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Statement on HELP Commission
Washington, DC (Wednesday, December 12, 2007) – Strongly welcoming many of the new recommendations for foreign assistance reform made by a Congressional commission this week, Save the Children called on the next President and Congress to make foreign aid reform and increased assistance a top priority so America is better able to help the world's poorest people, especially children and their families.
The latest recommendations for foreign assistance reform were announced this week by the HELP Commission (Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People around the Globe), set up by Congress to study U.S. development and humanitarian assistance programs and to propose reforms."The Bush Administration has increased foreign assistance funding and introduced significant innovations, but there is more work to be done to tackle the tasks of poverty alleviation and development in a sustained and comprehensive way," said Save the Children President and CEO Charles MacCormack. "We need to ensure that development indeed has an equal place alongside diplomacy and defense."
The HELP Commission report reaffirms the important role of foreign assistance, and, together with other reports, such as that of the Commission on Smart Power, recognizes that U.S. foreign assistance instruments must be reformed in order to ensure our foreign aid efforts are more effective.
"From our perspective, we strongly advocate the creation of a cabinet-level post for global development because it would help ensure that the world's poorest families and their children have a voice at the highest levels of the administration," said Save the Children President and CEO Charles MacCormack.
MacCormack noted that the President and Congress must discuss and agree on ways to elevate development in our overall foreign policy. "We must ensure that American initiatives are fully resourced, that our development programs are driven by poverty reduction, that the United States pursues sustainable development through a comprehensive and coherent strategy, and that we place our policies on a long-term footing."
"In our globalized world, investing in development is as important for Americans as it is for the world's more vulnerable and poor," said MacCormack.
To read the commission’s report, Beyond Assistance, go to www.helpcommission.gov
