Our Team in Brussels: USAID European Offices Work with Donors
FrontLines - March 2009
By John Waggoner
The typical USAID officer is occasionally found in remote and inhospitable regions of the earth, sometimes wearing sunglasses,
a floppy hat, and boots. However, some USAID officers are assigned to sophisticated world capitals and wear shined shoes, pressed skirts, neckties, and suits.
A case in point is the USAID office in Brussels where three Agency officials deal with fellow
donor countries. The staff includes Jonathan Addleton, counselor for international development and USAID representative
to the European Union (EU); Marguerite Davis, his special
assistant; and Patterson Brown, senior advisor on food and humanitarian issues.
The Brussels office is one branch in an expanding network of liaison positions in major world capitals such as Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, and Beijing. In addition, the Africa Bureau maintains a liaison office in Addis Ababa with the African Union; the Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Bureau oversees a liaison office in Rome with the U.N. food agencies; and the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia recently posted a development counselor in Sofia, Bulgaria, a former aid recipient that is itself now an aid donor.
In addition, to strengthen civil-military coordination, USAID now posts liaison officers
at four U.S. military commands:
the European Command (EUCOM) and Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Stuttgart, Germany;
Pacific Command (PACOM) in Honolulu; and Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa.
The main rationale for a USAID office in Brussels is to strengthen both dialogue and coordination between the United States and Europe on development
and humanitarian policies and programs around the world.
Of $100 billion in annual worldwide Official Development Assistance (ODA)—aid given directly by governments to programs
in developing countries—Europe collectively provides $60 billion. About one-fifth is channeled
directly through the European
Commission (EC) and the remainder provided on a bilateral basis by the 27 member states.
The U.S. ODA contribution is $22 billion per year. Together, at least four out of every five aid dollars are provided by either the EU or the United States. Better coordination can help stretch scarce ODA further, especially during this period of global financial crisis.
EU development assistance is important because of its size but also because of the important political signal that is sent when the world’s largest economic grouping commits itself to
supporting a particular country or region.
Further, said Addleton in a report reviewing his Brussels office, dialogue on development cooperation represents a positive aspect of the U.S.-EU relationship,
one that can strengthen trans-Atlantic ties.
The Brussels office inevitably finds itself dealing with a range of stereotypes in its own right.
Addleton reports that there
is a general—and mistaken—assumption among European aid experts and officials that USAID, as well as the U.S. government
more broadly, never provides budget support. There is also a strong perception that U.S. assistance is channeled exclusively
through U.S. companies
and NGOs. More than a few counterparts believe that the Global Development Alliance is limited to American companies and some view it as a stalking horse for advancing U.S. commercial
interests.
A perception of U.S. “stinginess”
when it comes to foreign assistance persists, said Addleton’s report.
This can partially be traced to the strong emphasis in Brussels on the public sector, with most measures
of foreign assistance focused on official aid as a percentage of gross national product. Official U.S. assistance may be a smaller percentage of gross domestic product, but adds up to larger sums than all other donor countries. In addition, much U.S. non-official aid flows from churches, charities, and foundations.
Finally, it is not widely understood
that U.S. government development assistance has more than doubled since 9/11—and more than tripled in the case of Africa.
The Brussels office fosters dialogue and cooperation with other development agencies and reflects changes in the way development
programs today are planned, shaped, and delivered. It also links the issues of developing countries to a much larger set of political and security concerns.
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