed, all social movements begin as a collection of independent ideas and actions that, at some point, come together as a recognizable and coordinated movement. The process of unifying often begins with someone framing and naming the movement as Hawken attempts to do here.
In the last two chapters of the book, Hawken leaves us with two powerful analogies for how to better grasp the work and unity of this vast social movement. In one of the analogies, he compares the movement to the human immune system: “ The ultimate purpose of a global immune system is to identify what is not life affirming, and to contain, neutralize, and eliminate it. Where communities, cultures, and ecosystems have been damaged, it seeks to prevent additional harm and then heal and restore the damage.” To deal with the pathogens of environmental degradation and social injustice, “the movement has had to become an array of different types of organizations. There are community development agencies, village- and citizen- based groups, corporations, research institutes, associations, networks, faith-based groups, trusts, and foundations.” Then, in the second analogy, Hawken builds a comparison between the movement and a living organism, which he bases on the work of molecular biologist Mahlon Hoagland. He argues that the two hold in common the following: 1. Life builds from the bottom up: complex organisms are built of cooperating communities of cells, and “the movement to address environmental and social issues has been built up by small, cooperating groups of people; 2. Life assembles itself into chains: so, to, do nonprofits link interests, people, communities, and capital. These interesting and useful comparisons are well worth reading and adding to your global development communications tool kit.
And, as an added bonus, the appendix of Blessed Unrest provides us with a wonderful resource: an exhaustive dictionary and key word list for issues, concepts, and activities that fall under the umbrella of the global movement described by the book. This appendix was made possible by a long-term project at the Natural Capital Institute. Together with the NCI, Hawken has created a global database of civil society organizations that focus on environmental and social justice issues, and a website that aims to “accelerate pubic awareness and increase the ability of the movement to connect and collaborate.” The reader of the Global Washington news letter will no doubt find the resources of such a kindred organization quite useful.
Ketty Loeb, Founder of Wokai Seattle
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Announcements
- The 17th Annual RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund* benefit will be held on April 27, 2010 at the Seattle Design Center: In its 30th year of advocacy, the non-partisan, citizen-driven work of RESULTS is leading the way in engaging Congress to fund proven, effective, long-term solutions to hunger and poverty in the U.S. and throughout the world. RESULTS volunteers advocate for the most effective, successful programs for ending hunger and poverty—programs for basic health, basic education and microcredit. Click here for more information.
- Unitus Names Eliza Linford Kelly Vice President of Global Communications: As part of the organiza
tion’s ongoing efforts to alleviate global poverty through microfinance, Unitus is proud to announce that Eliza Linford Kelly has been named Vice President, Global Communications.This promotion will see her assume responsibility for crafting Unitus’s global marketing strategy, as wellas providing insightful thought leadership on issues pertinent to the growth of inclusive financial services for the world’s working poor. Kelly will manage a professional communications team spread
across the organization’s offices in Seattle, Bangalore, and Nairobi to see that the organization’s goals are realized.
“We’re thrilled with all Eliza has accomplished since joining Unitus and are very excited to see what she can do in her new role,” said Unitus President Ed Bland. “We find ourselves at a crucial moment in the fight against global poverty, and ensuring that the goal is never far from public view is essential.”
- Join leadership gurus Pat Vivian and Wendy Wantanabe for a 5-part capacity building series for Executive Directors: Not an Executive Director? No problem. The content of these sessions will be applicable to anyone in a leadership role, managing a team, or running a department. For more information on the Executive Director series, please click here.
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Upcoming Events
Click here to see a full list of international development events on the Global Washington’s calendar. Upcoming events include:
Please submit your events to our calendar!
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contacted 763
businesses, academic centers, nonprofits
and foundations in March and April 2009,
inviting them to complete a survey of their
global development activities.
Of an estimated 763 organizations, a
sampling of 122 met our definition of
global development work based on their
survey responses, including their reported
activities in the developing world and the
kind of issues they reported addressing.
Global Education News – March 17, 2010
Posted on March 17, 2010.
OneWorld launches in Jordan, refer to OneWorld article below for more information. Photo courtesy of OneWorld2011
OneWorld Now!:
One World 2011 events will take place in the summer and fall of 2011 in Seattle, Washington
Photo courtesy of OneWorld2011
Global Washington member, OneWorld Now, is a proud founding partner of OneWorld 2011. One World 2011 is an international cultural, arts, education, medical exchange and sporting event that will build partnerships, and a bridge for cultural understanding between the United States and the Muslim world. In addition, the One World 2011 Medical Conference will be held in Seattle, focusing on health care and research in a global context.
