December 2, 2024 (WASHINGTON) U.S. Representatives Young Kim (R-CA) and Adam Smith (D-WA), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance, recently issued a formal request to USAID Administrator Samantha Power for comprehensive details on the agency's Domestic Resource Mobilization work. MFAN commends this bipartisan initiative to advance sustainable and country led development.
Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) focuses on increasing developing countries’ capacity to raise and invest their own domestic funding for their development needs. At the Financing for Development Conference in Ethiopia in 2015, the United States and more than thirty countries and international organizations pledged to increase DRM assistance and joined a multi-stakeholder partnership to focus on these activities. However, since that time, U.S. support for DRM appears to have been limited in scope.
The bipartisan congressional letter seeks detailed information on USAID's DRM work, including in which countries USAID has a DRM program, how it determines country eligibility for DRM assistance, how much funding is being provided for each of these countries, how it is integrated into the agency’s localization initiatives, and what metrics are used to measure the success of DRM programs. Representatives Kim and Smith also request information on DRM work being undertaken by other U.S. government entities, including the Treasury Department and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, both of which have engaged in these policies in the past with their own programs and expertise.
Read the full letter here.
“As co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Effective Foreign Assistance, I am looking for ways to ensure taxpayer dollars stretch as far and wide as possible. The Domestic Resource Mobilization program has helped kickstart developing nations’ capacity to meet their own development needs and enable long-term sustainability without foreign assistance,” said Rep. Kim. “I want to thank my fellow co-Chair, Rep. Smith, for sending this letter with me, and the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network for their commitment to improving aid effectiveness through innovation and commonsense reforms.”
“It is deeply important for the U.S. to engage in foreign assistance in a way that promotes sustainable development, and Domestic Resource Mobilization programs are a critical part of empowering our partners abroad,” said Representative Smith. “As a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance, I'll continue working to ensure our foreign aid delivery supports country-led growth and maximizes the impact of aid invulnerable communities.”
“It’s smart development policy and smart fiscal policy for the U.S. to help countries invest more in poverty reduction and economic growth for their citizens,” said Tod Preston, MFAN’s Executive Director. “MFAN applauds Congresswoman Kim and Congressman Smith for their leadership in increasing attention to the important role of U.S. foreign assistance in catalyzing domestic resource mobilization.”
Ensuring developing countries can devote more domestic resources for their own development is essential to make these investments sustainable and to help the citizens of those countries hold their governments accountable. This work also takes on added importance as constraints on global development resources from the U.S. and other donors is likely to continue.
MFAN has been an advocate of DRM for many years. In 2018, for example, it issued guiding principles for how the U.S. Government can effectively assist partner governments in mobilizing domestic public revenues for development. These Principles of Public Sector Domestic Resource Mobilization in Developing Countries included ensuring DRM investments support inclusive economic growth, align with country priorities, engage citizens and other development stakeholders in DRM activities, and transparently assess these initiatives’ progress.
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The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) is a bipartisan reform coalition composed of international development and foreign policy practitioners, policy advocates, and experts from the U.S. and Global South. MFAN works to strengthen the effectiveness of U.S. development and humanitarian aid in order to build more resilient societies, promote democratic approaches to development, improve the lives and opportunities of the most vulnerable populations, and maximize the sustainable impact of U.S. taxpayer dollars.
