February 24, 2017 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs George Ingram and Connie Veillette
MFAN is pleased to welcome the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to the reform coalition. IRC is a leading voice for effectiveness and reform in humanitarian aid and has committed to evidence-based interventions through its IRC2020 campaign for “Better Aid.”
IRC’s Nazanin Ash, Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy, will join MFAN’s Executive Committee. Ms. Ash has strong ties to the reform community and MFAN’s issues. She manages IRC’s global advocacy efforts, helping to shape policy based on the wealth of experience and culture of learning within IRC’s humanitarian programming. Ms. Ash previously worked as a visiting policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, and has also held positions at the State Department and USAID, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
“We warmly welcome IRC to the network,” said George Ingram, MFAN Co-Chair and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. “IRC works in some of the most challenging environments around the world, and is at the forefront of current challenges in bridging the humanitarian-development divide. IRC’s experience applying effectiveness principles to the humanitarian sector will be invaluable.”
“IRC’s technical and field expertise will strengthen MFAN’s policy agenda,” said Connie Veillette, MFAN Co-Chair and Senior Fellow at The Lugar Center. “Nazanin and her team are deeply experienced and will bolster MFAN’s practitioner perspective as we push for greater results from U.S. foreign assistance.”
MFAN looks forward to working with IRC to urge the new administration and Congress to advance progress on aid effectiveness. See MFAN’s full set of recommendations for 2017, which includes humanitarian aid reform, in our Deliver More with U.S. Development Cooperation memo and Make Aid Go Further brief.
