Specifics of the global development policy unveiled recently by U.S. President Barack Obama will be fleshed out in a major policy document to be released in October, senior U.S. officials said.
The document will include a series of reforms at the U.S. Agency for International Development, Anne-Marie Slaughter, the director for policy at the U.S. Department of State, said according to The Associated Press as reported by The New York Times.
Obama announced his administration’s global development policy at the closing plenary session of the U.N. high-level summit on the Millennium Development Goals in New York.
>> Obama Unveils Development Policy at UN MDG Meet
The U.S. will change the way it does development by using trade, investment and diplomacy to help poor countries instead of simply providing aid money, Obama told world leaders at the U.N. gathering. He added that the U.S. will be more selective in its partner countries and programs.
“Because we need to be big-hearted and hard-headed,” he said.
Members of the development community welcomed the new policy but warned that the real challenge will be in implementing it. Several key questions, including on congressional support and oversight responsibilities, remain unanswered, according to the Modernizing Foreign Aid Network.
>> Obama’s New Development Policy: A Challenge in Implementation
