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DEVELOPMENTS
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The Latest Issues and Trends in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance

Emerging
Trends
in Development
The Five Stages
of Foreign Aid The Militarization
Reform Grief of Aid

Linking Addressing
Human Rights the Global
and Development Food Crisis

Climate Change Security Guard

and Conflict Management
Prevention

July 2008
Vol. 26, No. 7
InterAction
 MONDAY
DEVELOPMENTS

Contents
Managing Editor/Art Director
Chad Brobst

Editor
Kathy Ward

Advertising & Sales

Michael Haslett
Features
Communications Department
Nasserie Carew, Public Relations 9 Linking Human Rights and
Tawana Jacobs, Public Relations Development:
Tony Fleming, New Media
Michael Haslett, Publications
A Twenty-first Century Approach
Margaret Christoph, Admin Associate
11 Climate Change and Conflict Prevention:
Editorial Committee Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Sam Worthington, InterAction
Suzanne Kindervatter, InterAction
Sylvain Browa, InterAction
13 Imperfect Storms: Global Warming and
the Need for International Cooperation
InterAction for Sustainable Development
1400 16th Street, NW
Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036 15 New Strategies in Agricultural
Tel: 202.667.8227 Development:
publications@interaction.org Long Term Solutions to Global Hunger
ISSN 1043-8157
17 Addressing the Global Food Crisis
Monday Developments is published 12
times a year by InterAction, the larg- 19 Fearing for the Future of the
est alliance of U.S.-based international Humanitarian Enterprise
development and humanitarian non-
governmental organizations. With more
than 160 members operating in every 21 The Five Stages of
developing country, InterAction works to Foreign Aid Reform Grief
overcome poverty, exclusion and suffer-
ing by advancing social justice and basic Cover image composite by Chad Brobst
dignity for all.
23 Aid Effectiveness vs. Development
Effectiveness: A Paris Declaration
InterAction welcomes submissions of for CSOs?
news articles, opinions and announce-
ments. Article submission does not guar-
24 Think Locally in Guard Management Departments
antee inclusion in Monday Developments.
We reserve the right to reject submis- 3 Inside This Issue
sions for any reason. It is at the discretion 26 The Militarization of Foreign Aid
of our editorial team as to which articles 5 Washington Update
are published in individual issues.
27 Addressing the “Complaints Deficit” in 6 Inside InterAction
All statements in articles are the sole Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
opinion and responsibility of the authors. 7 Inside Our Community
Articles may be reprinted with prior per- 8 Southern Voices
mission and attribution. Letters to the
editor are encouraged.
29 Career Developments
30 Employment Opportunities
A limited number of subscriptions are
made available to InterAction member
agencies as part of their dues. Individual
subscriptions cost $80 a year (add $15
for airmail delivery outside the U.S.) Coming next month:
Samples are $5, including postage.
Additional discounts are available for Youth in International
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delivery. Advertising rates are available
on request.
 INSIDE This Issue
Trendy Developments?
I
n our society, well-educated, highly skilled (and highly
paid) professionals monitor and predict what many con-
sider very important trends: Will this summer’s blockbust-
ers include more action films or romantic comedies? Does
the public continue to worry about trans fats in their french
fries? Are more airlines charging for checked baggage? How
many people have chosen Macs over PCs? Are the length of
skirts going to be higher this season? Is this the year ultimate
frisbee replaces football as our favorite sport? Who will win
American Idol? Will we still care?
Then there are the trends that we take more seriously, primar-
ily because they directly affect us and the ones we love. Will
the housing market continue to spiral downward while the
cost of fuel goes through the stratosphere? Will the economic
recession grow worse? Are children’s test scores improving?
Will they be able to find a job someday? Will I lose mine?
When it comes to humanitarian assistance and international
development, the events that shape our trends are extremely
serious. Global warming and the growing international food
crisis don’t just affect poor populations living in drought areas
of the global South–they have trickle-down effects for every-
Photo: Mike Flamm
one on our planet. They influence economies, jobs and fami-
lies in the developed world as well. And yes, they even affect
how much we pay for checking our luggage or where we will
take a family vacation. But at the most fundamental level,
these trends can mean life or death for the individuals and
communities we work for. Some trends can’t be trivialized.
In this issue of Monday Developments, we are not necessari-
ly offering predictions of trends in the development commu-
nity. Instead, we’ve focused on hot topics that have appeared
on the radar and warrant increased attention.
This issue explores trends that require an immediate re-
sponse, such as the above mentioned food and climate cri-
ses. We also look at trends in the way we respond to these
crises, including the role of the military in delivering aid, as
well as the conduct of NGO staff in the field. In the broader
picture, we investigate trends in dealing with aid effective-
ness and the movement toward U.S. foreign aid reform.
Our commitment to overcoming the issues that face the
developing world is more than trendy. Together, our com-
munity can make suffering, social injustice and poverty a
passing trend.
Chad Brobst
Managing Editor
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 3
4 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
 WASHINGTON Update
Supplemental Appropriations
The House (on May 15) and Senate (on May 22) passed distinct
versions of the “War Supplemental” funding bill, with humani-
tarian accounts receiving more in the Senate than the House ver-
sion. Thanks to two amendments during committee consider-
ation, the Senate also pledged an extra $525 million emergency
assistance to victims of Cyclone Nargis, victims of the food crisis
and Jordan. The extra money was taken (“rescinded”) from the
Millennium Challenge Corporation (nearly a third of its budget
for this year), unfortunately cutting into long-term development
programs designed to alleviate the need for just this kind of crisis
response. As of June 17, the bill was still in limbo.
FY 2009 Budget Resolution
The budget resolution conference report, reconciling the dif-
ferences between the proposed House and Senate versions
of the budget, was passed by the Senate on June 4 and the
House on June 5. The House’s proposal of $38.3 billion was
adopted for the International Affairs account – $1.5 billion less
than the administration proposed and the Senate passed. This
is $1.6 billion over U.S. government Fiscal Year (FY) 2008
funding appropriated to date (i.e., including funds designated
as “emergency” in the FY 2008 omnibus but not including FY
2008 funds expected in the pending war supplemental).
FY 2009 Appropriations
The House and Senate have released tentative schedules for their
appropriations processes. The House committee consideration
(“markup”) of the State, Foreign Operations appropriations bill
will be July 16, the Senate July 17. The funding allocation for
this account from Appropriations Chairman Obey is disappoint-
ing: $36.63 billion ($1.6 billion less than the administration’s re-
quest, and only 3.6 percent of total proposed discretionary spend-
ing). Appropriators will most likely again rely on supplemental
funding to bolster humanitarian accounts in 2009, again leaving
USAID and its partners with an uncertain funding stream.
House Approves Interagency Advisory Panel
The House approved an amendment to the defense authoriza-
tion bill to create a standing interagency advisory panel in-
cluding the Department of Defense, the State Department and
USAID. The panel would analyze the roles and responsibili-
ties of the three agencies, offering advice, guidance and rec-
ommendations to Congress and the executive branch on stabil-
ity operations, non-proliferation, foreign assistance (including
security assistance), strategic communications, public diplo-
macy, the role of contractors and other issues. The 12-member
panel would be selected in 2009 by the three agencies: three
by the USAID Administrator, three by the Secretary of State,
and six by the Secretary of Defense (three of which would be
Order by Phone: 1
selected in consultation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff).
Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network
The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, a new coalition
of think tanks, foreign policy experts and NGO leaders (includ-
ing InterAction CEO Sam Worthington), released a proposal
entitled, “New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for
the 21st Century.” The proposal’s four key recommendations
are: (1) develop a national strategy for global development;
(2) reach a “grand bargain” between the executive branch and
Congress on management authorities and plan, design and en-
act a new Foreign Assistance Act; (3) increase funding for and
accountability of foreign assistance; and (4) streamline the or-
ganizational structure and improve organizational capacity by
creating a Cabinet-level Department for Global Development.
The full report is available at http://interaction.org/library/
detail.php?id=6288, and InterAction’s endorsement at http://
www.interaction.org/files.cgi/6297_A_New_Day_for_U.S._
Development_Assistance.pdf.
If you have any questions, or would like to be added to the
email list for the weekly public policy update, please contact
Margaret Christoph at mchristoph@interaction.org.
New from
Oxfam
Publishing
Rights-based
Approaches
Learning Project
Based on the findings of a collaborative Learning
Project between CARE USA and Oxfam America,
this book identifies the ‘best practices’ and lessons
that could be used to improve the application of
rights-based approaches in programming.
Also available in Arabic, French, and Spanish.
September 2007, Paperback, 134 pp,
978-0-85598-607-0, $23.95
DISTRIBUTED IN THE US BY
800-232-0223 By Fax: 703-661-1501 Online: www.styluspub.com
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 5
 INSIDE InterAction

Modernizing the Structure of U.S.
Foreign Assistance
On June 24, InterAction hosted “Designing a New Cabinet-Lev-
el Department for International Development: Modernizing the
Structure of U.S. Foreign Assistance,” to launch two concept pa-
pers. Nearly 120 people attended the launch, where InterAction
President and CEO, Sam Worthington, led a panel that included
Dr. Lael Brainard of the Brookings Institution and Tony Gambi-
no, an expert on the topic and a former USAID Mission Director.
The discussion was followed by a lively question-and-answer
session with the audience, which included representatives from
government, think tanks and the development community. The
event was another sign of the explosion of interest in foreign aid
reform issues within the development community, on Capitol
Hill and among foreign policy think tanks.
Mr. Worthington stressed that structural reform, while neces-
sary, was not by itself sufficient to assure the most effective use
of aid resources. It is part of a call for comprehensive reform,
which would include rewriting of the Foreign Assistance Act
and creating a National Development Strategy. Within that larg-
er reform context, InterAction is increasingly hearing questions
about what a new department would look like. The reports re-
leased on Tuesday clearly articulate the “why” and the “how” of
InterAction’s position supporting a Cabinet-level department.
The first paper launched at the event, Why the U.S. Needs a
Cabinet-level Department for Global and Human Develop-
ment, articulates the rationale for a new Cabinet-level agency.
The second, Proposed Major Components and Organization
of a Cabinet-Level Department for Global and Human Devel-
opment, outlines what accounts and authorities would make up
the proposed department (DGHD), and which foreign policy
functions would remain with other agencies.
The proposal is that the DGHD’s mandate will be to promote
people-centered, sustainable development and provide hu-
manitarian assistance. The long-term goal of its activities will
be a stable, sustainable world of free, democratic, economi-
cally prosperous states in which the worst aspects of poverty
have been eliminated. It will allow for effective, coordinated
use of U.S. foreign assistance funds and give development the
seat at the table that it needs to be an effective counterpart of
the Departments of State and Defense.

Mr. Worthington supported the 2006 National Security Strategy’s

Poverty Reduction statement that the three key pillars of diplomacy, defense and de-
velopment support our national security, then went on to add,
that Works “but the development pillar is broken and needs to be fixed.”
Experience of Scaling Up
Development Success
Dr. Brainard expanded on the rationale for foreign assistance
EDITED BY PAUL STEELE,
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MANEKA WEDDIKKARA voluted and poorly coordinated. As an example, she presented
Paper, 978 1 84407 602 4, $38.95 a chart on U.S. foreign assistance depicting 50 different ob-
jectives for foreign assistance coming from as many different
units in the U.S. government, which overlap without account-
ability. She observed, “Our foreign assistance doesn’t achieve
what it could do with the money currently on the table.”

Mr. Gambino outlined the proposed structure of the DGHD,

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How Health Professionals Can
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Paper, 978 1 56549 258 5, $39.95
noting that under the proposal, “The Secretary of the DGHD
will be the lead voice within the U.S. Government, below
the President, on development assistance and humanitarian
issues.” He explained that this will allow development to be
supported by one unified voice, instead of several scattered
ones sometimes working at cross-purposes.

The full papers and a summary paper can be found on In-

terAction’s website at http://interaction.org/library/detail.
php?id=6304. Please send questions or comments to Margaret
DISTRIBUTED IN THE US BY Christoph at mchristoph@interaction.org.

Order by Phone: 1 800-232-0223 By Fax: 703-661-1501 Online: www.styluspub.com Subscribe to Monday Developments today!

