Obama, Clinton Pledge to Make International Aid a Priority
FrontLines - February 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrives at USAID Jan. 23 before addressing Agency employees. At left is then-Acting Administrator Kent Hill; at right is Chief Operating Officer Alonzo Fulgham, who was later named Administrator.
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President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wasted little time after being sworn into office before pledging to support development as a key part of America’s foreign policy aims to address global hunger, poverty, lawlessness, and instability.
“To the people of poor nations,” said Obama in his inaugural address Jan. 20, “we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.”
Clinton, who visited USAID headquarters Jan. 23 on the second
day of her new job, told nearly 1,000 Agency employees that the new administration would boost resources for development.
“I wanted to come here today with a very simple message: I believe in development, and I believe with all my heart that it truly is an equal partner, along with defense and diplomacy, in the furtherance of America’s national security,” she told an enthusiastic crowd.
As first lady and senator, Clinton visited USAID programs
overseas and told staffers that “I perhaps have seen some of you in other places, from Nicaragua to Egypt to Indonesia and lots of places in between.”
U.S. foreign assistance fighting
HIV/AIDS and malaria left “positive attitudes” around the world, she said, adding that “it is essential that the role of USAID and our other foreign assistance programs be strengthened and be adequately funded and be coordinated.”
U.S. military officers in Iraq and Afghanistan have funds for reconstruction projects and great flexibility in spending them. But USAID has to go through extensive
paperwork to spend “10 cents,” she said.
Even so, she added, “when I speak to my friends over at the Defense Department, they will confess that they very often have to turn to you to determine how best to spend the money they’ve been given for development, reconstruction, and stabilization.”
Agency employees see their work as “not just a career, but a labor of love,” Clinton said, while warning that they would have to be “more effective.”
“It will also not surprise you to learn that we have to regain some credibility in order to regain the authorities and the resources that have drifted elsewhere,”
she said. “Much of the migration of the authority and the resources to the Defense Department came about because they were able to move, and move aggressively and agilely, to fulfill a purpose or a need. We are going to have to streamline our operations.”
She noted that there has been “a very vigorous debate within the development community” about USAID’s place in the government
structure. She also called on Agency staff to figure out how to “eliminate redundancy”
and “streamline procedures.”
“I want to know from you what we need to do to make sure that USAID assumes once again the global leadership role you deserve it to have in the delivery of development assistance,” she said. “We are asking you to do more and more with less. And my goal is to make sure we match the mission and the resources.”
Clinton also noted that Obama’s late mother, Ann Dunham Soetoro, worked on USAID microfinance projects in Indonesia, “so his understanding and commitment to these important
human issues runs very deep.”
At his January confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be deputy
secretary of state for management
and resources, Jacob Lew said he would seek greater resources for foreign assistance. He said Clinton, along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, supports expanding results-oriented,
hands-on diplomatic and development work.
“Our support for development and good governance, and our role in defending human rights and alleviating suffering in the world reflects our values and advances our interests,” Lew said. But “we need to reduce overlap between programs and departments, articulate
clear objectives and leverage resources of international organizations,
allies, the private sector, foundations, and NGOs to maximize
our impact.”
★ - B.B.
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