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    • Devex Money Matters

    Money Matters: How USAID got billions from Congress, and what happens next

    How will USAID disburse its allocation from the $95 billion security bill passed last week? Plus, what next for European development funding strategy, and an AI tool to help write grant proposals.

    By David Ainsworth // 29 April 2024
    Sign up to Money Matters today.

    After months of delays, the U.S. Congress has finally approved a $95 billion package of aid to Ukraine and other countries. While military aid took the headlines, the package also includes multibillion-dollar support for USAID. We look at how much money is involved, and where it will be spent.

    + Are there topics you want to read more about in Money Matters? We want your feedback.

    Aid for USAID

    For the last few months, USAID has been facing the possibility that it might have to cut spending programs all over the world. With crises in Ukraine and Gaza eating up ever more of the agency’s capacity, it was looking at making cuts elsewhere to keep within budget.

    This is a preview of Devex Money Matters
    Sign up to this weekly newsletter and get the latest in development funding in your inbox every Monday.

    But last week, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a $95 billion national security bill, which contained $18.7 billion for USAID and the Department of State.

    It’s not exactly clear how much cash each agency will receive, but at least $5.6 billion, and probably a lot more, will flow through USAID. It’s untied money, to be spent on addressing crises around the world. Without it, USAID had said it was facing a 35% cut on its humanitarian programs, compared to last year.

    Read: USAID has received a multibillion cash injection. What next? (Pro)

    + Your Devex Pro membership lets you access all our coverage on USAID — including funding insights and updates on its localization drive. If you haven’t gone Pro yet, get these perks and more by starting your 15-day free trial today.

    Funding activity

    We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of the ones which have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.

    The World Bank has approved a $2.25 billion loan to support Nigeria's economic development and recovery efforts.

    The Inter-American Development Bank has announced a $44 million grant to improve access to quality education in Haiti.

    The European Investment Bank has inked a €100 million (about $107 million) partnership to improve access to financing for sustainable agriculture in Rwanda.

    The Saudi Fund for Development has signed a $67 million agreement to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Oman.

    The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, known as CAF, is investing $75 million to improve water quality, sanitation, and access to clean water in El Salvador.

    The government of Japan has donated $10 million to provide food for internally displaced people in Gaza.

    + Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.

    Local hires

    USAID has been hiring more staff in recent months, and has said that contract and awards officers are among its top priorities. It’s trying to address logjams in its system that make it difficult to give money away locally and are hampering its ability to hit ambitious localization targets set by Administrator Samantha Power. I took a look at what the agency is doing to meet these needs.

    Read: How USAID is hiring to tackle its localization agenda (Career)

    + Start your 15-day free trial of a Devex Career Account today to access all our exclusive career content and members-only events, including an event on how to cultivate resilience for career growth, happening on Thursday, May 2.

    Deputy departs

    USAID is set to lose one of its two deputy administrators — Samantha Power’s right-hand woman at the agency, Paloma Adams Allen.

    It’s a rare reshuffle within Power’s politically appointed “front office,” and it’s not clear exactly why she’s leaving, or what she’ll do next. But Devex has been told her position will be filled on an interim basis by Dennis Vega, who is currently chief of staff.

    Read: USAID deputy administrator to leave agency (Pro)

    Everything, everywhere, all at once

    The European Commission borrowed the title of an Oscar-winning movie in a briefing leaked last week, in order to describe EU development strategy — or the lack of it.

    “We are still too often trying to do ‘everything, everywhere, all at once,’” says the briefing, which was written by civil servants from the Directorate-General for International Partnerships, or DG INTPA — one of the world’s half-dozen largest development funders.

    The briefing was intended for the eyes of the EU’s next development commissioner, who will be appointed this year and hold power until 2029. My colleague Vince Chadwick has broken it down and analyzed the key points.

    Read: How to read Europe's future development vision (Pro)

    Written in code

    Many agencies are looking at the power of generative AI right now, and wondering which areas of work that are currently done manually could be handled by ChatGPT and its peers.

    Mostly, it seems to be the case that artificial intelligence will complement writers and others, rather than replace them. It can do some of the work quicker, and better, than a human, but not all of it.

    Now a new AI tool has been developed to help write grant applications, with users saying it reduces writing time by around 30%.

    Read: AI ventures into grantmaking — and proposal writing may get a lot easier (Pro)

    + Pro members can get the most out of our coverage on how AI is getting integrated into globaldev work.

    Sign up to Money Matters for an inside look at the biggest stories in development funding.

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    About the author

    • David Ainsworth

      David Ainsworth@daveainsworth4

      David Ainsworth is business editor at Devex, where he writes about finance and funding issues for development institutions. He was previously a senior writer and editor for magazines specializing in nonprofits in the U.K. and worked as a policy and communications specialist in the nonprofit sector for a number of years. His team specializes in understanding reports and data and what it teaches us about how development functions.

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