USAID Administrator: NGOs Must Promote Ties to U.S. Government or We Will 'Find New Partners'

Monday Developments

(Washington, June 9) The Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development bluntly told international humanitarian leaders they must do a better job of promoting connections to the U.S. government and measuring results for their work or the Bush administration would find new partners for overseas assistance programs. Speaking on the last day of InterAction's three-day Forum, AID Administrator Andrew Natsios said he was irritated that beneficiaries of U.S. foreign assistance do not realize that the U.S. government is behind much of the financing for relief and development work. "They don't understand NGOs and aid," he stated. Natsios insisted that aid agencies and for-profit contractors in the field should identify themselves as recipients of U.S. funding to show a stronger link to American foreign policy.  If this does not happen more often, Natsios threatened to personally tear up their contracts and find new partners.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and contractors "are an arm of the U.S. government," Natsios said. The USAID Administrator singled out American NGOs for criticism, chastising them for not measuring the results of their work. "Results count," Natsios said. "If you cannot measure results other partners will be found." He urged aid groups to pool their resources and begin building the capacity of local governments, civil society and institutions for sustainability after the NGO leaves. "If local NGOs are totally supported by the outside, it's not sustainable," he added. Many InterAction members took exception to Natsios' comments, questioning why AID continued to fund their projects if the results were not satisfactory to the Bush administration. Natsios expressed much of the same sentiments during a private meeting several months ago with InterAction and a number of its members. Following that meeting, InterAction launched an effort,  including continued discussions with senior AID officials and a series of occasional policy papers, to study some of the issues raised by Natsios.

InterAction CEO Mary McClymont said one of the central pillars of a multi-year campaign, The Global Partnership for Effective Assistance, is to examine the effectiveness and accountability of overseas relief programs so they will receive greater support from the U.S. government.

"Andrew has raised some serious issues about the work of our members," she said. "We will not overreact to this, but we will join the battle armed with facts and determined to straighten out the record where it needs to be straightened out."

Natsios called on overseas assistance agencies to focus more on conflict resolution programs since two-thirds of the countries where AID maintains missions have emerged from conflict in the past five years. Rebutting recent complaints from humanitarian agencies that the Bush administration is increasingly doling out more money to the private sector for work traditionally done by NGOs, Natsios had an assistant hand out a chart during his speech that he said proved this was just not true. According to the chart, 60 percent of global procurements in the last fiscal year went to NGOs, 23 percent went to the private sector, 12 percent went to international organizations, and 5 percent went to U.S. government agencies.  The three-day InterAction Forum brought together more than 600 experts on development and humanitarian affairs to examine how NGOs must operate in a world of new global commitments.

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