Seattle University:
Seattle University appoints new leader for global engagement initiative
Seattle University has appointed a new associate provost, Victoria Jones, PhD, for global engagement to lead a strategic academic initiative to extend the international reach of the university and advance the global education of its students.
Washington State University:
Southwest Washington Math, Engineering and Science Achievement program (MESA) will host its sixth annual MESA Day on March 20
WSU Vancouver houses, and is a partner of, Southwest Washington MESA. MESA provides enriching educational opportunities that help build a pathway to college and careers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields for students who are currently underrepresented in those fields—African American, Latino, Native American, and female.
BRIDGES To Understanding:
BRIDGES offers a one-day workshop for educators on April 17th
BRIDGES is inviting to learn the basics of teaching their students how to produce digital stories about their lives, communities and common global issues, and then share them with their peers around the world.
BRIDGES is seeking international interns
Bridges’ international interns help middle and high school students at partner schools in Peru, India, South Africa or Guatemala and gain greater cross-cultural understanding by learning directly from their peers across the globe through digital storytelling.
EarthCorps:
EarthCorps welcomes new international participants
As part of its mission to build global community through local environmental service, EarthCorps brings emerging leaders from around the world to take part in environmental service programs. International participants live with local homestay families as they restore wetlands, plant trees, and construct hiking trails. Some of this year’s come from: Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Morocco, Russia, and Zambia
US Education:
United States has slipped from second to 14th in graduation rates among the world’s richest countries
The U.S. children of today will be competing in a global economy. That means their education needs to be world-class, which some troubing signs indicate they are not getting. An expert on global education systems told the U.S. Senate earlier this month that the United States has slipped from second to 14th in graduation rates among the world’s richest countries in the past decade – not so much because the U.S. is slipping but because other countries are doing so much better.
New US education report reveals boys are falling behind in reading and writing abilities
Despite the deadlocks regarding global warming, the domestic economy, and health care, Obama is making headway in education reform. His bottom line goal: the United States to have the world’s highest proportion of college graduates by the year 2020. The likelihood of the US jumping from the middle of the rankings of developed nations to the top in just 10 years is not plausible. However, it is drawing attention to further understand flaws in our current education system and those who need help the most. In a report by the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy, an in-depth look at who is and isn’t passing state tests shows gender disparities between males and females. The survey shows that girls tie with boys in math skills. The reading differences, meanwhile, are profound, with boys a full 10 percentage points behind girls. Boys are even farther behind in writing abilities.
Policy News Roundup – March 16, 2010
Posted on March 16, 2010.
President Obama meets with Indonesia's President Yudhoyono, refer to article below. Photo courtesy of Brookings
Haiti:
Should Haiti be made a UN protectorate? Some say that is the best option for this country whose governance is shaky in the best of times, while others are concerned about taking away its autonomy. Read the debate at a Brookings event here.
Foreign Aid Reform:
Integrating the three D’s: Former USAID Administrator J Brian Atwood spells out how to elevate development assistance in US foreign policy, and what the challenges will be for diplomats, defense personnel, and development professionals.
With the release of initial findings from the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) expected very soon, MFAN has launched a blog series to spur debate on the review and its importance to foreign assistance reform and the future of U.S. development efforts. The first post – “Time for Hard Questions on the QDDR” by George Ingram – poses candid questions to keep in mind as we read and respond to the release of the initial QDDR findings. George’s piece will be followed by material from others across the Network on the QDDR, the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy, USAID, country ownership, gender integration, and other reform-related topics.
Other Development News:
President Obama makes symbolic visit to Indonesia
Often described as the most important country in the world that people know the least about, Indonesia welcomed a visit by President Obama. Many feel it is the beginning to placing the country on the map. Furthermore, the “Comprehensive Partnership” that the two countries will formally launch represents the kind of long-term commitment that can go far in helping Indonesia pull its weight in global affairs.
Indonesia urges US to reconsider ban on commando training
Indonesia’s special forces have concentrated on counterinsurgency issues in recent years, but were accused of major abuses in the former Indonesian province of East Timor in the ’90s. As a result, several countries, including the U.S. and Australia, suspended joint military training in Indonesia. The Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa expressed hope that full military cooperation between the two countries could resume. The issue is likely to feature in talks between President Barack Obama and his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, next week in Jakarta.
