Tag: roundtable

WHES Co-sponsors Roundtable About Aid Toolbox

On June 19, 2025, a roundtable of two dozen experts about how international aid is designed and given will be held, co-organized by the World Hunger Education Service (WHES), the USAID Alumni Association, the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and George Washington University.

In order to advise and inform the future of U.S. foreign aid as well as for other international donors, the roundtable will compare the range of tools used to give aid, from grants and contracts to loans and investments, from incentives and prizes to insurance and direct technical assistance.   Also discussed will be the use of competition to make awards to NGOs or commercial organizations, the design of awards to achieve scale and sustainability, and the roles of evolving tools such as blended finance and payment-for-performance.

Participants will include former U.S. government experts plus aid managers from European governments, the World Bank, U.S. foundations and NGOs.

A summary of findings will be made public afterwards.

This is part of a series of roundtables that WHES has been involved in organizing this year, and educational seminars for senior US policy makers in the 1980s and 1990s.  Prior roundtables included expert discussions about food/nutrition, basic education, the role of faith-based organizations, health and what average Americans care about in aid.

Questions can be directed to:  WorldHungerEd@gmail.com

Roundtable on June 5 about American Foreign Assistance and Faith-Based Organizations

World Hunger Education Service (the nonprofit overseeing this Hunger Notes site), joins with Fordham University, HIAS, Lipscomb University, and George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health in organizing and convening a virtual (online) roundtable of experts on June 5, 2025, a Thursday,  to discuss how American faith-based organizations may be able to lead in the delivery of foreign aid against poverty, assisting development and providing humanitarian relief.

This will be a roundtable conversation with no panels or presentations, and is open to all faiths.

Invited organizations include operational NGOs, universities, research groups and other faith-based organizations in the United States.

Among the questions the roundtable will discuss are:

  •          How well do faith-based organizations blend donations from different sources (citizens, private sector corporations and foundations) to solve problems and relieve crises? Are they more localized, sustainable and cost-efficient in their assistance?
  •         In which sectors are faith-based organizations best at addressing, comparing for instance hunger, primary health care, basic education, food security, trade, industrialization, governance, marine conservation, or higher education?
  •         Looking ahead to future years, what expanded role should faith-based organizations play in executing new programs funded by the United Statessponsoring organizatons Government?

The roundtable will adhere to “Chatham House” rules in that no quote or perspective will later be attributed to any person or organization, whether in the meeting summary or by anyone attending.  Participants are asked to leave their organizational affiliations “at the door” and speak candidly, as experts, about the issues from their experiences over their careers.

This is one in a series of roundtable about the future of American foreign aid.

Interested faith-based organizations may email to:  WorldhungerEd@gmail.com, or ForeignAidRoundtable@gmail.com