The Hill: Getting more bang for our foreign assistance bucks
Jim Kolbe, former congressman from Arizona, senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and honorary co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network

“…[A]pplying a few, commonsense principles can help ensure assistance dollars are well-spent to help those in need and to spur growth around the world. … First, we need to be working across the aisle, across the House-Senate divide, and down Pennsylvania Avenue. … Second, U.S. assistance is most effective when partner countries are actively involved and take the lead in designing assistance programs. … Third, the public here in the U.S. and in partner countries are demanding more accountability — and the U.S. should be leading the way to respond. … Looking ahead, leaders would do well to remember that the principles of transparency, accountability, and local ownership must be part of our development DNA and not just for USAID, but across all 22 U.S. agencies that deliver foreign assistance. … There may be only nine months before a new administration and Congress are sworn in, but that is time enough for this administration and Congress to heed the lessons we have learned and work together to accelerate progress on efforts to make foreign aid more transparent, accountable, and sustainable…” (4/5).