The Overseas Development Institute launched a report on the key recommendations for ‘fragile states’
The meeting series on Development, Security and Transitions in Fragile States, organised by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brought together an impressive array of experienced and respected politicians, analysts, policymakers and researchers from a vast range of disciplines and background. The speakers discussed the nature of fragility, relationships between development and security, and the challenges of supporting transitional and state building processes.
New aid program challenges traditional development community’s beliefs about poor people’s ability to make wise use of cash
Oxfam Great Britain’s “unconditional cash transfers” are cash payments with no conditions other than that it couldn’t be used for alcohol, drugs or gambling. Oxfam’s reviews of the program found that families had used the money to improve their household food security and overall income, School dropout rates decreased, and gender equity in the village improved, with women sharing control of the money.
Former Air Force sergeant asserts foreign development aid is critical to our national security strategy
Will Bennett, former Air Force technical sergeant, spent 12 years engaged in supporting peacekeeping and wartime missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. He says despite many tough budget choices ahead it is imperative that Congress maintain U.S. investments in foreign development not only to help prevent vulnerable regions around the world from descending into strife but also to make the American public safer.
U.S. Contributions to Multilateral Organizations
Posted on March 16, 2010.
With the request submitted by President Barack Obama for the FY 2011 International Affairs Budget, much emphasis has been placed on bilateral U.S. assistance programs, namely food security, climate change, and health. But there is another aspect to U.S. foreign assistance that is often overlooked: monetary contributions to multilateral organizations. The importance of providing such assistance is significant. As a leader in the international community, these donations can leverage funding for multilateral organizations from other wealthy nations. Also, these organizations often exemplify Global Washington’s principles of effective foreign aid: coordination, transparency and accountability, local ownership, and targeting aid to those most in need.
As a means to implement these principles on a global scale, the U.S. Government supports two types of multilateral aid organizations in the International Affairs Budget: international organizations and programs and international financial institutions.
Each international organization and program receiving funding from the U.S. has a specific objective to solve problems experienced on a global scale such as climate change, human rights violations, and refugee crises. Organizations that receive U.S. contributions include the International Development Association, The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the Organization of American States, and a variety of United Nations funds.
The two organizations that receive the most money from the U.S. Government, the Global Fund and UNICEF, are instrumental in delivering effective foreign assistance. While not engaging in implementation, the Global Fund receives and disburses funding from the international community to health programs aimed at those most in need. To ensure sustainable and positive results, each plan is developed by the recipient countries and chosen by the Global Fund on a performance-based system. The performance and results of each program are posted on the Global Fund’s website to make their implementing partners more accountable.
Focusing on child survival and education, UNICEF builds protective environments for children and equips local adolescents with the resources necessary to help their communities during and after national emergencies. Through communication and consultation with local populations, UNICEF promotes the participation of the community in meeting needs. Like the Global Fund, UNICEF posts the results of their programs online in an effort to monitor and evaluate progress for future decisions. UNICEF and the Global Fund are thus incredibly efficient in meeting the core principles of effective aid.
Apart from international organizations and programs, international financial institutions are generally focused on providing economic support in the form of loans and grants as a means to reduce poverty and build infrastructure. These institutions are integral to stimulating economic growth in the world’s poorest countries because they provide high-risk loans that private financial institutions would not make.
It is with this model that the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) satisfies a core principle of effective aid: targeting assistance to the people that need it the most. While addressing infrastructure construction, agricultural issues, health concerns, sanitation, and education with its loans, the IDA provides loans with no interest to countries selected by their relative level of poverty. Repayment plans of these loans are extended over a period of 35 to 40 years with a 10-year grace period. In doing so, IDA can be considered an effective tool to encourage and support economic growth in the developing world.
In sum, contributing to multilateral organizations is an effective way to leverage more funding for these organizations and a means by which sustainable development can be achieved.
Below is a list of the top ten multilateral recipients of U.S. funding. For a complete list of the funding levels received by each multilateral organization, please refer to the attached chart. Also, to learn more about the principles of aid effectiveness, read Global Washington’s white paper.
| Top U.S. Contributions to Multilateral Organizations (in $ thousands) |
| Organization |
FY2009 |
FY2010 |
FY2011 Req. |
| International Development Association |
1,115,000 |
1,262,500 |
1,285,000 |
| Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria |
1,000,000 |
1,050,000 |
1,000,000 |
| Climate Investment Funds |
0 |
375,000 |
635,000 |
| Global Agriculture and Food Security Fund (GAFSP) |
0 |
0 |
408,400 |
| Global Environment Facility |
80,000 |
86,500 |
175,000 |
| African Development Fund |
150,000 |
155,000 |
155,940 |
| UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) |
130,000 |
132,250 |
128,000 |
| Asian Development Fund |
105,000 |
105,000 |
115,250 |
| Asian Development Bank |
0 |
0 |
106,586 |
Drawing Support for the FY 2011 International Affairs Budget
Posted on March 12, 2010.