6 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

 INSIDE Our Community
International Development Expert Carol A.
Peasley Appointed Chairperson of CEDPA
Board of Directors
WASHINGTON, DC— The Board of Directors of the Centre
for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), an in-
ternational non-profit organization that improves the lives of
women and girls around the world, elected Carol A. Peasley as
its chairperson at a recent board meeting in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Peasley had a long and highly successful career with the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She re-
tired in 2005 after achieving the rank of Career Minister and as
Counselor to the Agency. In this position, which is the most se-
nior career officer position at USAID, she advised the USAID
Administrator and other senior staff on a range of policy, op-
erational and management issues, and served as ombudsman
for USAID employees.
In her 35 years of service at USAID, Ms. Peasley held various
leadership positions that included mission director in both Ma-
lawi and Russia, and senior deputy assistant administrator to
the Africa Bureau. Throughout her USAID career, she worked
closely with other U.S. Government foreign affairs agencies,
as well as the private sector, non-governmental groups, uni-
versities, developing country counterparts and institutions,
other donors, and the U.S. Congress. She received the USAID
Distinguished Career Award in 2005.
Ms. Peasley also serves on the boards of Opportunity Indus-
trialization Centers International (OICI) and ShoreBank Inter-
national.
As the new Board Chairperson, Ms. Peasley joins a distin-
guished group of leaders who contribute their expertise to ad-
vance CEDPA’s mission. CEDPA’s global programs increase
educational opportunities for girls, ensure access to lifesaving
reproductive health and HIV/AIDS information and services,
and strengthen women’s leadership in their nations.
CEDPA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has offices
in Egypt, India, Nepal, Nigeria and South Africa. With a grow-
ing network of 5,000 alumni and partners in over 150 coun-
tries, CEDPA is building a groundswell of change agents for
effective international development.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 7
 Xxxxxx
SOUTHERN Voices
The Reality of Civil
Society in West Africa
By Thelma Ekiyor, Executive Director, West Africa
Civil Society Institute
Editor’s Note: This edition of Monday Developments features
the premiere of our new Southern Voices column. Each month,
Southern Voices will present the views of local organizations
working independently and in partnership with the U.S. inter-
national NGO community. It will also feature the perspective
of those who directly benefit from humanitarian relief efforts.
C
ivil society has played various roles in West Africa’s
growth and development. Its interventions in the social
and political arena are justified for a number of reasons.
The first is the decline of the state in its role of providing the
basic needs of its citizens. Recent macro-economic policies
have exacerbated the economic situation leading many coun-
tries in the region to an unprecedented level of poverty. The
lack of adequate foundation for the transition from one-party
autocracy to multi-party democracy has further stressed the
fabric of states. In most countries, there are weak political par-
ties, which often go dormant after elections. As a result, rather
than elections contributing to greater regime legitimacy and
vibrant democratic culture, they have increasingly become a
catalyst for conflict.
Poor governance continues to be a challenge in the region. It
has become clear that the governance deficit is the single most
important cause of continuous underdevelopment in West Af-
rican states. The concentration of powers in the hands of the
executive, the politicization and the institutionalization of me-
diocrity in state bureaucracies, massive corruption and flagrant
fiscal indiscipline, inadequate civic education and programs for
citizen and nation building, and the politicization of the military
are key challenges to effective governance in West Africa.
Youth employment is another challenge. Unemployment is rife
among the region’s youth, resulting in mass migration out of
the continent.
The sub-region is also experiencing pressure on environmen-
tal resources, partly due to the unregulated, non-sustainable
exploitation of natural resources, and partly due to popula-
tion growth, urbanization, the use of obsolete technologies for
farming and climate change. The rate at which West Africa’s
environment is being recklessly exploited increases the vul-
8 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
nerability of the sub-region to environmental disasters such as
drought, floods and desertification, among others.
Finally, the spread and prevalence of HIV/AIDS continues to
be a threat to human security in the region.
These issues provide a snapshot of what West Africa and its
people have to confront. Responding to these challenges de-
mands multi-sectoral approaches and collaboration. The re-
sponsibility of governance does not lie with governments alone.
Civil society and the private sector must collectively ensure that
governance is proactive in addressing the persistent develop-
mental socio-economic threat to the people in the region.
Civil society has made key contributions in the region to
complement, inform, influence and challenge governments by
pressing for public services, pushing to improve the perfor-
mance of the state, lobbying for the rights of excluded groups,
and taken other measures such as campaigning against corrup-
tion and engaging in public-private partnerships. Civil society
has also contributed significantly to altering the traditional
conceptualization of governance as the preserve of govern-
ments and has increased the recognition of citizen’s participa-
tion in governance processes.
Whilst acknowledging these laudable contributions by civil
society, increasingly civil society organizations (CSOs) face a
legitimacy challenge. Some of the questions civil society has to
contend with include: Who is civil society? Where does civil
society get its mandate? How does civil society account to its
constituency? What moral authority does civil society have to
criticise and/or challenge governments? These questions hinge
on the very identity of civil society and its relevance to society.
Furthermore, many CSOs have also been criticized of not ad-
hering to the principles of good governance, democracy and
accountability. CSOs have been accused of siphoning donor’s
funds, practicing internal nepotism, and a lack of commitment
to the communities and voices they claim to represent. These
criticisms have led to calls for a code of conduct or mechanisms
to regulate CSOs activities. This ongoing debate is highly con-
troversial and often results in exacerbating the already tense re-
lations between CSOs and government, and as seen in Ghana
over the proposed Trust Bill, which was introduced in 2007.
However, it is incontrovertible that civil society must “clean
its own house.” Self regulation has been promoted by many
activists in the region such as the Pan African Society for Sus-
tainable Development (POSDEV). At the West Africa Civil
Society Institute (WACSI), we also believe that civil society
continued on page 28
 Human Rights

Linking Human Rights and Development:

A Twenty-first Century Approach
By Heather Grady, Director, Policy and Partnerships, Realizing Rights

A
few years ago when I left Ox-
fam Great Britain to join a
small human rights initiative
in the U.S., I didn’t think I
would be involved in campaigning again
anytime soon. But I sometimes still find
myself on a campaign: to strengthen the
bonds between the development and
human rights communities.

For almost twenty years I worked in

international development and pov-
erty eradication, from the village to the
national level. Our programs sought
to bring change in both the lives of
individuals and in policy-making at
the government or intergovernmental
level. Our programs were designed to
embody a rights-based approach.

Organizations around the world mirror

Photo: Karl Grobl

InterAction’s members – ranging from
those who fully embrace a rights-based
approach to those who have only a lim-
ited understanding of why it might be
important to incorporate human rights
into development programs. Indeed,
part of my role at Oxfam was to help
mainstream a rights-based approach.
What has surprised me is that the
rights-based approach has spread rela-
tively slowly among both civil society
and development agencies. And what
I discovered upon moving into the hu-
man rights community is that much
of the experience and many of the
achievements of development agen-
cies has not sufficiently informed the
human rights community.
The drafters of the Universal Dec-
laration of Human Rights would be
surprised that, in the very challenge
in which they underscored the im-
portance of human rights – tackling
poverty and want, and social and eco-
nomic injustice – human rights has not
yet made a significant dent. Those who
work in the human rights field share
responsibility for this, because at times
this community has been particularly
inward looking and too restrictive in
recognizing the potential application
of human rights to these issues.
The basic principles of a rights-based
approach are simple. Development
programs with a rights-based approach
are based on international human rights
standards rooted in a system of rights
and obligations recognized by interna-
tional law.
A rights-based approach starts with the
core idea contained in the simple but
profound first article of the Universal
Declaration: All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights. It
acknowledges that all individuals hold
the same rights, and that States (and to
a lesser extent non-state actors) have
obligations to respect, protect and ful-
fill a range of human rights: civil, po-
litical, economic, social and cultural. A
rights-based approach also embodies
firmly held human rights principles
such as equality and non-discrimina-
tion, transparency, accountability and
participation.
A rights-based approach compels an
agency to analyze inequalities and dis-
crimination. It empowers people to be
agents of their own development and
to hold institutions accountable. Cru-
cially, it goes beyond the notion of pro-
viding charitable assistance to address
people’s needs to the realization that

MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 9

 Human Rights
we hold responsibilities for each other
across the planet. Ultimately, adopt-
ing a rights-based approach is about
addressing the power dynamics that
underlie persistent poverty and mar-
ginalization, and allow a wide swath
of humanity to remain impoverished
and insecure in our world of vast re-
sources.
It has been said that a rights-based ap-
proach is nothing more than an effec-
tive development program that places
at its center empowerment and partici-
pation. While this may be true, is it not
both more effective and more appropri-
ate to explicitly adopt the human rights
framework as the starting point of de-
velopment assistance?
It is also sometimes assumed that a
human-rights approach inevitably
causes confrontation between people,
organizations and government institu-
tions, for example where governments
are unwilling or unable to guarantee
education, health care or decent jobs
for their people. For this reason, many
of the best rights-based programs ad-
dress both the demand and supply
sides of development, working to build
communities’ abilities to demand their
rights, while also supporting govern-
ments at the local or national level to
improve their capacity to fulfill those
rights. It also recognizes that resource
constraints create impediments to real-
izing social and economic rights, and
makes the goal steady progress rather
than assuming an ability to fulfill all
rights for all people at once.
I saw the power of using human rights
standards in the field of education while
I lived in Vietnam in the 1990s. I recall
a moment of heated discussion with
the Vietnamese Ministry of Education
when they were proposing to adopt a
definition of “universal education”
that left out the 10 percent of children
who were hardest to reach. Pointing to
Vietnam’s early ratification of the Con-
vention on the Rights of the Child and
harking back to the right to education
10 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, Oxfam, Save the Children and
UNICEF, among others, convinced the
Ministry to adhere to the spirit and let-
ter of global standards on the right to
education. Vietnam’s significant efforts
in education quickly became a model
within the region and beyond.
The steady increase in the number of
children in school across the world is
no doubt due in large part to the global
“right to education” approach of a co-
alition that included civil society, UN
agencies and governments. In my own
organization, Realizing Rights, we pro-
mote the “right to decent work” agenda
A rights-based approach
starts with the core idea
contained in the simple but
profound first article of the
Universal Declaration:
All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity
and rights.
as an important realization of employ-
ment rights set out in specific articles of
the Universal Declaration, in the Cov-
enant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, and in the International Labor
Organization’s Core Labor standards.
I believe that if the development agen-
cies that support livelihoods programs
worked in coalition for more, and more
decent, employment using an explicit
rights-based approach like the global
education adopted, we could tackle the
employment crisis and achieve far better
outcomes from development assistance.
Bridging the remaining gaps between
development and human rights ac-
tivities and organizations is one of
the most important challenges of the
next decade. There is enormous ben-
efit in incorporating a stronger rights-
based approach to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) as well.
Otherwise, either the MDG targets
will not be met, or their achievement
will leave a significant portion of the
world’s people languishing below the
targets. This year is a perfect time for
us to focus on such an ambitious tar-
get: it is both the sixtieth anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Hu-
man Rights and the midpoint to MDG
deadline of 2015.
Why should we all make this effort? Be-
cause human rights is the single thread
that binds us together across all of hu-
manity, across all nations, cultures, re-
ligions and political persuasions. In our
increasingly globalized world, nothing
short of common global standards and
principles are required to bridge and
overcome these differences.
In this anniversary year we should turn
over a new leaf in the book of human
rights. There are positive signs. Am-
nesty International, for example, will
launch a campaign on human dignity
and the rights of the poor, covering
civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights.
In addition, organizations like my
own are working with the Elders’
“Every Human Has Rights” campaign
(www.everyhumanhasrights.org) to
raise the public’s awareness of hu-
man rights, to build individual com-
mitment and to highlight the work of
a range of partner organizations that
span traditional development and hu-
man rights organizations. As former
UN Secretary-General and Elder Kofi
Annan reminded us when launching
In Larger Freedom a few years ago,
we will not have development with-
out security, we will not have secu-
rity without development, and we will
have neither development nor securi-
ty without human rights. Now would
be an appropriate time to weave these
firmly together in our discourse and
practice as NGOs.

