Foreign Aid Restructuring Threatens Family Planning Funding

Washington, DC - July 31, 2006

In January of this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a major restructuring of the U.S. government’s foreign assistance program under a new vision of “transformational democracy.” As details of the plan have emerged, it appears that the short-term national security and democracy promotion objectives favored by the State Department are trumping the traditional focus on development and poverty reduction. This shift could prove enormously detrimental to long-term development programs, including family planning and reproductive health. PAI urges Congress to address the potential dangers that lie in this restructuring now, before these programs—that help so many women and children in need—are irreversibly undermined.

A preliminary assessment of this restructuring process suggests that the State Department is usurping the traditional role of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in setting foreign aid program priorities and in allocating funding. The restructuring process to date has also proven to be centralized, Washington-driven, and top-down with limited involvement by mission and embassy staff on the ground with expertise and insight into country needs.

One of the State Department’s stated goals in pushing for a restructuring is to maximize their flexibility and to eliminate the practice of Congressional earmarking of funds for programs that have been politically-protected by members of Congress. However, a line-item budget for family planning has been essential to the survival of the USAID family planning program over the years.

Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee issued a preemptive warning in their FY 2007 foreign operations bill that the State Department’s plans to reject funding directives from Congress may face difficulties in winning their approval. Largely sidelined until now, Congress must continue to exercise its authority and insist on being involved in this process to resist restructuring proposals that endanger successful foreign aid programs.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.