Foreign Aid Reform Critical for Success in Defense Secretary Gates' Proposal on Smart...

Foreign Aid Reform Critical for Success in Defense Secretary Gates' Proposal
on Smart Power

Oxfam Calls On Defense and State to Support Gates Proposal At Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON, July 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- International agency Oxfam
America today urged Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and
Undersecretary for Policy at the Department of Defense Eric S. Edelman to
follow Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' lead and call for reinvestment in
staffing and funding for development and diplomacy. With defense, these are
the three pillars of effective U.S. foreign policy strategy. Currently,
defense is heavily favored at the expense of development and diplomacy.
Negroponte and Edelman will testify this afternoon before the U.S. Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations regarding the military's role in foreign
policy.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080221/DC14723LOGO )

At a recent event at the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, Defense Secretary
Gates led the call for greater balance when he remarked, "It has become clear
that America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been
chronically undermanned and under-funded for far too long - relative to what
we spend on the military, and more important, relative to the responsibilities
and challenges our nation has around the world."

"Defense Secretary Gates is advocating for a smart power approach to U.S.
foreign policy, and we cannot have smart power unless we have smart
development," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "Smart
development means the U.S. must prioritize long-term poverty alleviation
alongside defense and diplomacy concerns."

According to Oxfam, America's glaring lack of investment in development is
evident when one considers that in the 1990s, 37 percent of the U.S. Agency
for International Development's (USAID) workforce left without being replaced.
USAID, which has traditionally led U.S. foreign assistance efforts, also saw
direct hires working in the field drop by 29 percent from 2002 to 2005. Oxfam
states that while some strides have been made to increase and restructure
overseas aid, much greater reform of U.S. foreign aid is needed to ensure that
the long-term needs of the poor - not politics - come first.

"The next president and his administration have a chance to put smart
development in practice to create a better foreign aid system - a better
international face for the U.S. - that will help lift millions from poverty
and re-establish U.S. global standing," said Offenheiser.
Oxfam recently released Smart Development: Why U.S. Foreign Aid Demands Major
Reform (www.oxfamamerica.org/reformaid). In it, the agency outlines its
approach to smart development including implementing development in the
context of the other forces at work in various societies, helping states
govern effectively, creating markets that function fairly and working with
poor people to achieve the basic tools to generate their own wealth over time.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact Helen DaSilva at
617-331-2984 or hdasilva@oxfamamerica.org.

SOURCE Oxfam America

Helen DaSilva of Oxfam America, hdasilva@oxfamamerica.org, +1-617-331-2984
(mobile), +1-617-728-2409 (office)