Imagine that you live in a region that comprises Washington, DC, and Maryland (roughly the size of Haiti). Then imagine that you are one of many experiencing extreme poverty, lack of education, and other forms of deprivation. If that’s not bad enough, then imagine an earthquake of the magnitude that struck Haiti in January. Then picture 1.3 million people living in tents in the DC area.
With this thought exercise, Ray Offenheiser, President and CEO of Oxfam America, opened his talk on October 20 at the Elliott School of International Affairs of George Washington University. His presentation was titled “Let’s Start with Haiti: Making President Obama’s New Vision for Development Work.” It was sponsored by the Elliott School’s Culture in Global Affairs (CIGA) Program. Robert E. Maguire was moderator. Maguire is associate professor of international affairs at Trinity Washington University in DC; Chair of the Haiti Working Group of the United States Institute of Peace; and a Visiting Fellow with CIGA. To watch a video of this talk, click here.
After that stark opening, Offenheiser turned to considering President Obama’s new approach to international development in the context of Haiti. Speaking at the United Nations in September, President Obama argued that the United States needs to change the way it handles development aid. This speech proposed the first ever global development policy of the United States and offered the only major rethinking of the approach established in 1961 by President Kennedy to shape development during the Cold War.
In this new approach, Offenheiser explained, America is redefining development. Instead of controlling development through a focus on aid, it will take a comprehensive approach to sustainable development. America is now poised to focus on results, especially long-term results that support institutions rather than providing assistance in perpetuity. Broad-based economic growth is a goal through support to market infrastructure. Mutual accountability between the US government and partner countries is the new goal for bilateral aid relationships.
Offenheiser hailed Obama’s vision as breathtaking and most welcome in its emphasis on country ownership: countries must own the process of development, the investments, and the partnerships. The rationale is that poverty can only be solved by poor people and their governments, in partnership with other countries. In the past, too little attention was given to the hopes, dreams, and plans of people in developing countries. Aid projects were likely to be driven by earmarking in the US. From now on, aid will go toward investing more in country-designed ideas.
anthropologyworks 