Climate Change and Conflict Prevention:
Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
By Lisa Schirch, Director of the 3D Security Initiative at the Center
for Justice & Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University
C
limate change escalates the
need to help communities ad-
dress conflict constructively.
Building an infrastructure for
conflict prevention entered the develop-
ment community’s agenda several years
ago. In the face of the multiple chal-
lenges brought on by climate change,
conflict prevention programming is just
as important as adaptation strategies to
build disaster-resilient communities.
There is not a direct cause-effect line
between conflict and the environmental
consequences of climate change. Cli-
mate change will interact with a wide
range of current development challeng-
es. Yet the unpredictable human reac-
tion to these environmental challenges
is an increasing concern.
Social and political impacts of
climate change
Climate change-induced rise in sea
level, strong storms, droughts, floods,
water scarcity, soil erosion, desertifica-
tion, deforestation and disease already
create flows of displaced peoples in
search of livelihoods and homes. En-
vironmental stressors weaken political
systems, and exacerbate resource scar-
city causing food, shelter and income
shortages. As people lose their liveli-
hoods, as local governments are unable
to respond to climate-changed induced
environmental disasters and thus lose
their public legitimacy, there may be
mass migration of hundreds of millions
of people, mass instability, increased
terrorism, and violent conflict over re-
sources such as water. Military experts
identify climate change as a “threat
multiplier” for instability in some of
the most volatile regions of the world.
The environmental impacts of climate
change amplify existing economic, so-
cial and political struggles. As desertifi-
cation increases in Africa’s Sahel region,
clashes are increasing between herders
and farmers competing for scarce pro-
ductive land. The potential for sea level
rise causing mass migration is already
aggravating long-standing disputes. In-
dia, for example, is building a wall in
part to keep out potential migrants leav-
ing Bangladesh in the face of sea-level
rise or future storms. Migration can also
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008
Climate Effects
lead to increased competition and con-
flict in receiving regions, as highlighted
by some U.S. and European communi-
ties resisting immigrants from south of
their borders.
Conflict prevention or reaction?
In the early 1980s, billboards around
Africa announced: “No Peace without
Development, No Development with-
out Peace.” In the last ten years or so,
policymaking capital cities in Western
donor countries have integrated this
basic tenet into their foreign policy
infrastructure. Development is now al-
most universally recognized as playing
a role in peace and security by helping
to prevent violence.
In the face of climate change, inte-
grated programming blending conflict
prevention goals with poverty alle-
viation goals is an even greater need.
Conflict prevention includes programs
to promote forums for discussing the
root causes of conflict, programs in
good governance, reconciliation ef-
forts between polarized groups, and
local economic development programs
11
 Climate Effects

that bring together groups in conflict to

work on a common goal. Climate Change and Iraq

In Iraq, for example, Iraqi NGOs help
Sunni and Shi’a community leaders
build bridges across the lines of con-
flict to focus on common development
goals such as building wells. In Ghana,
civil society leaders worked with the
government to build an infrastructure
for conflict prevention. These national,
regional and district-level forums in-
clude staff trained in mediation and di-
alogue prepared to deescalate tensions
over resources.
Climate change presents an opportu-
nity for increased multilateral coopera-
tion on common threats. The Madrid
Peace Process for the Middle East used
water, migration and other environ-
mental issues to foster multilateral en-
gagement between Israel and regional
states. China, India and Pakistan have
cooperated on seismic disaster pre-
A
ccording to a Yale University study, Iraq has suffered a severe drought over
the last eight months. Iraqi farmers say that they expect their crops to be half
of what they were in 2007. Syria and Turkey have also been experiencing the
same poor rainfall. And since the Tigris and Euphrates begin their journeys as rain
over these two countries, Iraqi farmers expect less water to flow through their riv-
ers and irrigation canals. The Fertile Crescent, representing parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria
and Turkey has been one of the world’s most reliable farming zones for thousands
of years. Its current drought is likely due to the changing patterns of world weather
brought about by global warming.
—Esselle Hattom, Environmental Consultant and Human Rights Advocate
paredness. NATO promoted dialogue prevent mass instability and migra-
and cooperation among former Eastern tion related to climate-change induced
Bloc countries on environmental is- disasters, loss of livelihoods, and re-
sues. In countries all over Africa, Asia source conflicts. As illustrated in the
and Latin America water management diagram here, a lack of preparation and
boards are working to maximize shared response to the possible social and po-
usage of local water resources. litical impacts of climate change could
result in vastly greater needs for hu-
Conflict prevention programs are manitarian aid and resettlement in the
cost-effective investments that could aftermath of conflict.

Climate Change. Poverty. Resource Scarcity.

These are issues we all care about. Build your capacity to
address the frontiers in development. Take time to reflect
on your work with peers from around the world.
We are a center of study and respite for you to:
© Develop conflict prevention strategies to build disaster-resilient communities
© Increase trauma-sensitivity in development work
© Analyze conflict situations and increase effective dialogue

Graduate Program in Conflict Transformation:

Concentrations in development, peacebuilding, conflict transformation,
organizational leadership, trauma, justice
Lisa Schirch, PhD
SPI: Week-long professional development courses Director, 3D Security Initiative
(academic credit available) Profesor of peacebuilding
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We help you do the work you care about.
emu.edu/cjp©y€†V{ƒ‹D{z‹©>KJF?JIHCJJOF Harrisonburg, Va.

12 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS


Imperfect Storms:
Global Warming and the Need for International
Cooperation for Sustainable Development
By Paul L. Joffe, Senior Director, International Affairs, National Wildlife Federation
D
ecades of work and progress
on international development
and poverty alleviation are
threatened by accelerating
global warming. The UN Develop-
ment Programme’s most recent Hu-
man Development Report states flatly
that this is not a future prospect but
rather a current trend, slowing prog-
ress on the Millennium Development
Goals and aggravating inequalities. If
this trend is left unchecked, the report
says there will be reversals in human
development throughout this century
and rising potential for conflict. The
poorest countries are most vulnerable
to climate impacts.
It is now well established that greenhouse
gas emissions produced by humans from
the burning of fossil fuels and other ac-
tivities are the primary reason the global
thermostat is rising dangerously. Increas-
ing drought, rising sea levels, severe
weather events, and spreading disease
vectors threaten both human communi-
ties and the natural world.
In fact, the threats to humans and
to nature are closely related. Global
warming damage to nature aggravates
poverty, and poverty aggravates the
damage to nature in a vicious circle –
an imperfect storm. In Haiti, poverty is
a root cause of deforestation, which in
turn contributes to poverty. And climate
change will speed deforestation glob-
ally. Global warming is contributing
to an unprecedented species extinction
crisis and deterioration of ecosystems,
undermining the ecosystem services
provided to human communities. The
Chair’s Summary of a recent meeting
of G8 environment ministers states
that, “climate change is expected to
have serious impacts on biodiversity,
even threatening the very basis of hu-
man survival.”
Public policy is beginning to respond,
but is doing so too slowly and on a
scale too limited to address the threat-
ened damage, which will cost an es-
timated 40 to 80 billion dollars annu-
ally in developing countries. Though
the 1992 UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change, a treaty to which
the United States is a party, called for
assistance to developing countries for
adaptation to climate change, little has
been done to fulfill that pledge.
Recently, there have been two more
hopeful signs. In December, 2007, the
international community launched new
climate treaty negotiations meant to cul-
minate in late 2009 with an agreement
that will significantly reduce green-
house gas pollution in coming decades
and provide substantial new funding
to poor countries to cope with damage
from global warming. Both are needed
because runaway climate change will
create catastrophic damages that no
amount of adaptation can remedy.
The second hopeful development is that
in 2007 and 2008 the U.S. Senate began
serious consideration of legislation to
reduce U.S. global warming pollution
and contribute about one billion dollars
annually in the near term, rising thereaf-
ter, in assistance for adaptation in poor
countries. These funds, which could
constitute part of a U.S. contribution to
building consensus on a global warm-
ing treaty, would be raised from the
auctioning of pollution permits under
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008
Global Warming
the “cap and trade” system that would
limit pollution by U.S. industry. The
legislation also provides for developing
country assistance for clean technology
and avoidance of deforestation.
Nevertheless, action has slowed in the
U.S. Congress and many participants
in the international negotiations seem
to be waiting in hope that the next U.S.
president will be more proactive on
this issue. However, the international
development, humanitarian assistance
and environmental community does
not have the luxury of waiting. Sci-
entists warn that we have only a few
years to bend down the upward trajec-
tory of global warming pollution. This
is because the pollution accumulates
in the atmosphere; and after it reach-
es dangerous levels of concentration,
damaging consequences are locked in
for decades and even centuries.
Accordingly, now is the time for our
community to analyze the problems
and build support for solutions to the
great challenge posed to sustainable
development by global warming. What
is needed is an era of policy initiative
and institution building comparable to
the creative period of international co-
operation following World War II.
Some of the necessary work has begun
and efforts are currently scattered around
in organizations such as the UN Frame-
work Convention on Climate Change,
the UN Development Program, the UN
Environment Program, the World Bank,
the Global Environmental Facility, na-
tional development and environmental
ministries, think tanks and NGOs. Im-
portant technical work has begun using
13
 Global Warming
the National Adaptation Programmes of
Action of various countries. Similarly
important technical work is also under-
way in some of the multilateral agencies
on subjects ranging from impact assess-
ment, to capacity building, to financing.
The necessary treaty commitments by
countries are lacking, however, and be-
yond the most immediate issues in the
negotiations are a host of other big is-
sues that need attention.
A thorough work plan is beyond the
scope of this article, but here are some
questions as a start in thinking about
strategy on a scale to match the monu-
mental challenge we face:
1. Defining the task: What are the dif-
ferent kinds of challenges in adapting
to climate change? What should be
done to address them?
2. Establishing a framework for ac-
countability: What is the magnitude of
the adaptation problem? What resourc-
14 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
es are needed and where will they come
from? What is being done? What more
needs to be done, by whom, and on what
timetable? Can we establish guidelines
for national and multilateral agencies to
address these questions, with participa-
tion by all countries and stakeholders?
3. Integrating adaptation and develop-
ment: How should adaptation, as well
as other climate change related assis-
tance for clean technology and avoided
deforestation, be integrated with exist-
ing development efforts and reforms?
This issue should be included as part
of reform of U.S. foreign assistance
and reinvigoration of efforts to meet
the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). What are various scenarios
for integrating adaptation and tradi-
tional development? Would it make
sense to use Poverty Reduction Strat-
egy Papers as a vehicle for this?
4. Revitalizing broader forms of co-
operation: What are the institutional
issues on which there has been stale-
mate or delay that are now even more
urgent because of global warming? For
example, is there adequate multilat-
eral leadership and coordination on the
MDGs? What is the role of the G8? Is
there a need for a greatly expanded and
reformed successor to the G8? How are
the roles of specialized agencies and
the private sector in dealing with trade,
finance, development, environment,
and other issues integrated at both the
national and the international levels?
How can involvement of stakehold-
ers and civil society be strengthened?
What are the means for systematically
assessing and improving multilateral
cooperation to confront the tasks of de-
velopment made even more daunting
by global warming?
There are undoubtedly many more
questions and few easy answers. The
point here is to highlight the need for a
strategy to address the new challenges
continued on page 28

New Strategies in Agricultural Development:
Long Term Solutions to Global Hunger
By Leah Berry, Program Associate for Humanitarian Policy and Practice
and Hilary Nalven, Senior Program Associate for Strategic Impact, InterAction
Photo: Liliana Rodriguez
S
everal months ago, UN Sec-
retary-General Ban Ki Moon,
spoke of a “New Face of Hun-
ger.” High food prices, increas-
ing demand, and a decrease in supply
have created a situation where millions
of people worldwide are faced with mal-
nutrition and situations of even greater
poverty. While researchers and policy-
makers have found that a number of in-
terrelated and complex factors have cre-
ated the “New Face of Hunger,” one of
the most significant causes (a shortage
in supply) and the associated solution
(a boost in agricultural production) is
not particularly new at all. Global food
stocks have decreased for the past five
to ten years, while the demand for ma-
jor food crops has increased over this
same period, and millions of people go
without enough food every year.
While the high number of urban dwell-
ers affected by the current crisis is a new
phenomenon, the majority of those fac-
ing malnutrition still live in rural areas.
Approximately 1.5 to two billion people
are smallholder farmers owning five
acres or less, and despite the prevalence
of huge agribusiness farms in much of
the developed world, these five-acre or
less farms account for 85 percent of the
world’s farmland. Smallholder farmers
are some of the hardest hit by the cur-
rent food crisis, so it is clear that any pro-
posed solution to the crisis must take the
needs of these people into consideration.
Increasing agricultural production in
developing countries will require ex-
tensive political, economic, and so-
cial reforms both globally and locally.
Programs to boost production will be
neither straightforward nor cheap, but
their importance is widely accepted.
As noted in the Final Declaration of
the June 2008 UN Global Conference
on Food Security: “There is an urgent
need to help developing countries and
countries in transition expand agricul-
ture and food production, and to in-
crease investment in agriculture, agri-
business and rural development.”
Over the past several months, donor
countries have pledged millions to
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008
Agriculture & Hunger
address the current crisis, but exactly
how these additional funds will be used
remains to be seen. In talks involving
the President and other senior officials
of the World Bank, InterAction Presi-
dent and CEO Sam Worthington urged
the Bank to support projects assisting
smallholder farmers directly – a break
from the Bank’s tradition of supporting
large, centralized and usually govern-
ment-owned projects.
While the NGO community has con-
sistently championed and supported
small-scale agricultural development,
the current crisis makes it clear that
new ideas and additional funding is
needed. Responding to this and to the
need to collaborate and to share inno-
vative ideas, on June 25 more than 40
InterAction members attended the first
meeting of the new Agriculture Work-
ing Group. While InterAction members
have long supported long-term agricul-
tural development, this is the first time
the membership has come together to
form a working group on this issue.
The purpose of the first meeting was to
provide members with the opportunity to
share ideas and discuss the current state
of agricultural programming, policy, and
coordination. Because a number of orga-
nizations, alliances and initiatives are al-
ready looking at issues related to agricul-
ture, a central goal of the meeting was to
determine how InterAction can uniquely
and effectively contribute to the broader
discussion. Three main themes for fram-
ing the direction of the working group
emerged: policy and advocacy, best and
innovative practices, and production.
Regarding policy and advocacy strate-
gies, the working group recognized the
15
 Agriculture & Hunger

utility and advantage of speaking with
a unified voice, although developing
key messages may prove to be tricky in
light of the complexities surrounding
both global and national agriculture
policies. Moreover, participants noted
that overlaps with other sectors such
as climate change, health, and gender
must be taken into account while de-
veloping these policy positions.
Although the key messages have yet to
be determined, a push for increased and
sustained funding for agriculture pro-
grams will undoubtedly be one compo-
nent of Interaction’s advocacy strategy.
To ensure that this additional funding is
targeted towards the most effective and
poverty alleviating programs, members
identified the need to share information
on and document best practices and les-
sons learned from the field. Research on
new and innovative agricultural practic-
es is also needed to deal with existing
and future environmental changes.
Relating to the spread of best and in-
novative practices is the need to boost
both short and long-term food produc-
tion. As noted earlier, InterAction seeks
to achieve this by encouraging policies
and programs that directly support
smallholder farmers, focus particularly
on women farmers, and allow for suf-
ficient flexibility in programming to
accommodate varying needs.
Moving forward, the working group
has agreed to divide into smaller sub-
groups, each focusing on one of the
three areas of policy, practice and pro-
duction, and will also continue to meet
regularly as a larger group.
If you have an interest in this working
group and would like to become in-
volved, please email Hilary Nalven at
hnalven@interaction.org.

