As fears escalate around the food insecurity crisis sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are drawing down the entirety of a $282 million special food crisis response fund to support a $670 million global food aid program.
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The Biden administration called it “an extraordinary step” — money hasn’t been taken from the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust since 2014. The BEHT money will be used by USAID to buy food aid to support existing humanitarian operations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen. USDA will provide the rest of the funding via the Commodity Credit Corporation to cover transport and handling costs.
As my colleague Teresa Welsh reported, USAID had hinted that conversations to release the BEHT money were underway in a hearing on the Hill earlier this month.
Teresa, who covers food systems, says the funds are sorely needed given the rising gap in emergency food assistance exacerbated by the war. But experts tell her it remains to be seen which budgetary mechanism could be used to refill the account once emptied — and this is unlikely to be the last time a boost in food security funding is needed as the conflict grinds on.
Teresa is monitoring the emerging global food crisis. For her latest reporting, subscribe to Dish, a weekly newsletter on food systems.
ICYMI: US may tap reserve fund as Ukraine war worsens global food insecurity
Support local
As well as being the United States’ main public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works in around 60 countries, with its officials involved in major initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
It also directs about 70% of its funding to local partners, including through direct budget support — far more than other global development agencies have been able to achieve.
My colleague Michael Igoe spoke to Kevin Cain, the acting director of CDC’s Center for Global Health, about how CDC has managed to hit that mark, how the agency pivoted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and what gaps the health crisis has revealed in countries’ health systems.
Q&A: How CDC directs 70% of its global funding to local partners (Pro)
+ Pro subscribers can catch up on our State of Global Health Security series. Not yet a Pro subscriber? Sign up now and start your free trial.
Hit the reset button
Global institutions and their responses to crises are failing, and now is the time to turn them around — or risk playing into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands. That’s the assessment of Open Society Foundations President Mark Malloch-Brown, himself a former United Nations deputy secretary-general.
A failure of the international community to deliver on runaway inequality, global COVID-19 vaccines, and the climate crisis has caused “concern by low- and middle-income countries that their problems are being ignored — and that the international system is being used, once again, to further the agenda of the wealthiest and most powerful nations,” he writes.
Opinion: This is the moment to reset our multilateral institutions
Marshall Plan II
Also calling for an overhaul of the international system is U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss — albeit with a much more security- and trade-focused pitch, as Devex readers have come to expect. Her speech Wednesday continued on these themes, saying the U.K. had a “new approach … based on three areas: military strength, economic security and deeper global alliances.”
There was scant mention of development — and nothing at all of COVID-19 or climate — despite Truss acknowledging “the storm of soaring food and energy prices.” But Truss did go on the record with her determination to work on a “new Marshall Plan” for Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction with the U.S., the EU, and “other allies.”
“Ukraine deserves nothing less than a landmark international effort to rebuild their towns and cities, regenerate their industries, and secure their freedom for the long term,” she said.
ICYMI: New UK aid strategy will promote 'British expertise,' Truss says
+ Catch up on all the latest news in U.K. aid.
Lilongwe way to the top
It’s not every day that a former EU ambassador sues her employer for “psychological harassment.”
Sandra Paesen was recalled from Malawi in early 2020 after just over a year and reassigned to a nonmanagement position at headquarters in Brussels, my colleague Vince Chadwick reports. She says she was not afforded due process to respond to “unfounded rumors” about her management. The Belgian national is seeking €60,000 ($63,169), plus legal costs, from the European External Action Service, claiming that her superiors “turned their back on her in an incomprehensible way” and were themselves the main source of the rumors.
The EEAS is trying to shake a reputation as a boys’ club, after a report from the European Parliament in 2020 found that 87% of senior management and 75% of middle management posts are held by men.
Read: Ex-EU chief in Malawi claims ‘psychological harassment’ from HQ
No comment
Last week we reported on allegations that USAID contractor DT Global and its nonprofit affiliate DT Institute may have committed fraud. Michael contacted USAID to ask if the agency has taken any action in response. A USAID spokesperson said: “At this time, this is an on-going legal matter. We have no further comment at this time.”
A foot in the door
Think the world deserves better than the failings Mark Malloch-Brown described above? The development sector needs new talent, but it can be hard to break into. My colleague Justin Sablich is hosting a discussion Friday at 9 a.m. ET (3 p.m. CET) with jobs gurus Kate Warren, also of Devex, and Nick Martin, CEO at TechChange, on how to get a job in the best field there is.
+ Sign up to Devex Career Hub for global development’s top jobs, expert career advice, and practical tips to help you do more good for more people.
In other news
Discarded explosives are killing or maiming scores of children in Ethiopia as fighting in the country’s northern region eases. [Reuters]
An investigation found Frontex, the EU’s border agency, has been involved in at least 957 refugee pushbacks in the Aegean Sea between March 2020 and September 2021. [The Guardian]
Moderna’s patents stand in the way of a messenger RNA vaccine hub’s grand vision. [Devex]
Vince Chadwick contributed to this edition.
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About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.