As Congress examines and discusses the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request, we are about to enter a pivotal three week period in which Congress will set the spending parameters with the annual budget resolution. Engaging now is our best opportunity to ensure that Congress supports the President’s International Affairs Budget. Over the coming weeks it is crucial that key members of the Senate hear from their constituents through phone calls and in-state meetings.
We need our members and supporters to reach out to Senator Patty Murray’s office and ask that she support the International Affairs Budget. Also, we are working with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition to establish a meeting with the Senator during the coming Congressional Easter recess (March 29th-April 9th). Please let us know if you are able and would like to attend a meeting during this period.
As a member of both the Budget and Appropriations Committees, Senator Murray has a significant role in determining the amount of funding for the International Affairs Budget and influencing other Members of Congress. Assuring Senator Murray’s support of the President’s request will be critical to guarantee a strong International Affairs Budget.
Special Edition of Policy News Roundup: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day
Courtesy of IWD
International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900’s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. In 1908, women’s oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1909, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman’s Day (NWD) and it was to be observed across the United States on February 28. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913 when IWD was transferred to March 8.
IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.
President Obama gives recognition to International Women’s Day
Crediting their role in the American story, President Barack Obama on Monday praised the nation’s “daring, indomitable” women — including the one-time political rival who is now his secretary of state. Obama praised Clinton for her long-standing work on women’s rights. Furthermore, President Obama said, “we’re doing all of this not only because promoting women’s empowerment is one of the best ways to promote economic development and economic success. We are doing it because it’s the right thing to do. I say that not only as a president, but also as the father of two daughters, as a son and a grandson, and as a husband.”
This week, Global Washington would like to honor International Women’s Day by showcasing our members that are advocating women’s and girl’s rights around the world:
One in Three Women
One in Three Women Campaign has a bold vision: A World Where Women and Girls Are Safe
Courtesy of Americans for UNFPA
from Violence in Their Homes and Communities. One in Three Women is a simple yet powerful message. It is the statistic used in the 2003 United Nations Women’s Development Fund’s (UNIFEM) report on violence against women worldwide. One in Three Women in the world will be raped, beaten, sexually coerced, trafficked or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
One in Three Women brings attention to a long-running pandemic that is a culturally ingrained oppression. The organization is about the prevalence of violence against women globally; that prevalence is the campaign cornerstone. The United Nations Women’s Development Fund (UNIFEM) firmly calls for more governmental intervention against the global problem of violence against women. As the longest, most pervasive and one of most dangerous forms of oppression, gender violence continues at an alarming rate. One in Three Women globally will be affected by violence because of her gender.
Americans for UNFPA
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programs to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. They build moral, political and financial support within the United States for UNFPA. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, provides women’s health and promotes the rights of women in 150 countries. It is the largest international source of such assistance. Americans for UNFPA’s outreach has generated tens of thousands of supporters for global women’s health and channeled their passion into advocacy on behalf of UNFPA’s program.
Bahia Street
Bahia Street breaks cycles of poverty and violence through quality education for impoverished girls and young women living in Salvador, Brazil. Globally, Bahia Street brings people from all backgrounds together for discussions and actions that promote equality. Founded in 1997, Bahia Street is registered as a non-profit organization in Brazil, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The infrastructure of Bahia Street is a partnership that combines the knowledge and dedication of a grassroots organization with the accountability and financial strength of an international one.
The Bo M. Karlsson Foundation
The Bo M. Karlsson Foundation believes that by helping one individual at a time, they can make a positive change in the world and have a meaningful connection with that individual. The women they support awaken us to our global connectivity and the universal desire for peace and goodwill. The rippling effect is monumental. As the Bo M. Karlsson Foundation support women in their educational pursuits, their desire is that this also helps them build character and strength, making them self-reliant, confident, and productive citizens in their own country.