Controlling a Crop Crisis

By Michael Potts, Director, Great Lakes Cassava Initiative,
Catholic Relief Services

T he global food crisis underscores the urgent need to increase

food security worldwide. One major solution is increasing the
production capacities of small-scale farmers, ideally to the point
where they can grow an excess and benefit from rising prices. At
the same time, farmers must have the tools to protect their crops
from disease, particularly staples they depend on for both food
and incomes.
In Africa, two highly concerning pandemics are putting food secu-
rity at significant risk. Cassava mosaic disease and cassava brown
streak disease are wiping out fields in Central and East Africa,
decimating as much as 70 percent of crop yields. These losses are
seriously impacting farming communities, with cassava being the
primary source of food in much of this area.
To stem the spread of the diseases and enable affected farmers to
recover their pre-disease cassava production levels, the Great Lakes
Cassava Initiative is bringing together scientists, NGOs and farmers.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and led by Catholic
Relief Services, this four-year initiative aims to produce and dissemi-
nate disease-resistant cuttings to more than one million households
in six countries: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ke-
nya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The initiative will also lay the
foundation for expansion into Southern and West Africa as cassava
diseases continue to spread through the continent.
Key to the success of the project is the marriage of agricultural re-
search and grassroots development:
• The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture is working
closely with national agricultural research institutions in each
target country to develop methods for rapidly identifying these
diseases and monitoring their spread.
• The national institutions use research results and knowledge of
Cassava brown streak disease misshapes roots and causes a dry rot,
making the roots inedible (photo by Michael Potts/CRS).
local conditions to work with farmers to develop improved cas-
sava varieties that are adapted to local conditions, resist diseases
and have higher yields.
• More than 50 local partners then team with farmers in the field to
evaluate the varieties, select the most appropriate ones, and ulti-
mately multiply and disseminate cuttings to affected farmers.
• Working with more than 5,000 farmer groups, these local part-
ners also teach farmers to recognize disease symptoms and take
proactive steps to prevent spread.
The Great Lakes Cassava Initiative is taking additional measures to
ensure sustainability and improve farming incomes. These include
providing farmers with access to new market opportunities, orga-
nizing savings and loans communities, funding critical international
research and coordinating closely with related agricultural efforts.
In addition, advanced diagnostics and mapping technology are cre-
ating a disease surveillance system across the six countries to help
better identify farmers under threat. GIS and GPS technologies will
also trace production and distribution of cuttings.
Through close collaboration among numerous partners, the Great
Lakes Cassava Initiative is helping to achieve a green revolution in
Africa – a needed change that is even more urgent in light of the
current food crisis.

16 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

 Food Crisis

Addressing the Global Food Crisis

By Cherri Waters, Managing Director for NGO Research, InterAction

W
hen G-8 leaders meet in
Japan in July, they will
have to tackle an item
unexpectedly added to
their agenda: the world food crisis. Ac-
cording to the Japanese government,
this will be the first statement on food
issued by the world’s superpowers.
Certainly, this is not the first food crisis
in recent years. But what distinguishes
this crisis from others – and commands
the attention of world leaders – are
the intensity with which it emerged,
its global scope, the 100 million more
hungry people it may create, and the
level of actual and potential political
unrest generated in its wake.

Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of

the World Food Programme, has called
this crisis a “perfect storm” – a criti-
cal or disastrous situation created by a
powerful confluence of events. In this
case, the disaster is a rapid and steep
rise in the price of food that is devas-
tating poor communities worldwide.
Food prices have been increasing since
2003, most sharply since 2006. Accord-
ing to the International Monetary Fund,
a ton of wheat that cost $105 in Janu-
ary 2000 cost $481 in March 2008. In
one year (from March 2007 to March
2008), the price of corn increased by
31 percent, rice by 74 percent, soya by
87 percent, and wheat by 130 percent.
Overall food prices have doubled over
the past three years.

A complex crisis with

multiple causes
The all-time-high cost of oil has driven
up the cost of food production. Climate
change has contributed to the current
crisis and will continue to have adverse
Photo: Kyla Springer

effect on food production. For exam-

ple, drought in Australia, one of the
world’s largest food exporters, reduced
the supply of both wheat and rice.

MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 17

 Food Crisis
A positive development – rising in-
comes in countries experiencing rapid
economic growth – has increased the
demand for meat and milk and has led,
in turn, to greater demand for grains
to feed livestock. The growing use of
grains to produce bio-fuels has reduced
their use as food.
As the stock and real estate markets
have become more volatile and com-
modities prices soared, investors have
increased speculation in commodities
futures. Exporting countries have im-
posed bans, taxes, minimum prices,
and quotas on exports of rice and wheat
that have reduced supply and pushed
prices higher.
Neglect of agriculture
For the last 20 years, donors and many
recipient governments have made low
and declining investments in agricul-
ture. In 1980, 30 percent of annual
World Bank lending went to agricul-
tural projects; in 2007, it was only 12
percent. In developing countries, ag-
riculture spending as a share of total
public spending fell by half between
1980 and 2004. U.S. foreign assistance
for agriculture has dropped from a high
of 20 percent in 1980 to 6.0 percent in
1995 to 2.5 percent in 2006.
A comprehensive, coordinated
global response
We believe that the United States can
and should show leadership in re-
sponding to this crisis through the up-
coming G-8 summit and through Con-
gressional action over the next several
months. With this in mind, InterAction
offers the following recommendations:
1. The U.S. and other donors should
at least double long-term investments
in agricultural programs that enable
small farmers to produce more food.
The Bush Administration’s 2009 fiscal
year Congressional Budget Justifica-
tion includes a request for agriculture
that is only 2.3 percent of the total re-
quest and less than 23 percent of the
“economic growth” request. We be-
18 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
lieve that this crisis alone constitutes
sufficient reason to make major chang-
es in both the amount and allocation of
these resources to fund programs that:
• Enable small farmers to increase
production and take advantage of
market opportunities;
• Make infrastructure improvements
in roads and irrigation systems; and
• Support agricultural research and
new technologies to increase small
farm productivity and enable farm-
ers to adapt to climate change.
Currently, the Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) is the only U.S. gov-
ernment program that provides ample
funding for these types of activities.
This makes it all the more unfortunate
that Congress may cut MCA funding to
pay for the emergency response to the
food crisis. There is an urgent need to
reduce suffering, but not at the expense
of long-term solutions.
2. The U.S. and other donors should
provide adequate funding for tradi-
tional and new forms of emergency
response to address the needs of both
urban and rural poor. U.S. assistance
should:
• Fund food vouchers, food-for-
work and cash-for-work programs,
and school-feeding programs;
• Support health and nutrition pro-
grams that focus on the needs of
mothers, pregnant women, and
infants; and
• Stimulate agricultural production
immediately through programs
that provide seeds, tools, and other
inputs along with farm credit.
3. The U.S. should make all assis-
tance more flexible, country-specific,
people-driven and poverty-focused.
In each country, the food crisis is a
product of a complex mix of factors
unique to that situation. Rather than
mandating specific approaches or
remedies, donors should give govern-
ments, communities and implementers
the flexibility to determine what best
fits the local context.
Fundamentally, this is a food price
crisis. Because poor people living in
developing countries spend as much as
50 percent to 80 percent of their mea-
ger incomes on food, high and rapid
price increases have been devastating.
Thus, long-term solutions must focus
on poverty reduction.
4. Congress should make food aid
faster, more flexible, and less expen-
sive by allowing more cash and local
purchase.
Estimates are that by eliminating the
requirement that food be sourced from
the United States, Congress can in-
crease U.S. food aid by up to 50 per-
cent without providing any additional
funding. Cash or vouchers for local
purchase would also arrive sooner and
have the added benefit of stimulating
the local market.
5. The United States should assess
the impact of bio-fuels and take steps
needed to reduce negative effects.
In a recent article in the Financial
Times, World Bank President Robert
Zoellick reported that the use of corn
for ethanol in the U.S. has consumed
more than 75 percent of the increase
in global corn production. Sustained
growth in the demand for feedstock
to produce bio-energy will continue to
drive food prices higher.
Ultimately, the United States, work-
ing with other bio-fuel users, should
develop global standards for bio-fuel
production – with food security and en-
vironmental sustainability at their core.
6. Congress should remove trade bar-
riers to developing country imports.
Fully reforming global trade policy
cannot be done overnight. In the mean-
time, the U.S. can promote develop-
ment by changing our own trade poli-
cies to open our market to goods from
least developed countries.
Interested in advertising in
Monday Developments?
Contact Michael Haslett at publications@interaction.org
 Aid Perception

Fearing for the Future of the

Humanitarian Enterprise
By Antonio Donini, Senior Researcher, Feinstein International Center

I
magine sitting down to talk with
eight mullahs in a village in central
Afghanistan, meeting with people in
the war-torn Gulu district in northern
Uganda, or conducting a focus group
with low-caste landless peasants in the
Maoist heartland of central Nepal. How
do they perceive humanitarian action
in their respective communities? Is it
fulfilling its intended purpose? Are the
views of the locals being heard?

