Elevating Development to be a Primary Goal of Foreign Assistance
The challenges of the 21st centry argue for a fresh approach to U.S. foreign assistance. To achieve this, Congress and the new administration should consider establishing a new cabinet-level department for global development. A department that draws in all of the development assistance programs currently scattered throughout the government bureaucracy would produce a greater degree of policy and program consistency, and ensure that the development voice is heard at the highest level of foreign policy deliberation.
As more than one observer has noted, “Just as there can be no development without security, there can be no security without development.” Development assistance needs to be a national priority, receiving more than lip service alongside defense and diplomacy. As long as poverty and hunger persist, peace and security are tenuous. Effective development assistance that enables poor people around the world to escape debilitating malnutrition, illiteracy, and disease should be a component of a sophisticated national security strategy.
Elevating development as suggested here would be a vital step forward for the United States in responding more effectively to global hunger and poverty. Making a serious effort to address the root causes of persistent poverty is not only the right thing to do but would improve the United States’ international standing and advance U.S. national interests by improving security around the world. Development assistance must be focused on poverty reduction, with resources equal to the task.
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