Mona Foundation
Mona Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting grassroots educational initiatives and raising the status of women and girls worldwide. Mona Foundation serves its mission through development of human resources, promoting service learning and volunteerism, bridging the digital divide and supporting their adopted projects through financial grants and material resources that these projects need for their everyday operation or for their development plans.
Smiles Forever
Smiles Forever is an American and Bolivian non-profit foundation that works to give opportunity to young indigenous women in Bolivia and to improve the overall oral health of the communities in which they live. The students of Smiles Forever are taught the importance of serving their communities through community service work, which represents a large part of Smiles Forever’s educational program. Their students are also leading the way in introducing the profession of dental hygiene to Bolivia, where as of yet it does not exist.
Heal Africa
HEAL Africa’s hospital and community development work address the root causes of illness and poverty for the people of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The hospital and the 28 women’s houses in Maniema and North Kivu have provided a safe place for many victims of the war, and have been a motor for combating poverty and promoting community cohesion over the past 14 years.
Women’s Enterprises International
Women’s Enterprises International is dedicated to creating opportunities that equip women in developing countries to overcome poverty and transform their lives and communities. They do this by partnering with indigenous women’s groups in development projects that provide solutions to three systemic causes of poverty; lack of access to water, lack of access to business capital and limited access to education for girls.
USAID Policy News:
USAID Sends Assistance in Response to Chile Earthquake
In response to the earthquake in Chile the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided $1 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), to help with emergency assistance needs. In addition, USAID is providing shelter material and mobile water treatment units to assist the people of Chile.
USAID is asking Congress for supplemental emergency funding for disaster relief, after much of its International Disaster Assistance fund has been spent on Haiti.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah testified before Congress last week to defend the President’s budget request for international development. The Center for Global Development analyzes his testimony and assesses his first couple of months on the job.
FY2011 International Affairs Budget Makes Progress
Three weeks ago, Global Washington posted a blog summarizing the Fiscal Year 2011 International Affairs Budget request. Today, we are pleased to report that the budget is moving forward as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before four Congressional Committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
In her testimony, Secretary Clinton highlighted the main priorities in this year’s budget, as we reported previously: increasing civilian capacity in the “frontline states,” and renewed investments in health, food security, and climate change. In focusing on these priorities, Secretary Clinton argued the aim of the United States “is not to create dependency, but to help our partners devise solutions they can sustain over the long term.”
Secretary Clinton also brought attention to three other aspects of the FY 2011 budget. First, “as the key drivers of economic and social progress in the developing world,” women and girls will be a focal point in American foreign policy in an effort to extend equality and opportunity to all.
An expansion of the Foreign Service of the State Department and USAID will also be a central goal of this budget. In an effort to curb the United States’ reliance on contractors in the implementation of foreign policy goals, the budget will increase the State Department’s Foreign Service by 410 and USAID’s by 200.
The FY 2011 International Affairs Budget would also seek to focus on results and efficiency in implementing United States foreign policy and national security goals. The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development review, which should be completed at the end of this summer, gives the United States the “opportunity to define the capabilities we need and to match resources with priorities.” In line with the goals of the QDDR, Secretary Clinton went on to say “this budget aligns our investments with the strategic imperatives of our time.”
The International Affairs Budget was also received well by congressional leaders during the four hearings. Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hailed the budget as “the backbone of our civilian efforts worldwide,” believing it “secures the tools we need for an effective foreign policy.” Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee committed himself and, with hopes, the rest of his committee to “do everything we can to maintain the overall funding level” of the International Affairs Budget.
To read Secretary Clinton’s transcripts, as well as the transcripts of the Members of Congress and video of the hearings, please refer to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations. For more information on the Fiscal Year 2011 International Affairs Budget, please visit USGLC’s budget center and Global Washington’s blog.
Global Education News – March 3, 2010
Ethiopian pharmacy trainees show off the textbooks that UW pharmacy professors delivered on behalf of UW pharmacy students, who raised the funds to donate the books. Refer to article below.
University of Washington:
Teams bring sustainable solutions to address poverty to UW in annual international competition
University of Washington students compete in the sixth annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) to pitch business plans for commercially sustainable solutions that address issues of poverty in the developing world. Student teams from around the world will be in Seattle to compete and their plans will be judged on three criteria: effect on the quality of life and poverty alleviation in the developing economies; financial sustainability; and, feasibility of implementation.
