Group Launches Initiative to Modernize U.S. Foreign Assistance

WASHINGTON, June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading global development
experts today called on Congress and the President to elevate development as a
key component of the U.S. foreign assistance system to meet the challenges of
the 21st century.

"The international and domestic challenges of the 21st century -- including
transnational threats such as economic instability, terrorism, climate change,
and disease -- cannot be met with a foreign assistance apparatus created to
confront the challenges of the 20th century," said the experts in a report
released today. The report, "New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for
the 21st Century," contains various proposals of this coalition of experts,
the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN).

"Foreign assistance and other investments in developing countries are vital
tools for strengthening U.S. foreign policy, restoring American global
leadership, and fighting global poverty," said MFAN co-chair Steve Radelet of
the Center for Global Development. "Foreign policy experts on both sides of
the political aisle now recognize the importance of strong foreign assistance
programs. But they also recognize that our foreign assistance programs are out
of date and badly in need of modernization to meet the challenges of the 21st
century. "

The report lays out the importance of foreign assistance as a foreign policy
tool which includes defense, diplomacy, and development. It makes the case
that it is in the country's national interest to elevate development
assistance and makes specific recommendations such as better accountability, a
national strategy for the coordination of the entire U.S. foreign assistance
system, and making development a sustainable piece of America's long-term
investments overseas.

"By giving development a seat at the foreign policy table we can narrow the
gap between the world's haves and have nots, tackle the challenges posed by
climate change, the global food crisis, and the world's weak and failing
states and, most importantly, strengthen the moral foundation from which we
lead," said MFAN co-chair Gayle Smith of the Center for American Progress.

The report was released today during the launch of MFAN in Congress. Speakers
included Rep. Howard L. Berman, chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep.
Nita Lowey, chair, State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee; and Sen. Chuck
Hagel, member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Members of MFAN (www.ModernizingForeignAssistance.Org) include: Steve Radelet
(Center for Global Development), Gayle Smith (Center for American Progress),
Brian Atwood (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of
Minnesota), David Beckmann (Bread for the World), Lael Brainard (Brookings
Institution), Larry Diamond (Hoover Institution, Stanford University), Sam
Worthington (Interaction), Francis Fukuyama (The Paul H. Nitze School of
Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University), Carol Lancaster
(Mortara Center for International Studies, Georgetown University), George
Ingram (Academy for Educational Development), Larry Nowels, Charles MacCormack
(Save the Children), Michael McFaul (Center on Democracy, Development and Rule
of Law, Stanford University), Ray Offenheiser (Oxfam America), Stewart Patrick
(Council on Foreign Relations), and William Reese (International Youth
Foundation).

SOURCE Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network

Bill Malone, +1-202-361-3271, bmalone@bread.org, for Modernizing Foreign
Assistance Network