As part of a research project on the chal-

Photo: Antonio Donini

lenges likely to affect humanitarian ac-
tion over the next decade, researchers
from the Feinstein International Center
(FIC) at Tufts University traveled to 12
countries in crisis to assess perceptions
of humanitarian action “from below.” A
new report from FIC entitled Humani-
tarian Agenda 2015:The State of the
Humanitarian Enterprise (available
electronically at: fic.tufts.edu ) summa-
rizes these perceptions and identifies
the gaps between the current practice
of humanitarian action and the aspira-
tions of beneficiaries in crisis situa-
tions. It suggests that if these gaps are
not addressed, they will pose increas-
ingly difficult challenges to interna-
tional humanitarian action throughout
the next decade.
The building blocks of the research are
12 case studies of conducted in Afghan-
istan, Burundi, Colombia, the Demo-
cratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq,
Liberia, Nepal, northern Uganda, the
occupied Palestinian territory, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka and Sudan. The approach was
evidence-based. Findings were drawn
from interviews and focus group dis-
cussions at the community level aimed
at eliciting local perceptions. Additional
data was collected from aid staff and
other observers at the country level.
A group of women in Kabul examine the HA2015 Preliminary Report (November 2006).
The Feinstein International Center team reconvened some of the original focus groups to
bring back the preliminary findings to those that provided the information.
Overall more than 2,000 people pro- or unwittingly, they bring – values,
vided inputs into the research. management styles, improper behavior
– and the effect it has on the communi-
The findings are analyzed around four ties in which they work. They have to
issues: the avowed universality of hu- be much better at explaining what they
manitarianism; the impact of terrorism are doing and why. As a primary school
and counter-terrorism on humanitarian teacher in Ghorband (central Afghani-
action; the push for coherence between stan) put it: “Why do these foreigners
humanitarian and political agendas; come here? Is it because they can’t find
and the security of humanitarian per- jobs in their own countries?”
sonnel and the communities benefiting
from humanitarian action. More generally, in addition to the dis-
connects between “outsiders” and “in-
The findings siders”, the findings highlight a crisis
One common thread was that aid of humanitarianism in the post 9/11
practitioners need to improve their world. International action aimed at
understanding of local culture as an assisting and protecting the most vul-
investment in more effective and more nerable is, for the most part, inextrica-
secure operations. Northern humani- bly linked to a Northern security and
tarians need to listen more and preach political agenda, and it is seen as such.
less, learning from the resourceful- Nevertheless, principled humanitarian
ness, resilience and coping strategies action, though battered at times, consti-
of communities. They need to be more tutes an essential safety net for people
aware of the baggage that, wittingly in extremis that deserves to be nurtured

MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 19

 Aid Perception

greater institutional consistency and

Principles in Iraq professionalism. Standards have gained
“… neutrality is not an abstract notion in Iraq but is regarded as an es- currency, programs have become more
sential protection against targeted attack by communities and most remain- contextualized, and professionalism
ing humanitarian organizations alike’ … ‘Our research confirms that Iraqis has improved. Yet despite the rhetoric
are neither stupid nor lacking in a sense of right and wrong, and yet, as of downward accountability to ben-
Iraqis themselves explained it to our research team with consistency and eficiaries, mainstream humanitarians
clarity, that is precisely how they often understand the assumptions underly- continue to talk principally to the like-
ing humanitarian action that has been instrumentalized in the service of an minded, shunning different or dissent-
occupying force or some other political/military objective. The Iraq case ing voices. Much that is local and non-
demonstrates the dangers inherent in shackling and subordinating a human- Western in humanitarian action goes
itarian response to a military or political agenda that is subject to changing unrecognized: the coping mechanisms
fortunes”. of communities, the parallel life-saving
universe that includes zakat and the
— Greg Hansen, Iraq Country Study: Taking Sides or Saving Lives: remittances of refugees and migrants.
Existential Choices for the Humanitarian Enterprise in Iraq’, These constitute the unrecorded as-
FIC, 2007, p16 available at fic.tufts.edu sistance flows of groups and countries
that are not part of the northern-driven
humanitarian system.
and protected. Such action occupies manitarian action has become a multi-
a crucial but increasingly precarious billion dollar enterprise. When it oc-
The wider meaning
position at the intersection of interna- cupied the margins of conflict – as, for
The study’s findings confirm the good
tional political and security agendas example, in refugee camps outside con-
news that humanitarian action remains
and the coping strategies of people af- flict areas – humanitarian action was an
an essential – and sometimes dominant
fected by crisis and conflict. However, activity of generally minor consequence
– element in the international response
it is used as a tool to achieve political to belligerents. Aid agencies were ac-
to crisis and conflict. Increasingly, it is
objectives and torn between principle cepted or tolerated as beneficial, or at
a factor in the undertakings and calcu-
and pragmatism as perhaps never be- least non-threatening. Now humanitar-
lations of political and military players.
fore, particularly in high-profile crises. ian action is very often at the center of
conflicts and of international concern. However, the bad news is that humani-
Though the traditional values of hu- It influences, as well as reflects, public tarianism’s high profile status entails
manitarianism still resonate among af- opinion and the views of governments a constant risk of misunderstand-
fected communities in all of the settings at the national and global levels. ing, false expectation and delusions
studied, the humanitarian community of grandeur. There is a persistent and
is divided on the extent to which core Moreover, politicization, militarization worrying perception gap between out-
principles should be respected, par- and privatization nowadays represent siders and insiders – that is, between
ticularly in more asymmetrical and more of a challenge for those parts aid agencies and the communities they
intractable crises. This disquiet affects of a diverse enterprise striving for a aim to help. Despite examples of cre-
the quality and the coherence of the as- modicum of fidelity to principle. Many ative problem-solving, humanitarians
sistance and protection provided. For mainstream agencies have been drawn have not, overall, acquitted themselves
example, as our Iraq country study implicitly or explicitly into the service well in protecting the integrity of hu-
shows, neutrality is not an abstract no- of political agendas. Only a minority manitarian interests and operations
tion, but an essential protection for aid has exhibited the policy determination from recurrent infiltrations of politi-
agencies and their beneficiaries. and financial wherewithal to resist. It cal and military actors. As the report
thus remains debatable whether the as- concludes, “Absent the cultivation of
To say that humanitarians need to be sortment of agencies and individuals greater resourcefulness and resilience,
wary of politics, even as they do their that comprise the humanitarian enter- therefore, we fear for the future of the
work in highly politicized settings is prise can – or should – maintain the fic- humanitarian enterprise.”
nothing new. What is new in the post- tion that they are all parts of the same
Cold War and post-9/11 eras is that movement, functioning as parts of a Antonio Donini is the main author of
the stakes are much higher because common apparatus. the report. For hard copies contact An-
the extent of need has proliferated, the drew.Whitacre@tufts.edu. All the case
awareness of need has become more The research data also confirms that studies and other materials are avail-
instantaneous and more global, and hu- the humanitarian enterprise has gained able from the website fic.tufts.edu.

20 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS


The Five Stages of
Foreign Aid Reform Grief
By Gregory Adams, Associate Director for Policy and Advocacy, Aid Effectiveness Team, Oxfam America
D
oes the current state of U.S.
foreign aid programs have
you feeling anxious and un-
fulfilled? You are not alone.
Forty-seven years ago, President Ken-
nedy signed into law the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961. Since that time,
Photo: Jane Hahn
there have been at least six other major
efforts to modernize America’s foreign
aid structure. Few have led to any sys-
tematic improvement. This history has
led even the most committed among us
to despair for the future of American
leadership in fighting global poverty.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008
Aid Reform
But fear not! There’s a new therapeu-
tic tool: The Five Stages of Foreign
Aid Grief. By understanding these five
stages, you can begin your own jour-
ney through the healing process.
Diagnosis: Weak, ineffective aid
The impetus for the Foreign Assis-
tance Act of 1961 came from a clear
sense that the U.S. foreign aid system
was failing to serve the interests of the
United States. According to a memo
prepared for President Kennedy, U.S.
foreign aid in 1961 had “the following
familiar weaknesses:”
“Its financing, as well as its perspective,
is short-run rather than long-run. The
small development component is main-
ly guided by a project approach rather
than an approach in terms of developing
whole nations. Its legislative underpin-
ning is piecemeal, reflecting geological
layers of past interests and problems. Its
administration is diffuse ... At home there
is profound uneasiness and dissatisfac-
tion with a program which has appeared
to yield little result at great cost.”
Any of this sound familiar? Piecemeal
legislative underpinning? Geological
layers of past interests and problems?
Today, the original 1961 Act has grown
to a mass of surrounding legislation in-
cluding all or part of 138 public laws
passed by Congress over the past 47
years, comprising nearly 2,600 pages
in all. That body of law contains more
than 170 priority areas and purposes
and over 550 directives.
Short-run financing and perspec-
tive? Congressional guidance for U.S.
foreign aid is provided by the annual
appropriations process, a process de-
signed to function on an annual time-
21
 Aid Reform
frame. This essentially means that the
U.S. can move the goalposts every
twelve months for poor people, their
governments and development profes-
sionals in the field.
These shortcomings – just to name
a few – have become so clear to all
observers that it is hard for many to
understand why reform remains so po-
litically difficult. Hence the need for a
tool to help us overcome this malaise
and begin a new day for U.S. develop-
ment assistance programs.
Stages of aid reform grief
When confronted with the reform
agenda, the first response of many of
us is denial. “The problem isn’t really
that serious,” we say. “Sure, the law is
messed up, but it doesn’t actually pre-
vent us from doing anything. A smart
lawyer can get around it. We don’t need
reform, we just need more money.”
22 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Unfortunately, more money by itself is
not a solution. For too long, those who
support U.S. foreign aid programs have
been afraid to talk about aid’s short-
comings for fear it would undermine
the case for funding. But U.S. taxpay-
ers deserve more credit; they can see the
limitations of our existing aid programs.
The way to strengthen foreign aid is not
to hope the public won’t notice the fail-
ings, but to engage in an honest discus-
sion about how we make U.S. develop-
ment programs work better.
The next stage is anger. “This is a cra-
zy idea!” we say. “If you try to do this,
you’ll open a Pandora’s box! The whole
foreign aid system will fall apart. Mem-
bers of Congress won’t vote for any for-
eign aid bill, even a plan for reform.”
Opening Pandora’s box could be fright-
ening. If this box were opened, would
we have fights over family planning and
women’s health? Fights over aid to par-
ticular countries we like or don’t like?
In truth, the box has been open for a
while now. Congress struggles almost
every year over family planning lan-
guage, debates which countries should
get aid, and adds earmarked funds for
favored projects. If anything, a reform
process will mean that these controver-
sies will be out in the open and more
fully debated, making it more possible
to reach consensus solutions.
The third stage is bargaining. “Well,
fundamental reform is too hard. Maybe
we can work on just fixing the existing
law, making a few changes, just to bring
it up to date.” But the reality is that U.S.
development programs are so outdated
that modest reform doesn’t get you a
working system, it only gets you some-
thing less outdated. In order to make
continued on page 28

