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Home arrow What's New arrow Women Thrive Welcomes the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009
Women Thrive Welcomes the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 PDF Print E-mail
July 29, 2009

Women Thrive Worldwide commends Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Ranking Minority Member Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Bob Corker (R-TN), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jim Risch (R-ID) for introducing the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524).  The bipartisan bill begins the process of reforming foreign assistance, and we urge its speedy passage through the Senate.

“Our current foreign assistance structure is outdated and falling well short of its potential to do good for the poorest worldwide, the majority of whom are women,” said Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President of Women Thrive Worldwide. “We support and commend Senate leadership in putting forward this legislation, and hope it will work together with the House and the Obama Administration to overhaul U.S. assistance.”

The Senate bill signifies that there is clear, bipartisan momentum behind efforts to modernize the U.S. foreign assistance system to meet the diverse geopolitical and economic challenges we face. In the House, Chairman Howard Berman’s Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 2139) has similar provisions to the Senate bill on prioritizing development policy and transparency and now has ninety-eight bipartisan Members. Both House and Senate Committees have also indicated that they are beginning the process of reviewing the outdated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 with a view to rewriting and modernizing that crucial legislation.

Meanwhile, Secretary Clinton is moving forward with the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), a blueprint for our diplomatic and development efforts. She also requested strong funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the 2010 budget and has taken the lead in forging the administration’s new global food security initiative.

The Senate bill is an important first step in the process of modernizing and revamping U.S. foreign assistance programs. Women Thrive supports this effort and believes it is crucial to improving the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to reduce poverty worldwide, especially for women and girls.
Last Updated ( Friday, 31 July 2009 )
 
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