Contents    Prev    Next    Last

Chapter VII.  Expand the Circle of Development by Opening Societies and Building the Infrastructure of Democracy

 Section C.  The Way Ahead - 2.  Making Foreign Assistance More Effective

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

        The Administration has created the new position of Director of Foreign Assistance (DFA)

        in the State Department.  The DFA will serve concurrently as Administrator of U.S.

        Agency for International Development (USAID), a position that will continue to be at the

        level of Deputy Secretary, and will have, consistent with existing legal requirements,

        authority over all State Department and USAID foreign assistance.  This reorganization

        will create a more unified and rational structure that will more fully align assistance

        programs in State and USAID, increase the effectiveness of these programs for recipient

        countries, and ensure that we are being the best possible stewards of taxpayer dollars.  

        And it will focus our foreign assistance on promoting greater ownership and

        responsibility on the part of host nations and their citizens.  

         

        With this new authority, the DFA/Administrator will develop a coordinated foreign

        assistance strategy, including 5-year, country-specific assistance strategies and annual

        country-specific assistance operational plans.  The DFA/Administrator also will provide

        guidance for the assistance delivered through other entities of the United States

        Government, including the MCC and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator.

         

         

 

                                                                                           National Security Strategy  33

 

             To ensure the best stewardship of our foreign assistance, the United States will:

             

             ·  Distinguish among the different challenges facing different nations and address those

                   challenges with tools appropriate for each country's stage of development;

             

             ·  Encourage and reward good government and economic reform, both bilaterally and

                   through the multilateral institutions such as international financial institutions, the

                   G-8, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC);

             

             ·  Engage the private sector to help solve development problems;

             

             ·  Promote graduation from economic aid dependency with the ultimate goal of ending

                   assistance;

             

             ·  Build trade capacity to enable the poorest countries to enter into the global trade

                   system; and

             

             ·  Empower local leaders to take responsibility for their country's development.

             

             Our assistance efforts will also highlight and build on the lessons learned from successful

             examples of wise development and economic policy choices, such as the ROK, Taiwan,

             Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Chile, and Botswana.

 

National Security Strategy 34

	Contents    Prev    Next    Last