Aid Effectiveness vs. Development Effectiveness:
A Paris Declaration for CSOs?
By Sylvain Browa, Senior Manager for Partnership & Development Impact, InterAction
I
n preparation for the September
2008 Accra High Level Forum on
Aid Effectiveness, civil society or-
ganizations (CSOs) from around
the world have been consulting over
the past year on proposals to advance
an aid and development effectiveness
agenda with donor and recipient gov-
ernments. In the process, CSOs have
begun to discuss their own roles in the
aid system and the related challenges
and opportunities. It is likely that a
full and formal recognition of CSOs
as critical partners in improving the ef-
fectiveness of official development aid
(ODA) – a key expectation out of Ac-
cra – could both deepen and broaden
the scope of the Paris Declaration (PD)
on aid effectiveness.
To further this discussion, about 80
NGO networks from around the world
will meet on June 29-30 in Paris to
begin to explore the concept of CSOs
effectiveness. At this meeting the par-
ticipants plan to launch an independent,
CSO-led, global process to identify the
key principles relevant to CSO develop-
ment effectiveness, along with a number
of guidelines and good practices. This
initiative – a sort of Paris Declaration
for CSOs – will be developed from De-
cember 2008 through December 2010.
The CSO initiative could be quite dif-
ferent from the OECD/DAC-managed
PD Principles on Aid Effectiveness,
which focus on improving the manage-
ment of aid resources between donor
and recipient governments through in-
stitutional reforms. The CSO initiative
will be informed by a complex web of
CSO functions (as donors, service pro-
viders and aid advocates) and a value
system different from the one that in-
spired the signatories of the PD.
As donors, CSOs manage a signifi-
cant proportion of private resources
provided by individuals, corporations
and foundations. These resources are
invested in support of the disadvan-
taged and marginalized communities
and groups around the globe. CSO
efforts are primarily informed by a
strong desire to express solidarity with
the disadvantaged and in most cases
run parallel to those of central govern-
ments. Bringing CSO resources to bear
in the effort to make aid more effective
would require recognizing and in some
instances adopting CSOs’ priorities
and underlying values and operational
philosophy – namely, a focus on the
poor and marginalized.
As service providers, CSOs work pri-
marily with local communities and
independent community-based insti-
tutions. CSOs strive to respond to the
needs of these communities, which
may differ from those of the national
governments. CSOs efforts to address
their own effectiveness look not only
at the mechanics of how their resourc-
es are managed and aid delivered, but
also at the outcomes and impact of
their actions and, most importantly, the
capacity of their local partners to take
ownership of these actions and carry
them forward. The aspirations and ca-
pacity of CSOs’ primary partners could
therefore become key factors in the aid
effectiveness debate.
As aid advocates, the most publicized
role of CSOs is that of independent
watchdogs of government action.
However, the most important role of
CSOs as aid advocates is that of giv-
ing voice to the multitude of voiceless
communities and marginalized groups.
CSOs strive to help these voiceless cit-
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008
Aid Effectiveness
izens inform aid agendas at the coun-
try level, and contribute to alternative
development policies and initiatives. It
is in this role that CSOs can mostly sig-
nificantly impact the aid effectiveness
reform, expanding the dialog to include
considerations beyond the priorities of
donor and recipient governments.
For CSOs, effective aid can only be
achieved when development is ap-
propriately prioritized and properly
practiced. While the PD is about “aid
effectiveness” or the efficiency and ef-
fectiveness of the aid regime, CSOs are
calling for a focus on the broader and
more important concept of develop-
ment effectiveness – i.e., creating the
conditions for an effective and lasting
reduction in global poverty and inequal-
ity. CSOs believe that development
concepts such as human rights, gender
equality and integration, and local ca-
pacity building are central to achiev-
ing the aid effectiveness the PD seeks.
Moreover, CSOs argue that the overall
goal of aid effectiveness as defined in
the PD (acceleration of the achieve-
ment of poverty reduction objectives,
including the Millennium Develop-
ment Goals) cannot be dissociated from
the root causes of the problems that aid
seeks to address. Similarly, the realiza-
tion of the objective of the PD should
be informed by and assessed based on
the impact the PD reforms have on the
broader objectives of development and
humanitarian assistance.
The CSO initiative is expected to help
harmonize and advance current efforts
to address effectiveness issues in CSO
operations globally, and prepare CSOs
to engage in the review of the Paris
Declaration Principles scheduled for
2011 in Beijing.
23
 Security Issues
Think Locally in Guard Management
By Josh Kearns, Associate Security Coordinator, InterAction
I
n late February 2008, U.S. NGOs
based in N’Djamena, the dusty capi-
tal of Chad, were forced to evacuate
when a coalition of armed opposi-
tion groups stormed the city. Because
the attack was relatively unexpected
(residents of N’Djamena had only two
days’ warning) and because evacuation
was largely on foot, there was little
opportunity to secure office valuables
before fleeing. The rebels entered the
city, besieged the presidential palace
and looted the surrounding neighbor-
hoods, where many NGOs have their
offices. Two days later, the rebels with-
drew and retreated across Chad to their
rear operating bases in Darfur. Within
days, the market in El Geneina, West
Darfur, was flush with goods purloined
from NGO offices in N’Djamena, ev-
erything from mobile and satellite
phones to standard office equipment.
Absent from the Geneina stalls was the
equipment of one U.S. NGO whose
guards stayed behind to protect its
property. As armed looters passed by
the front of the office, the guard on
duty banged a brick against the inside
of the front door, mimicking the sounds
of gunfire to successfully ward off po-
tential trespassers, risking his life by
drawing attention to himself. (InterAc-
tion does not recommend this tactic!)
Why did these particular guards stay
and defend their employer’s assets when
the trained guards contracted to protect
the office next door fled? According to
“Laura,” the Chad country director of
the NGO, the reasons had little to do
with how much they were being paid
or their level of experience. Instead,
she believes the guards’ performance
had to do with good hiring and manage-
ment practices. By hiring guards from
the neighborhood, relying on the rec-
ommendations of trusted national staff,
24 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
the NGO was able to ensure that their
guards felt a strong sense of community
with their neighbors. And by treating
the guards as equal members of the or-
ganization – stopping to ask after their
families every day, including them in
lunch plans and similar courtesies – a
sense of loyalty to the organization was
instilled. These basic, common sense
measures saved the NGO’s property
and, possibly, its programming.
“Steve,” a security professional at an-
other NGO, agrees that common sense
or, more precisely, cultural sensitivity,
goes a long way toward maintaining an
effective and loyal guard team. He cited
one example of an NGO whose policy
it was that all staff in the field office
greet the guards by name upon entering
or exiting the facility. This was written
into the organization’s policy. At the
other end of the spectrum, he recalled
an expat program manager in a Mus-
lim country who asked his watchman
to feed his dog, without ever offering
food to the watchman. Adding insult to
injury, the expat built a doghouse, but
no guardhouse to protect his protec-
tor against the elements. In this situa-
tion, a lack of basic cultural sensitivity
worked against the expat manager and
his NGO. When a critical incident be-
fell the organization, the first person to
turn and run was the watchman.
One NGO shared its guard management
guidelines with InterAction. The guide-
lines take the decision-maker (usually
the country director or security focal
point) through the entire process. As
with all security decisions, the first step
is a comprehensive security risk assess-
ment, which should include a program
assessment, a threat assessment and a
risk assessment. Once it is determined
that guards are necessary, the next deci-
sion is whether to hire guards directly
or contract the work out to a guard
company. (This article focuses on the
former; if choosing the latter course,
be sure to consult other organizations
working in the region for recommen-
dations on reliable guard companies.)
Guidelines should then include policies
and procedures for hiring guards. As
we saw in the Chad case, this step can
make or break your guard program.
Nepotism in hiring is frowned upon in
the U.S. and many other western coun-
tries. This is not always the case else-
where in the world, where family, clan or
tribal relationships are often paramount.
Of course, NGOs must make their own
decisions when it comes to hiring in the
field. However, a guard with strong lo-
cal ties will be better connected to the
neighborhood rumor mill, enabling
him to identify threats emanating from
within the community. Furthermore,
guards with ties to other national staff
already employed by the NGO will be
more likely to perform honorably if not
one but two jobs depend on it. “Steve”
stressed that local laws must be taken
into account when hiring guards. It is
often good practice to hire guards from
both local and more far-flung commu-
nities to ensure that you haven’t hired
the local organized crime ring. Review
these decisions on a case-by-case basis.
“Bill,” another expat former security
professional related an anecdote in
which his hubris was humbled by a
local-hire guard supervisor in Afghani-
stan who offered common-sense advice

on guard management. The expat was
vexed by the fact that his night guard
was repeatedly caught sleeping on the
job. Finally, he took a photo of the guard
sleeping at his post, as an example for
future snoozers, and prepared to fire
him. The guard supervisor intervened:
“The problem is the schedule, not the
guard. No guard can be useful when
he has to work two 12-hour shifts to
cover for a sick guard. We need to
work eight-hour shifts so that if one
of our guards manning a post calls in
sick, we only have to hold over the ex-
isting guard for four hours, turning it
into a 12-hour shift. We can bring the
next guard in early so that the team can
properly cover the shift.”
The result of this poor scheduling was
that all of Bill’s other guard manage-
ment policies – post orders, cross-train-
ing drivers as guards and vice-versa,
daily activity logs – were rendered inef-
fective by exhausted guards. By imple-
menting the eight-hour shift schedule,
the problem was solved.
In the examples above, good guard
management practices helped organi-
zations get the most from their locally
hired guards. The NGO in the Chad
anecdote did not have a codified guard
management policy, and relied instead
upon their country director’s common
sense and cultural sensitivity, honed
over years working abroad. In this ex-
ample it paid off. However, not every
program director or country director is
endowed with these gifts: remember the
dog example? The sound course of ac-
tion for NGOs working in insecure en-
vironments is to put into writing guard
management guidelines that include
hiring procedures, training, equipping,
management and a host of other details
that will simplify the decision-making
process for over-worked field manag-
ers. An organization’s guidelines should
reflect the NGO’s values and allow for
flexibility to adapt to the local situation.
And don’t forget cultural sensitivity.
Security Issues
Is it Time for a Vehicular Paradigm Shift?
By John Schafer, Senior Security Coordinator, InterAction
I
f you have a 4x4 vehicle and are operating in Darfur, Somalia or other regions of
instability, the likelihood of being carjacked has never been higher. Yet some or-
ganizations have failed to fully integrate the increased risk into how they operate
on a daily basis. Some have mitigated the threat by using local taxis and this has
worked very well. However, incidents of armed break-ins to steal parked vehicles
have also increased, making the situation more dangerous for NGOs that are now
intentional targets for those who want to steal 4x4 vehicles.
Three of the main reasons these vehicles are being stolen are: (1) to generate cash;
(2) to turn the vehicles into “technical” vehicles by cutting off the top and mounting
a machine gun on it; and (3) to transport troops and materials.
Maybe it is time to change the way we think about transport. There are options
beyond the types of vehicles we commonly select. One is a series of new ultra light
utility vehicles that have design features that may help address this problem. I like
to call them golf carts on steroids.
Originally produced for farmers, these ultra light utility vehicles are powered by a
760cc, 40hp engine that operates on diesel. They are designed to withstand rug-
ged terrain and the harsh environments. They have a completely sealed power train
that can ford up to 30 inches of water. NGOs could buy three of them for the price of
one 4x4. They can be delivered to the
harshest of conditions via airplane
or helicopter, and in many places it
is easier to clear them through cus-
toms because they are often licensed
as motorcycles.
Using these ultra light utility vehicles
would help reduce the risk of attacks
on NGO vehicles in several ways.
First, because the top speed for these
vehicles is 40 miles per hour, it would be less attractive to bandits seeking vehicles
that can keep up with the columns of rebel movements. Second, heavy machine
guns cannot be placed on them. Third, their small size means they cannot be used
to transport many troops.
Factory customization can turn these “golf carts on steroids” into ambulances and
allow them to carry four passengers. The cabs can be fully enclosed to protect the
occupants from the environment. Carts can also be added to handle large amounts
of hauling.
Using these vehicles may also address another risk to NGOs — traffic accidents. The
lower speed of these vehicles may lessen the severity of injuries sustained in the
event of an accident.
Using these vehicles may be one novel step in solving a major problem that hu-
manitarian workers face around the world, but it is not a panacea. I am still amazed
by the organizations through out the world that do not have policies mandating
the wearing of seat belts.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 25
 Military & Development
The Militarization of Foreign Aid
By Jim Bishop, Vice President, Humanitarian Policy and Practice, InterAction
T
he increased engagement by
the U.S. armed forces in the
development and humanitar-
ian activities traditionally the
primary responsibilities in the United
States of civilian agencies and NGOs
has multiple roots.
Programs to win the hearts and minds of
local populations in contested areas are
a long-standing military practice. But in
Afghanistan and Iraq the U.S. military
and some of its coalition partners have
greatly expanded these activities. Fail-
ure to commit sufficient military forces
to achieve ambient security in the early
years of the war in Afghanistan, con-
fusion between the roles of NGO and
military personnel caused by military
activities mimicking NGO operations,
and the lack of a civilian surge capacity
prompted the creation of military led
provincial reconstruction teams. Now
deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq,
American PRTs (provincial reconstruc-
tion teams) undertake humanitarian
and development projects. These are
financed by a billion-dollar congressio-
nal appropriation the Pentagon wants
to increase and make available to all
combatant commands.
As part of its global war on terror-
ism the administration is using mili-
tary units to shore up fragile states
that might become havens or training
grounds for terrorists in the Horn of
Africa and West Africa’s Sahel region.
Small teams of military personnel are
digging wells and building schools.
In November 2005 the Defense Depart-
ment issued a directive instructing the
military services to give preparation for
engaging in stabilization operations the
same priority they were giving to pre-
paring for combat. Stabilization opera-
tions were defined as spanning those
26 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Photo: Jordan Beesley
from peace to combat, making this a
radical departure for the armed forces.
It was undertaken at the initiative of the
Bush Administration, not that of the
uniformed military. The State Depart-
ment tried to create a surge capacity
that would enable it to respond in sta-
bilization scenarios. But State received
insufficient support from the adminis-
tration to win congressional appropria-
tion of the required financial support.
The decision to create a separate mili-
tary command for Africa, called AF-
RICOM, was accompanied by the an-
nouncement that it would be a different
type of military organization. It would
be heavily engaged in humanitarian and
development activities on the continent.
The initial announcement was, in part, a
reflection of the fact that it was unlikely
AFRICOM would be called on to en-
gage in combat and some additional jus-
tification for its creation was required.
The Southern Command, or SOUTH-
COM, poses another problem. Like
AFRICOM, it is unlikely to be called on
to wage war. To justify its size and fund-
ing it sees itself playing an increasingly
prominent role in relief and development
activities in Central and South America.
In a reversal of this trend in which
some civilian officials in the admin-
istration pushed for more military in-
volvement in development activities,
in congressional testimony Secretary
Gates has voiced his concern about the
extent to which the military is being
called on to undertake foreign aid ac-
tivities. He has spoken out publicly in
favor of increased funding for USAID
and State and authorization for staffing
levels that would give them the surge
capacities they now lack.
Over 21 percent of American foreign
assistance is now channeled through
the U.S. armed forces, a four-fold in-
crease in just six years. In responding to
natural disasters, the military can bring
to bear assets not readily available to
NGOs, helping them accomplish their
life-saving missions. But the effective-
ness of military personnel diverted from
the activities for which they are trained
to engage in development activities for
which they often do not have appropri-
ate skills raises serious questions regard-
ing sustainability and accountability.
Some would argue that it should not
make a difference which part of the
government is providing foreign aid.
But the face America presents to the
world sends a message about the nature
of our society. Do we want it to be under
the aid worker’s baseball cap emblem-
atic of our democracy or the soldier’s
helmet of a garrison state?
Agree or disagree with what you’ve read?
Send a letter to the editor
Contact Chad Brobst at cbrobst@interaction.org
(letters will be published in a future issue)

