Development assistance programs that help poor people and nations also strengthen our economy and support our broader foreign policy goals. Despite this, recent years have seen growing isolationism and shrinking budgets that have cut these programs by more than a third. Meanwhile, the legislation and institutions behind these programs have become buried under three decades of often-contradictory statutes and regulations. Calls to either reorganize the foreign affairs bureaucracy or maintain the status quo have been made without first reviewing the mission, purpose, and function of development assistance. This paper is therefore an effort to assess the rationale for international development cooperation and establish guidelines for development assistance programs and organizational structure.
Gender equity is an integral part of development, and a key goal of any program.
Partnerships among donor nations, NGOs, local governments, and the private sector are of great importance. Development assistance must be part of a broader policy agenda that includes trade, investment, debt relief, and other issues. Reshaping U.S. development programs in accordance with these principles and priorities demands increased resources and a reordering of spending priorities. Such deep, disproportionate cuts have forced unacceptable tradeoffs and weakened U.S. influence and leadership among donor nations. Moreover, because development programs help prevent much more costly crises, restoring these funds is not inconsistent with the goal of balancing the budget.