UNDP: United States should lead multilateral global development process as policy for national security

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) roundtable discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussed the future role of the United States in the global development process.

“We...can improve and strengthen our own interests as a country by helping to improve the lives of others all around the world,” said Reuben Brigety, Director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress. This is “quite revolutionary in the eyes of some people who consider themselves proper foreign policy experts or security experts.” Brigety spoke of the need for the United States to lead a multilateral effort with the UNDP in developing countries, avoiding natural disasters and strengthening national security. “I think that...there are enormous security challenges in many parts of the world, but I also think we are at a stage where we have the greatest political opportunity to address them,” said Brigety.

“There are thousands of people interested in this [foreign aid reform], and it’s not just the development community, it’s the foreign policy community, its the national security community that are not just supporting foreign aid reform and modernizing, they’re demanding it,” said George Ingram, Vice President & Executive Director of the Education Policy and Data Center at the Academy for Educational Development. “Obama has called for doubling the foreign assistance budget by 2021,” said Ingram, referring to the role the incoming administration has promised to embrace as a multilateral leader of global development.

“Multilateralism is...merged into some vague evil concept of supernationalism,” said Bruce Jenks, UN Assistant Secretary-General & Director of Partnership Bureau of the UNDP, “to me the irony is...it’s the opposite.” Jenks described that there was an enormous opportunity for the United States to lead a multilateral coalition. “Multilateralism needs to be seen as an instrument of choice in the national interest,” said Jenks. There’s “a myth...that multilateralism is an alternative to leadership...There’s no such thing as un-lead multilateralism or blind multilateralism, multilateralism must be lead.”

Foreign aid needed for Latin, South America

Inequality of wealth in Latin and South America is among the worst in the world said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in a hearing today. He said that the richest 20 percent in Latin America accumulate about 57 percent of the wealth. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) agreed, saying that Brazil, the 11th largest economy worldwide, includes 35 million people living in extreme poverty.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee met to discuss the need of foreign aid given to Latin and South America. Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) said that this issue has gotten "not enough attention" from Congress. Menendez echoed Payne's sentiment saying, "Overall engagement outside of our borders has been controversial to disastrous."

Beyond inequality of wealth, members of the committee said there were more reasons to aid these countries. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said that foreign aid could have a direct result on current immigration issues. Sen. Menendez said that foreign aid to these areas would create more customers for the United States' economic goods.

U.S. foreign aid system broken and flawed

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia held a hearing on consolidating U.S. foreign assistance bureaucracy.

Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) said U.S. foreign assistance includes economic development, security, health, governmental, and disaster response efforts. He said there is a great need to design a comprehensive national assistance strategy with a clear mission and the full means to accomplish it. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said now the aid system is fractured and cumbersome. He said the current, ineffective structure must be compounded to become well-managed, well-funded, and well-staffed.

Richard Greene, deputy director of U.S. foreign assistance at the State Department, said the aid system needs more funding flexibility, driven by demand rather than availability. He said foreign assistance is the most complicated effort in the public policy arena, adding that little has been done to simplify the accounts structure. Akaka said there are 20 government agencies and 50 programs providing international assistance. Greene admitted that it would be smart to consolidate all of the government entities.

Voinovich said $36 billion dollars are disposed for aid, while the defense budget is $683 billion. He said even the funds should be better distributed because foreign aid provides great returns in improving the image of the U.S.