Addressing the “Complaints Deficit”
in Sexual Exploitation
and Abuse
By Coleen Heemskerk, Complaints Handling Officer,
Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International
T
he 2002 reports of sexual
exploitation in West Afri-
can refugee camps exposed
humanitarian organizations
to the existence of such abuse. The re-
sulting shock led many organizations
to develop codes of conduct, investiga-
tion protocols and additional training on
preventing and responding to exploita-
tion and abuse. Now, six years later, Hu-
manitarian Accountability Partnership
International (HAP) has conducted a
beneficiary-based consultation to ascer-
tain if humanitarian beneficiaries feel
safer as a result of NGO and UN efforts
to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse
by aid workers. The use of the term ben-
eficiary is not intended to diminish the
dignity or resilience of consultation par-
ticipants. The final report, To Complain
or Not to Complain: Still the Question,
indicates that global expectations on
how long meaningful change would
take, how much it would cost and what
would be involved were unrealistic.
The consultation process involved the
participation of nearly 300 beneficiaries
of humanitarian aid. Participants aired
their perceptions on whether or not the
magnitude of sexual exploitation and
abuse is changing and were asked for
their suggestions on how best to improve
prevention and response mechanisms.
With consultations in Kenya, Namibia
and Thailand, despite the diversity of
cultures and circumstances in each case,
many similar patterns emerged.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of partici-
pants are all too well aware of when and
where sexual exploitation and abuse by
aid workers occurs. They know that
women and children are particularly
vulnerable to such abuse, yet they con-
tinually expressed a distrust of how or-
ganizations manage complaints against
their staff. Even in locations where
intensive prevention and response pro-
grams are in place, most participants
stated that they would rarely complain
to humanitarian organizations about
basic day-to-day issues let alone sexual
misconduct by an aid worker. Conse-
quently, the report highlights just how
rare complaints are and points to why
investigations end up being even rarer.
A vast number of respondents stated
that organizations need to improve
efforts to meaningfully consult with
them when creating complaints mecha-
nisms. Most importantly, aid organiza-
tions need to create an environment of
trust allowing for dialogue between the
beneficiary and the aid organizations in
which listening and feedback are taken
seriously and produce results.
It is also worth noting that even human-
itarian staff expressed wariness about
reporting on fellow aid workers. Fear
of retaliation and lack of safety are per-
vasive barriers to complaining for both
groups of people. The report highlights
four recommendations to address this
“complaints deficit”: (1) organizations
must embed a prevention and response
mechanism in the organization’s ac-
countability framework; (2) organi-
zations must create an environment
of trust and meaningful partnership
between agency staff and beneficia-
ries; (3) organizations should conduct
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008
Accountability
awareness campaigns; and (4) organi-
zations should mitigate the risk factors
for sexual exploitation and abuse.
In summary, organizations need to set
aside sufficient resources and develop
systematic monitoring systems in part-
nership with beneficiaries, while also
making information on complaints and
investigations accessible and involv-
ing beneficiaries to participate in the
development and refining of the pro-
cesses. This framework would empow-
er beneficiaries to give improvement
feedback or to complain when service
is inadequate or harmful.
HAP member agencies believe that
this framework is available already in
the HAP Standard in Humanitarian
Accountability and Quality Manage-
ment, which has embedded within it a
commitment to providing complaints-
handling mechanisms. Organizations
that comply with the HAP Standard
demonstrate their achievements in ac-
countability and quality management
in a process developed and recognized
by humanitarian peers. These agencies
undertake to establish and implement
complaints-handling procedures that
are effective, accessible and safe for
intended beneficiaries, disaster-affect-
ed communities, organization staff and
humanitarian partners.
No one can argue against the fact that
exploitation and abuse by staff is a
result of an organization’s failure to
be accountable to beneficiaries of hu-
manitarian aid. The goal is to create an
environment in which exploitation and
abuse does not occur, but if it does, that
organizations are made aware of the
problem, they reply swiftly and ben-
eficiaries feel safer. At the very least,
all humanitarian organizations must re-
move the dilemma many currently ex-
perience as to whether or not to speak
out against sexual exploitation and
abuse, so that in another five years, “To
complain or not to complain?” will no
longer be the question.
27
Southern Voices
continued from page 8
has the ability to develop mechanisms
that ensure that it is accountable to it-
self, its constituencies and the laws that
govern the state.
There are concerns in the region that
stressing self regulation in the civil soci-
ety sector will put the sector on the defen-
sive and make it succumb to government
machinations aimed at curbing CSOs’
influence and their espoused watchdog
role in society. While these concerns are
justifiable, WACSI believes that the calls
for self-regulation provide an opportu-
nity for the sector to objectively set stan-
dards by which its viability, relevance
and effectiveness can be gauged.
The reality of West Africa in the 21st
century is that the region is yearning
for a responsive and responsible civil
society that can work with governments
to address the prevalent challenges in
the region. WACSI (www.wacsi.org)
was established by the Open Society
Initiative for West Africa to assist civil
society in building viable institutions
that can play this role in the region. The
Institute’s mandate is to ensure that civil
society actors are strong institutionally
and technically competent to inform
and influence policy making at differ-
ent stages in the region.
Global Warming
continued from page 14
to sustainable development posed by
global warming. Top priorities for ac-
tion are enactment of U.S. support for
adaptation assistance as part of climate
change legislation and U.S. leadership
to achieve a global agreement that in-
cludes adaptation assistance. These
and the other important issues men-
tioned come with a ticking clock of ur-
gency. Increasingly anxious reports by
scientists and bulletins about melting
ice and gathering storms remind us of
Francis Bacon’s warning that “he that
will not apply new remedies must ex-
pect new evils, for time is the greatest
innovator.”
28 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Aid Reform
continued from page 22
development programs work for the 21st
century, we need to start with a program
designed for the 21st century, not update
one designed for the Cold War.
The fourth is depression. “Why bother
trying to reform the system. All the
past efforts have failed. We need to fo-
cus on protecting the existing funding.
Reform will never happen.” This stage
can be the most difficult for us suffer-
ers. But there is hope, particularly from
some who have grappled with these
same issues for years.
Take, for instance, the words of House
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
Howard Berman: “Next year (2009), our
committee intends to reform and rewrite
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.”
Or those of State/Foreign Operations Ap-
propriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey:
“It’s time for us to look at the foreign
assistance apparatus of the United
States not with an eye toward further
tinkering around the edges, in my
judgment, but with the aim of rein-
venting it to reflect the challenges
and needs of the 21st century.”
And the recent statement by the Ranking
Republican on the House Foreign Af-
fairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen:
“[W]e have not reformed the 1961
Foreign Assistance Act in any truly
meaningful way since 1973. I com-
mend the new Chairman of our Com-
mittee, Mr. Berman, for committing
to the task of both authorizing our
assistance and overhauling our basic
foreign assistance statute, which is
now close to fifty years old.”
These people are veterans of numer-
ous fights over foreign aid. Yet they are
confronting foreign aid reform head-
on. If they can do it, there’s hope for
the rest of us.
Moving to acceptance
Finally, grudgingly, most of us move
on to acceptance: accepting that re-
form is the right thing to do, that it is
necessary, and it is possible.
The U.S. can and should have a modern
foreign aid system that prioritizes fighting
poverty. Only then will we will be able to
pursue our goal of supporting effective
states with empowered citizens who can
participate in fair and open markets.
The United States needs to modernize
the law, strategy and structure of our for-
eign aid. We need to rewrite the law so
we can build a new consensus between
Congress, the President, and the Ameri-
can people on the basic elements of for-
eign aid and what it should accomplish.
We need a thoughtful, longer-term and
well-resourced strategy for how we en-
gage with our partners to achieve those
goals. And we need to build a new co-
ordinated structure in the U.S. govern-
ment that can define, pursue and sustain
our efforts to execute our strategy.
Finally, we need to change the practice
of U.S. development assistance so that it
puts poor people and their governments
in charge of their own development. Our
top business schools drum this mantra
into the heads of new MBAs: know your
customer. U.S. development assistance
should adopt this approach, and be flex-
ible enough to listen to the needs of poor
people and their governments.
It is all possible. But it will all involve
concerted engagement from people
who believe that the United States gov-
ernment has a mission and an interest in
ending global poverty. There is a unique
opportunity right now to fix foreign aid.
A growing number of NGOs, think
tanks, advocacy organizations and U.S.
citizens are coming together to work for
reform. By tackling our grief, we can
take on this noble mission, and build a
better toolkit to fight global poverty.
And one last thought: the five stages
of grief, as identified by the psychia-
trist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, were first
published in 1969, and are thus eight
years newer than our current foreign
aid system.
 CAREER Developments

Do Emerging Trends Affect Career Trends?

By Michael Haslett, Senior Communications Associate, InterAction

T
he theme of this month’s Monday Developments is “Trends in Development.” That got
me thinking about how different topics and new ideas have affected my thoughts on
Next Month’s Question:
international development, and specifically about the decisions I have made profes-
sionally and academically. What are the
best ways for
When microfinance became a big topic several years ago after Muhammad Yunus received
the Nobel Prize, I found myself reading a lot more about microfinance and micro-lending.
entry and junior
I even took some courses on international economics. The fact that Southeast Asia was al- level people to
ready a region of interest to me and that business and economics were subjects that I had start a career
knowledge of made microfinance a form of development that was approachable to me. Now
though, as I see topics like food aid and disaster relief in the news, I’m not struck the same internationally?
way. While I am interested, I do not find myself researching with the same fervor as I had What ways can
with microfinance.
people recently
To get a better idea of how people approach these subjects, I decided to ask members of our out of school find
community: “How have trends in development influenced your career choices? How big a engaging field
role do hot topics and new ideas play in your decision-making when looking for jobs?” The
following are some of the insightful answers I received: work?
“Trends in development have influenced me quite profoundly actually. When I was fin-
ishing college and entering into this work in 1998, I was mainly introduced to strong
critiques of development. I worked in the Andes with indigenous communities that were
partnered with Westerners – all critiquing western-implemented agriculture and gender
programs. That “trend” highlighting the problems with development at the time influ-
enced me strongly; I left international work for seven years for domestic community
development work. Now that I’m entering the field again, I come in with more focused
skills around education and post-conflict settings, and renewed vision. Is this due to the
masters education I received, where this work was not highly problematized? Perhaps.
Trends, in my experience, not only provide open doors but cautions and road-blocks.”
– Liz Gruenfeld

“…the impact of conflict (and conflict resolution) on development has fascinated me

and been a significant influence on my choice to pursue a PhD in international conflict
resolution.” – Cheryl Duckworth

“As I develop career goals, following the latest research in the field and current events
affecting people living in poverty has allowed me to see the bigger picture and identify
where growing needs and my skills meet. Paying attention to the major funding trends is
Have an opinion?
also helpful in predicting where the newest jobs will be and resources will flow. Above Let us know what you think!
all, I think it is important to stay flexible and develop concrete skills that will be relevant Send your responses
despite changes to the landscape in the field.” – Christine C. to Michael Haslett at
“When a hot topic arises, I try to become educated or more aware of the issue. However,
mhaslett@interaction.org,
I also find myself becoming skeptical of organizations that appear to have jumped on the with “Career Developments”
band wagon just because funding has become available because the topic has become in the subject line.
popular.” – Jeremy W.

