A New Direction for USAID | Event Moderated by Rick Barton

The Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum hosted as event at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), A New Direction for USAID-At Home and Abroad, moderated by PCR Project Co-Director Rick Barton.  The discussants were Gordon Adams, Distinguished Fellow, Stimson Center, and Raymond Shonholtz, Founder and President, Partners for Democratic Change.  The topic was the challenge of revitalizing the capacity and effectiveness of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  Video from the event is online.  Throughout his comments Adams emphasized the need to invest in human resource capacity for both State and USAID.  This includes improving strategic and budgetary planning capacity.  USAID, in particular, demands greater human resource capacity so that it can move away from the contract management model.  In terms of the stabilization and reconstruction mission that has been taken to the forefront by U.S. engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq, the mission of civilian agencies needs to be better defined.  USAID, and the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), may serve as a link between post-conflict and long-term stability and governance objectives, if these agencies are given the capacity to grow into this role.  Shonholtz expanded on his concept of impact investing, which he first presented in his paper, Impact Investing for Sustainable Change.  This approach focuses on building in-country professional capacity by redefining the mission from aid or assistance to investment in mutual security and economic interests.  Shonholtz also discussed alternative methods for maximizing innovation and effectiveness of project design an implementation by using “crowd sourcing” and transparent bidding.  A Wikipedia-like approach to aggregating knowledge and improving ideas for projects that can be developed and maintained in-country would help USAID better achieve its fundamental purpose.  Based on five-years experience as the first director of OTI at USAID, Barton isolated a few of the most concerning elements of the status quo.  The fact that 402 people have been killed working on USAID contracts in Afghanistan is unacceptable.  Insecurity has lead to the expanding role of the Department of Defense in stabilization and reconstruction operations.  This underscores the need for high-level coordination between DoD and State under a common, well-defined mission.  Some of the capacities DoD has built working in places like Iraq and Afghanistan should be moved to civilian agencies and linked to more long-term development goals.  Proprietary contracts need to end and USAID has a responsibility to be one of the most transparent government agencies.  There is a moment of eagerness provided by the new leadership of Secretary Clinton and this should be capitalized upon.