From easing restrictions on humanitarian aid and improving human security to empowering civil society, InterAction’s 2013 Foreign Assistance Briefing Book provides a series of recommendations for the 113th Congress and the Obama administration to improve the quality and effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance. Drawing on the experience and expertise of over 200 InterAction member organizations working across the developing world, the Briefing Book covers 18 key areas and succinctly outlines their perspectives and solutions to foreign assistance challenges. “Development assistance through U.S. civilian agencies advances U.S. national political, economic and security interests,” the Briefing Book says in its introduction. InterAction is the largest coalition of U.S.-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working internationally on humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding issues.
“To ensure efficient and flexible development programs,” the Briefing Book says, “governments, NGOs and the private sector must build effective partnerships. In part, this will entail further appreciation of the role of international NGOs and their greater inclusion in policymaking.”
This is sharp contrast to the crackdown on the operating space for civil society by at least 50 governments. “Recent years have witnessed a legislative backlash against civil society organizations (CSOs). U.S. organizations have had staff arrested, their offices raided, and programs terminated. Governments have also constrained the formation, operation and funding of host country CSOs.”
These overly-broad constraints and intrusive measures impede the ability of U.S. groups and their international partners from carrying out work that reduces suffering and conflict, and transforms the lives and conditions of people around the world. Singling out countries like Russia, Ethiopia, and China for introducing restrictive legislation harmful to their domestic civil society, the Briefing Book says, “An enabling legal environment is essential for civil society organizations to…provide humanitarian assistance, promote human rights, and foster other activities important to local populations.”
Some of the topics and recommendations include:
Reduce Legal Restrictions on Humanitarian Action
Safeguard Civil Society
Aid Effectiveness and Reform
Humanitarian Priorities
The USAID-U.S. NGO Relationship
NGO and Military Relations