Lugar: USAID Needs to be Rebuilt
Last night at the Society for International Development’s annual gala, attendees heard from Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) about his vision for the future of U.S. development assistance. Lugar and Sen. Kerry, who was unable to attend, were both presented with the SID-Washington Award for Leadership in Development. Introduced by USAID Administrator Raj Shah, who spoke about his recent trips to Haiti coordinating the USG’s relief effort, Lugar’s speech was a call to arms about the needs to bolster USAID. Lamenting the loss of USAID’s evaluation, budget, and policy capacity over the years, Lugar stated that this is “inhibiting the success of our development programs. Our development efforts will never be as effective as they should be if the agency that houses most of our development expertise is cut out of relevant policy and budget decisions.” Lugar also noted that “diplomacy and development are two distinct disciplines” and that these differences “underscore why development must be an independent partner of diplomacy, not merely its servant.”