Pharmacist’s role in patient care advanced in Ethiopia
UW pharmacy professor Andy Stergachis, and UW pharmacy students conducted five days of training for almost 40 pharmacy and health care representatives — including faculty members, students and deans from the four Ethiopian schools of pharmacy, government officials from Ethiopia’s equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration, and the president of the Ethiopian Pharmacy Association. They also donated more than $1,100 worth of textbooks to the Ethiopian pharmacy students, thanks to a fundraiser that UW pharmacy students had organized back at home. Stergachis is collaborating with colleagues from the UW and other institutions to implement various programs — from drug safety initiatives to medication-access programs — in multiple developing nations, including Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda and Vietnam.
Seattle University:
Seattle University’s “Hoops for Haiti” benefit raises $3,600 for relief efforts
Coach Cameron Dollar called on the Seattle University community to help Haiti and they responded in a big way at Saturday’s men’s basketball game. Fans at the “Hoops for Haiti” benefit game donated more than $3,600 to support the work of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Haiti.
Washington State University:
Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations for the Asia Society to lecture at WSU Pullman
Famous lecturer concerning US-China, Schell, a Fellow at the East Asian Institute at Columbia University and the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations for the Asia Society, will present a public lecture titled “Is China’s New Development Model More Competitive than Our Own?”
Other Global Education News:
Symposium: Global awareness an increasingly important skill
Educators need to rethink how they look at the global community, said Francesc Pedró during the ninth annual Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) International Symposium: Do they view other countries as competition, or as an opportunity for collaboration?
A Chance to Reinvigorate the Global Community Around Education
2010 has all the makings of being “The Year of Global Education.” Important events throughout the year include the G8 chairmanship by Canada, a country that historically has been a champion of global education; the FIFA partnership with the 1GOAL campaign, which endeavors to ensure that education for children in Africa and throughout the developing world will be the lasting legacy of this summer’s World Cup in South Africa; news that South African President Zuma will invite fellow heads of state to commit to coordinated action on education on the eve of the World Cup; the UN secretary-general’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Review Summit () prior to the UN General Assembly in September, which will assess the reality of achieving education for all; and South Korea deciding that core development issues including education must be part of the newly-empowered G20’s top-line agenda for November.
Study shows global education is key to reducing apathy
DEA, a coalition which promotes global learning, brings together development and environment NGOs, as well as education NGOs, conducted a study that suggests people who learn about global issues feel more empowered to tackle them, rather than being overwhelmed by the extent of the problems. DEA’s Chief Executive, Hetan Shah said, “learning about the wider world leads to people who are more open-minded towards each other in the UK, but also encourages care for the rest of the world.” Their full report will be available online here.
Initiative for Global Development publishes new report on foreign aid reform
US-based business alliance Initiative for Global Development published a report that draws connections between the economic growth of developing country markets and the economic health of the U.S. The organization also observed how foreign-assisted programs on health, education and poverty eradication in developing countries helped uplift the quality of lives in the world’s poorer states, eventually creating markets for US’s export industry.
The Gap in the Secular Discourse
In Nicholas Kristof’s most recent column, “Learning from the Sin of Sodom,” he contends liberal secularists in the development community need to forsake their prejudice against evangelicals and understand the constructive role faith-based organizations play in foreign aid. By focusing on aid programs aimed at stemming the spread of infectious diseases, curbing human trafficking, and distributing food to the poor, Kristof argues that “evangelicals have become the new internationalists.”
To see a prime example of the positive impact evangelicals can have in development, one must look no further than Global Washington’s member organization World Vision. As the largest relief organization in the United States, World Vision fields 40,000 workers in almost 100 countries. Noting their Christian values as inspiration, World Vision works in the poorest communities to alleviate poverty and promote peace and justice regardless of race, religion, or gender.
The President of World Vision, Richard Stearns illustrates this sentiment of faith-driven aid in his book “The Hole in Our Gospel.” In the book, Mr. Stearns asserts that the values of Christianity are not inconsistent with giving aid, but some evangelicals have been too concerned with sexual morality and proselytizing to truly make an impact on poverty. Indeed, organizations such as World Vision forbid activities aimed at attracting converts to Christianity, exemplifying the constructive nature of some evangelicals’ aid work.
Ultimately, liberal secularists need to abandon their assault on faith-based development programs and accept the evangelicals’ valuable role in international development. That way, as Kristof argues, “we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity.”
To learn more about the contributions of religion in development please visit the websites of World Vision and Global Washington’s other faith-based member organizations Habitat for Humanity of Seattle/South King County, Medical Teams International, Agros International, and Breakthrough Partners.
