*EPF308 09/18/2002
USAID Funding 75 New Global Development Alliances, Official Says
(Alliances respond to evolved development environment, Wise adds) (440)

By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is spending approximately $130 million on 75 regional and country-specific development alliances less than one year after initiating its Global Development Alliance (GDA) program, a USAID official says.

Briefing reporters and representatives from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) September 18 in Washington, Holly Wise, director of the GDA program, said the GDA model responds to changes in the development assistance environment Official development assistance is now just 14 percent of total U.S. funding flows to the developing world and funding from private sources is increasing, Wise said.

USAID wants to "turn up the volume on effective partnering" and look for new development alliances among corporations, foundations, universities, NGOs and private voluntary organizations (PVOs), Wise said. She added that alliances could also help leverage the 25 percent of flows to developing countries that are in the form of personal and institutional remittances by reducing transaction costs.

Wise said the new business model has involved organizational change within USAID so that the agency can involve partners and potential partners "at an early stage" to discuss new development ideas. Collaboration between USAID and private partners involves collectively defining and solving specific problems, she said.

Wise said GDA has become central to USAID's planning and programming. Alliances are formed in areas such as basic education, vocational training, information technology, forestry, water, plant gene banks and small enterprise development, she said.

Other international organizations -- such as the World Bank and the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) -- are also becoming involved in development partnerships, Wise said.

Wise said that USAID works only with partners that are "socially responsible," particularly in the areas of human rights, financial soundness, labor conditions, environmental accountability and affirmative action standards.

She said business partners bring to developing countries such strengths as more foreign direct investment (FDI), experience with leading business practices -- especially those related to environmental and workers' issues -- and the ability to use buying power to affect change.

Wise pointed to two of USAID's alliances as examples of effective partnering:

-- The Sustainable Forest Products Alliance (SFPA) leverages $6.5 million in USAID funding with $12 million in funding from private sources -- including Ikea and Home Depot -- to develop and apply responsible forestry principles. The Certified Forest Product Council and World Wildlife Fund are also involved in the alliance.

-- The USAID/Peru Economic Service Centers Alliance leverages $140,000 of USAID/Peru's funding with $1.1 million in funding from Buenaventura Mining Company to operate 10 economic service centers for local entrepreneurs as part of the country's poverty-reduction program.

USAID also has developed a CD-ROM to explain to potential partners how to look for and implement an alliance.

"The idea is that good ideas come from many places," Wise said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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