UN Photo/Martine Perret
Most of the hard work of development is
done by people in developing countries
themselves.
for the World Bank, which provides loans and grants to developing
countries to promote growth and poverty reduction.
As Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, says, “This [15 percent] threshold is critical, as
it enables the United States to block amendments … on critical issues.” He points out that the United States is the only country with
this veto power.
Maintaining and strengthening U.S. support for multilateral development efforts and institutions complements the renewed American emphasis on focusing development assistance on top priorities
and achieving results. This way, the United States can specialize in
particular programs and issues while still having a voice in the allocation of resources to projects around the world.
One area where U.S. influence can be critical to the effectiveness
of development assistance is the recognition that women do much
of the essential work to grow crops and feed their families nutritious
foods but too often lack access to resources. Another is the move
toward more “transparency” in assistance programs—meaning that
everyone concerned with a development project, from officials of
donor countries to local beneficiary families, knows exactly what its objectives
are and how the money is being spent.
Further Thoughts
Development Is a Global Effort
Few medium-sized or large development programs are supported by a single donor. Most are a “team effort.” For example,
the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, named after the 2009 international meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, where it began, focuses
on improving agricultural systems. This has proven to be the most effective way to help communities build their ability to
respond to spiking food prices, climate change, and other factors that contribute to hunger and malnutrition.
As the graphic shows, 12 countries plus the European Commission pledged billions of dollars in funding to support the food
security initiative. Some donors made especially generous commitments given their own relatively small population—for
example, Canada and the Netherlands. The United States and Germany were the individual countries who contributed the
largest dollar amounts.
L’Aquila Financial Pledge Breakdown by Donor
Russia
Spain
Sweden
3.5
Bread for the World Institute
Netherlands
1.7
n
Japan
0.5
0.7
0.3
20 Essay 3
Italy
2.0
Source: ONE
Germany
3.0
France
0.4
EC
3.0
2.2
3.8
1.0
0.4
Australia
Canada
Billions of dollars
UK
US