Developing countries are now asked to do a lot of work before presenting their development priorities to the U.S. government. As we saw in the last chapter, a thorough process of consultation involving multiple stakeholders is generally expected. The consultative process is designed to make the governments of developing countries more responsible partners, since they must demonstrate that they are serious about growth that is geared toward significantly reducing poverty.
The United States can also take specific actions to demonstrate its commitment to be a stronger, more reliable partner with the countries to whom it provides development assistance. The rest of this chapter focuses on factors that weaken the effectiveness of the U.S. government’s development assistance efforts, offering solutions to help achieve better long-term development outcomes, such as promoting economic growth and meeting the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Issues covered in this chapter:
- The high costs of tying aid to U.S. providers of goods and services
- The proliferation of earmarks that undermine strategic objectives
- The scarcity of long-term funding for development
- Trade policies that clash with development assistance
- Strengthening USAID, the government’s lead development agency
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