Administration’s Reports on Development & Diplomacy Moving Forward
When the administration’s President’s Study Directive (PSD) on Global Development was announced last August, the project was due to be finished by this month. It is likely now to be completed in February or March, giving time for new USAID Administrator, Dr. Raj Shah, to participate.
The report, which aims to fulfill President Obama’s pledge to ensure that “development is established and endures as a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy,” is expected to lay out a whole-of-government approach to development. Coordinated by the National Security Council at the White House, it is involving 15 other executive departments and agencies, including USAID, State Department, Treasury and many others.
In Foggy Bottom, the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review completed its internal interim reports in December. The five working groups have completed a broad review of their mandates and are said to have narrowed their focus to a series of core themes that will guide the final products, expected in May or June.
Taking a look at all of the development work conducted by agencies across the federal government is a daunting task. Congress has voiced concern along the way, with Senate Foreign Relations co-chairs Kerry and Lugar unwilling to wait on aid reform until the Administration’s reviews have been completed and voting their own bill out of committee in November.
Many have wondered how these two review processes will work together and, just as importantly, how the results will actually be implemented. With Raj Shah in place now as the USAID Administrator, much attention will focus on both of these reports.
USGLC’s Statement on the PSD Announcement
State Department Fact Sheet on the QDDR
