The Long and Winding Road Toward US Aid Reform

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walked into the department’s Dean Acheson Auditorium Dec. 15 to release the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, she appeared startled by the size of the crowd. The 868-capacity chamber was standing room only.

“I appreciate the great interest that this turnout evidences,” she told the assembly of government employees, invited groups and the media. It was, indeed, a day many in the room had long been waiting for, some for years.

Global health and development were a priority for Barack Obama even before he was elected president. As a candidate, he pledged to double U.S. foreign assistance within five years, a promise from which he subsequently backtracked amid lingering financial calamities. Once in office, he renewed U.S. support for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and boosted multilateral development efforts at the United Nations and beyond.

Source: Devex News (link opens in a new window)