To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 29

Employment Opportunities
Health Office Senior
Project OfficeR
Washington, DC
Crown Agents USA, Inc. (CA-USA), a US
incorporated development firm, is seek-
ing a Health Office Senior Project Of-
ficer for our Washington, DC office. The
purpose of this position is to provide
administrative and technical support for
the USAID-funded health program and
will work with health, contracts, finance,
and procurement staff in order to imple-
ment efficient field office operations and
activities. Must have a BA with minimum
five years experience in health com-
modity procurement and supply chain
management systems, international
development, or other related sectors.
Apply at http://careers.crownagentsusa.
com. Visit www.crownagentsusa.com for
more information. CA-USA is an Equal
Opportunity Employer.
Country Program Director
Nigeria
Partners for Development (PFD) seeks
a Country Program Director for its Ni-
geria program. Key responsibilities are:
Oversee direction of programs, includ-
ing management of current objectives
and assets; prospect for new business;
insure strong financial management;
and develop/strengthen management
systems. Qualifications are: Significant
NGO field management experience,
preferably in public health, SED, and
local capacity-building; demonstrated
self-reliant problem-solver; outstand-
ing communications skills, written and
oral; planning; budgeting; proposal-
development; financial management;
liaison/negotiation with donors/host
governments; cultural sensitivity; and
skilled in regulations of bi-lateral, multi-
lateral and private foundations. Appli-
cants must be a dedicated team player
proficient in a multiple-deadline envi-
ronment; computer proficient; and have
a relevant advanced degree. Position is
based in Abuja with travel as necessary.
We are an EOE. Mail, fax or e-mail cover
letter, salary expectations, date of avail-
ability and resume to: Partners for De-
velopment, 1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite
406, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. Fax:
301-608-0822. pfdinfo@pfd.org
30 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org
this position will develop and implement
key strategies for the West Central and
Island Africa region in order to maximize
mission impact. The ideal candidate will
possess 5 to 7 years of multi-country
Country Director program management experience with
Chad an international NGO or multinational
World Concern is seeking a Country Di- organization which has operations in
rector to lead an alliance of 6 Christian the West Central and Island Africa region.
relief and development organizations Cross cultural management and commu-
in responding to humanitarian needs nity development experience required. A
in Eastern Chad. The program is an inte- willingness to communicate and affirm
grated approach in wat/san, livelihoods the values and principles of HFHI is a
and health. The Country Director will be must. Excellent English and French lan-
responsible to provide overall in-coun- guage communication skills required. If
try leadership, policy, strategy, program you would like to fill a key role with a dy-
design, support, implementation and namic organization making a difference
reporting, and budget management throughout the world, you can express
as well as supervise Chadian and inter- interest by going to our website, www.
national staff. The Country Director will habitat.org and applying on-line. HFHI is
represent World Concern and the alli- an equal opportunity employer.
ance to the Chadian government and
donors. Requirements: 5 years of proven Program Technical Advisor/
success in int’l program management, Writer
managing a multi-cultural team, experi- New York, NY
ence in complex emergencies, program The African Medical and Research
design and report writing. Experience Foundation (AMREF USA) seeks a public
on food- or cash-for-work programming health professional to support health
a plus. Intermediate French or Arabic, development projects in Africa. Based
fluency preferred. Apply at http://www. in NYC with travel to Africa. Will develop
worldconcern.org/NETCOMMUNITY/ project proposals and budgets for foun-
Page.aspx?&pid=929&srcid=427. dations, corporations, and USG agen-
cies; monitor and evaluate projects;
Regional Director West provide technical support to project
Central and Island Africa staff; ensure the quality and timeliness
Pretoria, South Africa of reports; and work with U.S.-based
Habitat for Humanity International partners and donors. Required: MPH,
(HFHI) an international Christian ministry field and technical backstopping ex-
dedicated to eliminating substandard perience, proposal and report writing.
housing and homelessness worldwide, is USAID Child Survival and Health Grants
seeking a seasoned professional to serve Program experience especially desir-
as its Regional Director - West Central and able. Excellent writing and communica-
Island Africa. Reporting to the are vice tion skills. Full time with benefits. Send
president of Africa and the Middle East, c.v. to info@amrefusa.org.
InterAction’s
New Online
Job Board!
Visit: careers.interaction.org
Talk about interacting! To compliment Monday Developments’ popular monthly
job section, InterAction’s new online job board instantly connects you to the latest
international development jobs as they become available. Search by job sector, level,
region and country—or post your resume and let the hiring managers come to you!
 Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network Coordinator
A broad network of organizations has come together to achieve the objectives of elevating development and modernizing foreign
assistance in the U.S. national interest. The Network is looking for a Coordinator to provide leadership and direction to develop, coordinate
and implement strategies for government relations, media, presidential candidate and transition outreach and legislative drafting. He/she
will develop and implement strategies to bring additional members into the Network and maintain relationships and enhance synergies
between all Network members.
Candidates for consideration must have ten plus years of relevant work experience, including management, coalition work and Hill
experience. He/she must have strong coalition-building and networking skills and the ability to bring new voices to the conversation about
foreign assistance reform. A strong knowledge is needed of foreign policy, foreign aid and the development establishment with a proven
ability to advance policy proposals in government and non-government arenas. Strong written, oral communications and presentational
skills are critical as well as strong interpersonal skills and an ability to strategically manage multiple activities under tight deadlines while
maintaining a sense of humor. Experience in political campaigns is a plus.
The selected candidate will supervise and lead other staff hired for the Network and work with staff from Network organizations. Network
staff will be housed at Bread for the World.
Send cover letter, resume, availability and salary requirements to: Bread for the World, Attn: HR-MFAN-C, 50 F Street, NW, Suite 500,
Washington, DC 20001 or email to: human.resources@bread.org (highly preferred). No phone calls please. EOE

Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network Media Specialist

A broad network of organizations has come together to achieve the objectives of elevating development and modernizing foreign
assistance in the U.S. national interest. The Network is looking for a Media Specialist to work with Network members to develop and
implement a comprehensive and diversified media relations program for the Network with a primary focus on generating media coverage
for the Network’s legislative agenda. The Media Specialist will work closely with the Network Coordinator to position the Network for
maximum impact and develop materials for use by the entire Network to “sell” our story. He/she will maintain strong relationships and
enhancing synergies between all Network members.
Candidates for consideration must have at least five years of media experience, preferably as a journalist or in communications work on
Capitol Hill. He/she must have a knowledge of legislative processes and political climate. Strong written, oral, analytical and presentational
skills are required along with the skills to rapidly react to breaking news and the ability to seize media opportunities. Knowledge of
international and development issues are a plus. Strong interpersonal skills are a must with an ability to strategically manage multiple
activities under tight deadlines while maintaining a sense of humor.
The selected candidate will report to the Network Coordinator and work with staff from Network organizations. Network staff will be
housed at Bread for the World.
Send cover letter, resume, availability and salary requirements to: Bread for the World, Attn: HR-MFAN-MS, 50 F Street, NW, Suite 500,
Washington, DC 20001 or email to: human.resources@bread.org (highly preferred). No phone calls please. EOE

Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network Senior Policy and Government Relations Associate
A broad network of organizations has come together to achieve the objectives of elevating development and modernizing foreign assistance
in the U.S. national interest. The Network is looking for a Senior Policy Associate to work with Network members to implement advocacy
efforts with the U.S. Congress, Administration, non-governmental organizations, grassroots organizations and think tanks. The Associate
will work closely with the Network Coordinator to position Network proposals for maximum impact by developing and implementing
legislative strategies, gaining support on Capitol Hill, counting votes, briefing staff and Members of Congress, and providing opportunities
for grass-tops and grassroots support at strategic times. He/she will maintain strong relationships and enhancing synergies between all
Network members.
Candidates for consideration must have a Bachelor’s degree in public policy, international development or related area (or the equivalent
in work experience) and five plus years of work experience with Congress. A Master’s degree is preferred. Knowledge of international
issues and development/diplomacy-focused organizations is critical. Strong written and oral communications and presentational skills are
necessary as well as strong analytical skills. Strong interpersonal skills are a must with an ability to strategically manage multiple activities
under tight deadlines while maintaining a sense of humor.
The selected candidate will report to the Network Coordinator and work with staff from Network organizations. Network staff will be
housed at Bread for the World.
Send cover letter, resume, availability and salary requirements to: Bread for the World, Attn: HR-MFAN-SPA, 50 F Street, NW, Suite 500,
Washington, DC 20001 or email to: human.resources@bread.org (highly preferred). No phone calls please. EOE

To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 31
Senior Finance Officer
Southern Africa Region
Washington, DC SIT Graduate Institute
formerly School for International Training
Oversee the financial management of a complex regional
portfolio of cash grant programs supporting World Vision’s International Development
efforts in Southern Africa from proposal stage to closeout. Programs
Grant budgeting, management and reporting to both internal s-ASTERSDEGREESINDYNAMIClELDS
and external customers; ensuring audit compliance and building
including Sustainable Development,
capacity of local and field staff. Assist in policy and procedure
Conflict Transformation, and Management
development. Provide regional expertise from previous life and/
or international work experience. s$EGREECONCENTRATIONS
Development Management
Bachelors or Master's degree (accounting, finance or
Conflict and Development
international business) or equivalent, MBA strongly preferred.
Mission-Driven Organizations
5+ years of accounting and/or grants management experience
required, CPA or other professional accreditation preferred.
Previous work experience in an international/domestic relief
and development organization recommended, preferably in
the region of service. Strong relational skills and the ability to
communicate and provide effective training cross-culturally. 40
hours of continuing professional education required annually in
this position. International and domestic travel possible (up to
25%).
Please apply online at: www.worldvision.org, Job # 1881
Operations
Director
Manila, Philippines
Conservation International is seeking an
Operations Director to oversee the Finance,
Administrative, IT, and Human Resources
functions for the Philippines Center for
Biodiversity Conservation in Manila, Philippines.
The Operations Director will guide the program
in the development and implementation of
sustainable management strategies, support
fund raising efforts, set operational management
standards, and ensure that human and financial
resources are aligned and maximized for the
greatest conservation impact.
For more information and to apply for this
position, please visit
http://www.conservation.org/discover/about_us/
careers/Pages/default.aspx
32 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org
s3CHOLARSHIPSUPTO
for qualified returned Peace Corps volunteers
WWWSITEDUGRADUATE
WWWWORLDLEARNINGORG
Seeking Civil Society Leaders
The Synergos Institute seeks outstanding applicants for
our next class of Senior Fellows.
Synergos Senior Fellows are distinguished civil society
leaders from around the world who are committed to
bringing stakeholders together across divides to achieve
significant and sustainable social change.
Senior Fellows participate in a three-year learning,
service and action program that builds their skills,
spreads their knowledge and deepens their impact.
The next Fellowship begins in January 2009; costs
of the Fellows’ participation are provided by Synergos
and its supporters.
Deadline for applications is July 14, 2008. For more
information and to apply, visit www.synergos.org/fellows.
Synergos
www.synergos.org
 Brandeis University
The Heller School of Social Policy and Management Knowledge Advancing Social Justice

The End of Poverty ...

One Degree at a Time
Over 150 students in residence from 65 countries forming one of x M.A. in Sustainable International Development
the largest programs of its kind in the world. M.S. in International Health Policy and Management
x
x M.B.A. concentration in Sustainable Development
Alumni are employed by U.N. agencies, bilateral and multilateral
aid organizations, and NGOs throughout the world. x M.P.P. concentration in Poverty
x Dual M.A. programs in Sustainable Development with
Generous financial assistance for Peace Corps and other service Coexistence & Conflict and with Women & Gender Studies
organization volunteers.

A community of activists and scholars on the front lines of social policy.

781-736-3820
heller.brandeis.edu HellerAdmissions@Brandeis.edu

To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 33
 “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex,
and more violent. It takes a touch of genius— and a lot of
courage—to move in the opposite direction.”
—Albert Einstein, at whose suggestion the IRC was founded

Peter Biro | Communications Officer

Maxim Bushiri | Health Information Officer

Rafael Jedi | Logistics

Congo

It takes the best to prevail against

the worst of crises.
To join us, please visit: theIRC.org/Jobs

34 InterAction’s MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org
 SKILL
AND
PASSION
AT WORK Legislative and Program Associate Positions
in Public Policy and Advocacy
Current
Openings BASIC FUNCTIONS:

Regional Safety & Security InterAction seeks to fill at least two associate positions on its Public
Advisor Policy and Outreach team. Depending on his/her experience the
Middle East candidate will be considered for one of the following positions:
Associate for Advocacy and Outreach, Associate for Legislative
Finance Director Research, Associate for Campaign Coordination, Associate for
DR Congo Poverty Focused Development. Each position will support
InterAction’s public policy strategy and facilitate the advocacy of
Finance Controller
relevant subject area working groups. This includes advocacy on U.S.
Afghanistan
foreign assistance policy, budget and appropriations issues related
Director of Programs to international development programs, coordination with other
DR Congo poverty-focused networks, as well as on aspects of U.S. relationships
with the United Nations, the World Bank and other bodies. Some
Deputy Director of positions may be more research focused, depending upon particular
Field Operations needs and demands.
Sudan
The associate positions will be part of InterAction’s Public Policy
Governance & Rights Unit and report to the Senior Director for Public Policy and External
Director Relations. Associates will work closely with Senior Legislative
London or New York
Associates and Managers on the Policy team and are expected to
work with other InterAction units that relate to their subject matter
areas.

To learn more about working QUALIFICATIONS:

with us, please visit
Depending on the position, ideal qualifications could include
theIRC.org/Jobs congressional experience and/or advocacy experience, grassroots
training and organizing, issue campaign management, strong
quantitative and analytical skills, at least a bachelor’s degree
(master’s work/degree preferred), experience abroad, experience
with or interest in development work, good people skills, research
and organizational skills, strong writing and communications skills
as well as the ability to juggle multiple tasks and prioritize in a fast
paced, changing environment.

To apply, please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to

advocacy@interaction.org. Applications will be accepted until the
positions are filled.

To advertise, call 202-667-8227 ext 548 or email publications@interaction.org MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS July 2008 35
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 667-8227
Fax: (202) 667-8236
publications@interaction.org
www.interaction.org

InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international

development and humanitarian nongovernmental
organizations. With more than 160 members operating in every
developing country, we work to overcome poverty, exclusion
and suffering by advancing social justice and basic dignity for all.