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Transcript of The HELP Commission Beyond Assistance Highlights of the report of the HELP Commission to the...
The HELP Commission
Beyond AssistanceHighlights of the report of the HELP Commission to the President,
Congress, and Secretary of State on foreign assistance reform.
Tom Briggs, Executive Director, HELP CommissionJanuary 9, 2008
International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management
The HELP Commission
Membership• 15 appointed by leadership of the 2005-6 Congress• 6 appointed by the President in 2005• 1 ex-officio, the Administrator of USAID, represented by Alonzo Fulgham
Term and Funding• Two years to complete work – December 7, 2007 deadline• $4 million appropriation
Sponsorship• Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va)
Staff• 4 full-time professionals• 10 part-time professionals• 2 administrative• 2-4 interns
Commission Details
The HELP Commission
• 18 meetings from February 2006 through October 2007
• 70 academics, practitioners, analysts, and government officials provided verbal and written input at meetings
• Additional meetings with current and former secretaries of state, USAID Administrators, NSC staff, Members of
Congress, Congressional staff, Gates Foundation in Seattle, and others
• Travel to 18 countries to observe aid on the ground
• Scenario planning workshop
Operations
The HELP Commission
Commission’s Vision
In furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policygoals and objectives, the HELP Commission’s vision is ofa world without extreme poverty where people live in peaceand realize human dignity, liberty, justice and economicopportunity.
The HELP Commission
• Dr. Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion
• Seriousness of purpose implies use of all available policy instruments:– Foreign aid– Security– Trade– Governance
“Beyond Assistance”?
The HELP Commission
Findings
• The world has changed and U.S. assistance programs have not kept pace.
• Foreign assistance alone is insufficient to help developing countries achieve long-term, sustainable economic growth.
• Long-term economic growth and job creation contribute the most to sustainable development.
• We need a clear and common vision for development across and throughout both branches of the United States Government.
• An integrated approach to our government’s development assistance is needed.
• We must play to our strengths and work with others.
The HELP Commission
Recommendations
• Rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act.• Do more to help developing countries build vibrant
private sectors.• Create a new business model and engage new non-
governmental partners.• Align America’s trade and development policies.• Strengthen the management capacity of our
nation’s assistance agencies.• Reorganize all U.S. international affairs functions • Determine funding from the bottom up, based on
the needs and commitment of developing countries and on the national and security interests of the United States.
The HELP Commission
Additional Recommendations
• New relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government
• $500 million Humanitarian Crisis Response Fund
• $500 million Foreign Crisis Fund
• Simplify the appropriation account structure to improve accountability and authority
• Clarify DoD’s role in development assistance
• Use public diplomacy and branding more effectively
• Emphasize infrastructure and agriculture
The HELP Commission
• Boldest – duty-free, quota-free access to U.S. market
for world’s poorest countries• Insightful – Grand Bargain to reform the
Executive-Legislative relationship• Wonkiest – four-way tie
– HR– Procurement– Unified policy, budget and evaluation system– Abolish the OE account
• Difficult – two-way tie– Structure– Funding
Headlines
The HELP Commission
Funding
All commissioners would agree with the statement: “Foreign assistance resources should be increased
when and if the reforms recommended in the report are implemented and proven successful.”
All but two would agree with the statement:“Foreign assistance resources should be increased if the
reforms recommended in the report are implemented.”
Most would agree that foreign assistance resources should be increased.
The key message is to spend enough to accomplish America’s development and humanitarian goals.
The HELP Commission
Commission’s Objectives for Structure
• Elevate development relative to defense and diplomacy
• Vest responsibility in a single organization
• Single USG voice
• Consolidate policy formulation, program design, implementation, operations in one organization
• Provide access to all the tools necessary for development
• Improve accountability to the Congress
• Enable strong partnerships with private sector and NGOs
• Root policies and programs in reality
The HELP Commission
Five Common Structural Objectives
• Reduce the number of agencies responsible for development
• Rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act
• Improve interagency coordination
• Link authority and responsibility
• Create a new structure for foreign assistance activities
The HELP Commission
Three Alternatives
1. Majority View: International Affairs Department
2. Four members: Department of International Development
3. Minority View: State Integration
The HELP Commission
International Affairs Department:The “Smart Power” Department
• Create a “super-department” to bring together all of the skill sets and resources needed to successfully execute a “smart power” strategy.– All non-defense foreign policy and operations—the 150 Account
• Recognizing that different organizational cultures and skill sets needed for a successful “smart power” strategy in U.S. foreign affairs, distinct “disciplines” or “forces” will be created, and then coordinated through an unified structure directed by the Office of the Secretary.– The sub-cabinet departments will organize, train & equip– The regional and country groups will carry out operations
• Ambassadors will be the “commanders” of this unified structure, and will be drawn from each of the sub-cabinet departments and assigned to the regional groups by the Office of the Secretary.
