Questions on the FY 2017 Budget Request
Early previews, from a $10 per barrel oil tax to a big boost for clean energy R&D, seemed to affirm that President Obama was going to use the final budget of his presidency to send a message.Blog:...
View ArticleA Big, Bold Plan for MCC’s Future
After more than a decade of operations, MCC has made the shift from innovative start-up to established donor agency. “MCC NEXT,” the agency’s new, much-anticipated strategic plan, takes a hard look at...
View ArticleA Lot of Vision, A Little Time: Gayle Smith’s First Major Policy Speech
Yesterday, USAID Administrator Gayle Smith delivered her first major policy speech in a cavernous Capitol Hill auditorium that was filled to capacity. Introducing USAID’s new head, Senator David Perdue...
View ArticleCountry Ownership: Rhetoric or Reality? Let’s Find Out.
“Country ownership” has become a buzzword in the development community, but what does it really mean? A country ownership approach has multiple interpretations to different actors, within different...
View ArticleShining the Light on US Foreign Assistance Transparency – An Interview with...
Dreary weather in Washington aside, it’s Sunshine Week this week—an opportunity to put the limelight on US Government transparency efforts. And because the December 2015 Busan deadline to fully...
View ArticleCountry Ownership at MCC: Compact with Liberia Showcases MCC Model’s Flexibility
When you think of Liberia over the past two years, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably not a hydropower plant.Blog: Rethinking US Development PolicyAuthor(s): Casey DunningClaire McGillem
View ArticleCongressional Panel Looks to Learn from Ebola
In an election year, it can start to seem like every policy issue qualifies as contentious. Perhaps that’s why the constructive, bipartisan discussion featured in last week’s Senate Foreign Relations...
View ArticleLet's DevTalk about Country Ownership
I want to discuss country ownership in US development activities. Let’s take the case of El Salvador. As you may have heard, El Salvador has the highest homicide rate in the world right now. But what...
View ArticleIs OPIC Corporate Welfare? The Data Says...
For years, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has been attacked by a handful of organizations as corporate welfare. But, were the charges of corporate welfare actually true? My...
View ArticleFour Big Questions for the Global Connect Initiative
Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry and World Bank President Jim Kim assembled government, multilateral and corporate leaders to discuss the importance of internet connectivity to development....
View ArticleMCC Gets Serious About Paying for Results
For some time, we’ve been cheering MCC’s interest in pursuing approaches that pay for outcomes and encouraging the agency’s stakeholders to get onboard (here and here). Now we can applaud an important...
View ArticleThere Wasn't a Decent OPIC Database, So We Spent Months Making One
Even among policymakers, there is plenty of misunderstanding around how the US government’s premier agency charged with advancing a private sector-based development agenda, the Overseas Private...
View ArticleCountry Ownership at USAID: Enabling and Empowering Liberia’s Ministry of Health
The recent Ebola outbreak in Liberia underscored the need to focus on health systems strengthening and local resiliency. But who should take the lead? As the case of Liberia shows, even in a country...
View ArticleA Small Change That Would Make Big Sense for MCC
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was designed to provide large-scale grant funding to poor, well-governed countries. It’s become clear, however, that the (legislated) definition of which...
View ArticleA Dive into New Data on Completed MCC Projects
While recent aid transparency buzz has largely revolved around the latest donor rankings, MCC (always a top ranked donor) has been busy quietly raising the transparency bar yet again. The latest...
View ArticleUSAID Didn’t Hit Its 30 Percent Target for Local Solutions – Here’s Why I’m...
This year is a milestone for Local Solutions. At USAID Forward’s inception in 2010, then-administrator Raj Shah committed the Agency to directing 30 percent of Mission program funds to local entities...
View ArticleIs OPIC Focused on the Private Sector’s Biggest Constraints?
In an ideal world, development finance institutions (DFIs) should focus on the biggest constraints for businesses in developing countries. This helps to expand their impact beyond a single project or...
View ArticleInspiring Words for Aspiring Young Development Workers
On May 19, USAID Administrator Gayle Smith achieved that rare feat of a truly inspirational graduation speech, drawing on her experiences as a journalist, human rights activist, and senior government...
View ArticleCountry Ownership in El Salvador: USAID and Local Solutions
“If we don’t take a risk, we won’t reap the rewards.” We heard this refrain from a USAID official working in El Salvador to advance USAID’s agenda to promote greater country ownership by cultivating...
View ArticleGetting to 1504 in 2016: Long-Awaited Progress on Extractive Industry...
At long last, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published the rule requiring extractive industry investors—oil, gas, and mining companies—to publish all payments of $100,000 or more that...
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