RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Noam Unger, May 02, 2008, The Brookings Institution
President Bush recently called on Congress to increase U.S. food aid and development programs by $770 million. In a recent op-ed, Noam Unger, senior manager of Brookings’ Foreign Aid Reform Project, discusses how U.S. assistance programs should be strengthened in order to improve the effectiveness of America’s aid during the global food crisis and beyond. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard, April 23, 2008, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
As the world faces security threats from impoverished states, the global community searches for solutions to poverty. Lael Brainard offers Congress recommendations for modernizing the U.S. aid infrastructure.
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RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Joshua Hermias and Homi Kharas, February 2008, Development & Cooperation, No. 02 2008, Volume 49, February 2008
The effectiveness of foreign aid is reduced by the low share of aid going into country programmes, donors’ fragmentation into small and often disconnected projects, and by significant volatility over time. Joshua Hermias and Homi Kharas discuss the key role that competition can have in spurring efficiency in aid agencies, which would asist aid harmonization. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard, January 23, 2008, House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
In a world facing 21st century threats from global poverty, pandemics, and terrorism, foreign aid has assumed renewed importance as a critical instrument for advancing American values, interests, and national security. Lael Brainard offers Congress recommendations for urgent reform since U.S. foreign aid policy has become incoherent and its implementation fragmented. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Homi Kharas, December 20, 2007, The Brookings Institution
From climate change to international aid, better rules of engagement are mandatory to resolve global issues and sustain the current cycle of prosperity and wealth, Homi Kharas argues. Managing globalization well is being held hostage to the absence of productive engagement between rich and poor countries. Read More
PAST EVENT
Monday, December 10, 2007
Washington, DC
On December 10, the Global Economy and Development program hosted the HELP Commission for the official release of its report on foreign aid reform, Beyond Assistance. Mary Bush, chair of the HELP Commission, announced the commission’s recommendations during remarks. Additional commissioners discussed their views on reform priorities and next steps. The second panel of independent experts led by Lael Brainard, vice president and director of Global Economy and Development, offered analysis of the HELP Commission’s report and discuss steps to move reform forward. Read More
VIDEO
Lael Brainard, December 10, 2007
Congress established the Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People around the Globe (HELP) Commission to study U.S. development and humanitarian assistance programs and to propose bold reform recommendations for relevant structures, mechanisms and incentives. The Global Economy and Development program hosted the HELP Commission for the official release of its report on foreign aid reform, Beyond Assistance, which provides recommendations designed to harness the full potential of U.S. foreign assistance efforts.
VIDEO
Lael Brainard, December 10, 2007
On December 10, Brookings hosted the Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People around the Globe (HELP) Commission for their release of “Beyond Assistance,” the commission’s recommendations for foreign aid reform. Brookings Vice President Lael Brainard examines critical points in the report and discusses next steps for the reform effort.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Homi Kharas, November 2007, The Brookings Institution
By examining the trends in aid flows and the changing aid architecture, Homi Kharas, Brookings Visiting Fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development, discusses the shortfalls in the dissemination of billions of dollars in development assistance. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William Easterly, November 16, 2007, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria
Brookings Scholar William Easterly discusses foreign aid with Fareed Zakaria on his show Foreign Exchange. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Kenneth Dam, October 31, 2007, Opportunity 08
The United States is the world’s largest foreign aid donor. But foreign aid encompasses a bewildering array of programs, both bilateral and international, that address issues like economic development, fighting disease, supporting a friendly government and providing disaster relief. The ability to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs is elusive. Kenneth Dam says that the next President should follow a strategy which will serve to produce a much-needed discussion on this important issue. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William Easterly, October 2007, The Brookings Institution
This working paper by William Easterly shows that the record on aid agencies indicates little evidence of progress in response to political changes, experience or new knowledge. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard, July 30, 2007, The Brookings Institution
It would be an enormous shame to abandon the focus on foreign assistance reform as the administration's specific proposals come under fire. A glance at the many agencies involved in pursuing the dizzying array of objectives embodied in U.S. foreign assistance should convince even the most diehard skeptic we have a problem. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, July 27, 2007
Washington, DC
On July 27, 2007, Brookings hosted an event in the U.S. Capitol on the need to fundamentally reform U.S. foreign aid. As a critical instrument of American power and a key determinant of the face of America seen by people around the world, foreign aid must be up to the task of addressing 21st century challenges. Read More