• There is an existing organization structure like this—the Dept. of Defense. We can use the lessons learned from DoD to build the “International Affairs Department”.
• National Security Act of 1947• National Security Act Amendment of 1949• Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1985
– We are only learning from the organizational structure. We ARE NOT turning development and foreign affairs into the military or DoD!
– This new Department of International Affairs IS NOT the Department of State, although it subsumes its functions, along with those of USAID, MCC, and most other organizations funded exclusively by the 150 Account.
The HELP Commission
International Affairs Department
Office of the Secretary
Department of Political and Security Affairs
Latin America
Department of Economic Affairs, Development, And Trade
Europe and Eurasia
Department of Humanitarian Services and Stabilization
Middle East and Central Asia
Department of Public Diplomacy andConsular Affairs
India, East, and Southeast Asia
Africa
Secretary of StateKey
Plan, Program, & BudgetSub-Cabinet Dept. (Train & Equip)Regional Operations Groups
The HELP Commission
Department for International Development
• Cabinet-level department• Elevate development and ensure
complementary relationship with diplomacy and defense• Would include MCC, PEPFAR, humanitarian,
and development activities• Regional and functional bureaus• ESF and IMET would remain at State, with a
requirement for joint programming with DID• Coordinating function in the White House,
probably as a joint function of the NSC and NEC
The HELP Commission
State Integration
• Rationale– Emphasizes post-9/11 threats– Will facilitate links to new actors in development– Builds on existing State Department activities
• Organization– Headed by Deputy Secretary of State– Under Secretaries would head functional areas such
as Economic Development and Trade; Disaster Relief, Refugees, Migration and Humanitarian Assistance; and Political Affairs, Democracy Support, and Public Diplomacy
– Subsume MCC, TDA, and the regional development banks. Peace Corps, OPIC, and Ex-IM could stay independent.
The HELP Commission
Recommendations for Policy Wonks
• Human resources
• Procurement and contracting
• Unified policy, budget, and evaluation system
• Abolish the OE account
The HELP Commission
The Grand Bargain
• Re-engage the authorizers. The FAA has not been re-authorized since 1985 and has not had a comprehensive re-write since enactment in 1961. Recent authorizations have all been in appropriations’ bills.
• Adopt common procedures for accounts, agencies, and bodies of the Congress itself
• Consolidate the 39 foreign assistance accounts• Make the Congressional Budget Justification process
meaningful– Consider a consolidated 050/150 budget– Provide joint guidance from the NSC and OMB to agencies– Align the priorities of the Executive and Legislative using
the budget process• Technical improvements (single point of contact, unified
accounting systems, M&E)
The HELP Commission
Duty-free, quota-free Access
• The United States should offer duty-free, quota-free access to its market for:– MCC-eligible countries; and– Countries with 2006 nominal GDP per capita less
than $2,000.• The reason is that to do good, we must first stop
doing harm.– We collected $20 million more in duties from MCC
eligible countries in 2006 than we provided in the 2007 MCC appropriation.
– We, and the EU, impose the highest tariff rates on the poorest countries.
– And, please see the numbers on the following slide:
The HELP Commission
Trade
Selected countries that paid the U.S. more in duties than they received from the U.S. in aid in 2006
2006Tariffs000 $
Aid000 $
Aid Minus Duties000 $
Per Capita Income
Bangladesh $487,240 $80,978 -$406,262 $451
Cambodia $366,496 $60,055 -$306,441 $503
Nicaragua $105,366 $52,415 -$52,951 $908
Mongolia $19,602 $13,615 -$5,987 $1,081
Philippines $403,510 $127,066 -$276,444 $1,345
Sri Lanka $276,644 $22,647 -$253,997 $1,355
Indonesia $799,259 $150,907 -$648,352 $1,640
Source: The Trade Partnership (Washington, DC) from U.S. Census data.
The HELP Commission
Special Recommendations
• Enhance job creation and poverty reduction through SME technical assistance and finance
• Development Applications Research Institute
• More local purchase of food aid• Support agriculture, including value chain
development• Build human capital through education
The HELP Commission
The HELP Commission
• Remember role – not the Congress, not the Executive
• Deal with conflict early in process• Limit size of Commission• Stand the pyramid on its base (funding and
staff)• Provide sufficient time• Ensure enlightened leadership• Don’t waste time fighting the standard
governmental processes