Conference call: The future of US aid

With just over four months until the U.S. presidential election, the country’s global development agencies find themselves in a tumultuous moment. A domestic COVID-19 crisis continues to dominate attention in the U.S., the economic fallout from the pandemic has placed huge pressure on budgets, aid implementers face unprecedented operational challenges, and election-year partisanship has left Americans deeply divided over their country’s role in the world. On top of that, the world’s largest bilateral aid agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development, finds itself under the temporary leadership of an acting administrator, while questions about who should head future global health security initiatives have reignited a power struggle inside the government at the same time as the administration plots its controversial withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Devex reporters Adva Saldinger and Michael Igoe, who have been closely following the latest news, spoke with Managing Editor Deborah Charles to share their insights and the latest updates on a rapidly evolving U.S. development landscape. Highlights from this conference call include: • U.S. efforts to mobilize funding for coronavirus response in low- and middle-income countries. • Competing pandemic preparedness proposals from the White House and U.S. Congress. • The likelihood of another funding rescission attempt this summer. Speakers: Adva Saldinger, associate editor; Michael Igoe, senior reporter. Moderator: Deborah Charles, managing editor. Have follow-up questions? Send them to webinars@devex.com.