About MFAN and Its Mission
MFAN is a reform coalition composed of international development and foreign policy practitioners, policy advocates and experts, concerned citizens and private sector organizations.
MFAN’s goal is to help build a safer, more prosperous world by strengthening the United States’ ability to alleviate extreme poverty, create opportunities for growth, and secure human dignity in developing countries.
HOW is foreign assistance in the national interest?
Big Global Challenges Require Smart, Effective Answers
The U.S. faces a complex set of global challenges today, including the current economic crisis, extremism and terrorism, poverty, and disease. America’s global leadership in tackling these challenges is more important than ever – for our own national security, economic prosperity, the stability of our allies, and the well-being of those that struggle with these issues every day.
Investment in Global Development is a Cost-Effective, Long-Term Solution
Leaders across the political spectrum agree that U.S. development assistance is a crucial investment in long-term global prosperity and security. The U.S. must emphasize this “smart” power approach through global development programs equal in importance to military might. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, “… if we are to meet the myriad challenges around the world in the coming decades, this country must strengthen other important elements of national power both institutionally and financially, and create the capability to integrate and apply all of the elements of national power to problems and challenges abroad."
WHY should foreign assistance be modernized?
The Government’s System is Outdated
The current system for managing U.S. global development efforts is outdated and messy, with a lack of coordination and overarching strategy. If global development is to become a pillar of U.S. foreign policy as part of the three “D’s” – development, diplomacy and defense – the system must be modernized to reflect 21st-century challenges, and development experts must be included when all key foreign policy decisions are made.
MFAN’s Plan Will Create a More Efficient and More Effective System
MFAN’s practical, bipartisan plan to elevate global development calls for smarter strategy, stronger accountability, and streamlined U.S. government agencies. Our plan is built on the premise that investing in development now will contribute to our national security, build good will, and bolster our image abroad.
Influential Voices are Supporting MFAN’s Plan
There is a rising chorus of voices joining us in recognizing the importance of development. President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and lawmakers in both the House and Senate have called for more investment in development, and for the adoption of a foreign policy that puts development on par with diplomacy and defense.
MFAN’s practical, bipartisan foreign assistance reform plan has four key actions:
Develop a national strategy for global development;
Reach a “grand bargain” between the Executive branch and Congress on management authorities and plan, design and enact a new Foreign Assistance Act;
Consolidate and streamline the organizational structure and strengthen monitoring and evaluation; and,
Increase funding for and accountability of foreign assistance.
