It’s far from a slam dunk, but credit where credit is due: USAID is making tangible progress on its localization efforts.
Also in today’s edition: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio seems to be on a glide path to becoming America’s next top diplomat. What does that mean for development?
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Baby steps
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Going from 9.6% to 11.2% may not seem like a giant leap, but in the long, hard slog that is localization, it represents a respectable step forward.
USAID just announced that it steered a record 11.2% of its eligible funding toward local organizations in 2024, my colleague Elissa Miolene reports. In cash terms, that means spending increased to $1.9 billion, from $1.5 billion in 2023.
The uptick is encouraging, but not an outright victory. It’s still a far cry from the ambitious target Administrator Samantha Power set to deliver 25% of eligible funding to local organizations by 2025. But at least the trajectory is trending in the right direction.
“Over the last three years, they have doubled the amount of funding going directly to local [nongovernmental organizations],” says Justin Fugle of Plan International. “I think you’re seeing the results of all the changes USAID has been making over the course of several years — on the policy side, on the procurement side, doing outreach in different languages.”
Those changes include the creation of WorkwithUSAID.gov, a platform that provides new partners with information on how to work with the agency; the increase of indirect cost recovery rates for new USAID partners, which makes working with the agency more cost-effective; and the expansion of a new translation program.
“It looks like it’s all adding up,” Fugle says, “and that it’s being built on something real.”
Read: What’s inside USAID’s latest localization report? (Pro)
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That’s gonna leave a Marco
Some of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations to serve in critical government posts are unconventional, to say the least. Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Kash Patel for FBI director, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services secretary all carry significant baggage.
Expect to see fireworks at future congressional confirmation hearings. But one hearing proved to be more cordial than contentious (enjoy that while it lasts): Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio faced questioning yesterday by his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to become the next secretary of state, a post he likely has in the bag.
I suspect that some diplomats in the State Department feel they lucked out to some degree with Rubio. Instead of a “Make America Great Again” flamethrower, they got a refreshingly staid establishment figure with solid — albeit hawkish — foreign policy credentials.
So it’s little surprise there were, well, few surprises at his hearing, which my colleague Adva Saldinger reports was a relatively mild affair. Of course, Rubio hewed closely to Trump’s “America First” foreign policy ethos, although his answers were fairly standard as he sidestepped questions about some of his boss’s controversial claims, like taking over Greenland.
“Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue, must be justified by the answer to one of three questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?” Rubio said, adding that “placing our core national interest above all else is not isolationism.”
While the bulk of the hearing was taken up by geopolitics — China, Russia, NATO, Gaza — development priorities like humanitarian aid, international organizations, and Africa policy did come up.
On whether the U.S. would ditch organizations like the World Health Organization, Rubio was cagey, saying: “I am not against multilateral organizations, so long as that, or any foreign arrangement we have, serves the national interest of the United States.”
He seemed to sound a brighter note on Africa, saying the continent holds vast economic potential, though he cautioned it was too soon to say how much priority it would be given.
As for the key question of money, Rubio gave no clear signals on what kind of budget he’d fight for.
Read: Marco Rubio sails through nomination hearing for US secretary of state
+ How will the first 100 days of the incoming Trump administration pan out? Join Devex and a panel of experts on Jan. 22 to dissect what we can expect on foreign aid, multilateral partnerships, and global development.
Diverging viewpoints
On the big news of the day — the tentative ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which is pending approval by the Israeli cabinet — Rubio did not comment directly. But his fellow Republicans had plenty to say, and their words stood in contrast to what many aid organizations focused on.
Rep. Michael McCaul, the former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised Trump and focused on the hostages in his statement. “I’m extremely relieved by reports that 33 hostages will soon be released from Hamas captivity. My heart breaks for what these individuals and their families have endured over the past 15 months, and I pray each one of them is returned alive and healthy,” he said.
“The timing of this deal makes one thing clear: President-elect Trump’s warnings struck the right nerves within Hamas leadership,” McCaul added.
His successor, Brian Mast, was more succinct: “We don’t trust Hamas. We trust that President Trump has put the fear of God into Hamas.”
While many aid organizations also expressed hope for the hostages to return home, they didn’t forget the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
“More than 46,000 people have been killed with over 109,000 more injured, with researchers estimating that the death toll is about 40% higher than the official number,” CARE pointed out in its statement, adding that, “About 90 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million have been displaced and forced to live in squalid conditions while on the brink of hunger.”
The organization, like many others, called for a surge in humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
In her statement, Mercy Corps CEO Tjada D'Oyen McKenna said, “This agreement offers a long-awaited glimmer of hope to millions of Palestinians who have endured over 15 months of devastating conflict, but the appalling suffering will persist unless there is an urgent and sustained scale-up of vital aid and the unblocking of critical services, including water and fuel, to Gaza.”
+ Catch up on our coverage on the humanitarian crisis from the war in Gaza.
Health check
Whether a lasting ceasefire can be reached between Israel and Hamas remains a big “if,” but Gaza is just one of many crises awaiting the Trump White House. Last time around, it had to contend with a pandemic that upended the planet, so the possibility of another health crisis is no doubt in the back of officials’ minds.
While it’s nothing close to a pandemic, some disturbing news just emerged from Africa.
My colleague Sara Jerving reports that there’s a suspected outbreak of Marburg in Tanzania’s Kagera region that borders Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Lake Victoria. This comes less than a month after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in Rwanda.
While the number of suspected cases is so far low, the news is alarming because Marburg is one of the deadliest pathogens to infect humans. The disease, which is similar to Ebola, can spread between humans through bodily fluids and lead to hemorrhaging and death.
Concern about regional spillover is heightened because Kagera is a significant transit hub. “It cannot be excluded that a person exposed to the virus may be travelling,” according to WHO. “More cases are expected to be identified.”
Read: Suspected outbreak of Marburg reported in transit hub in Tanzania
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In other news
According to United Nations officials, nearly 20 million Yemenis will require aid in 2025 as malnutrition among children deepens. [France 24]
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Kyiv to sign a “100-Year Partnership” agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy covering defense, science, energy, and trade. [AP]
The World Bank has committed $20 billion in loans to Pakistan over 10 years to boost private-sector growth through investments in nutrition, education, and renewable energy. [DW]
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About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
