With two big hires, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative gets political, while the U.S. Congress learns more about the man selected to lead Donald Trump’s foreign policy and development cooperation. This week in development news.
The U.S. Senate began its confirmation hearings to learn more about President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to fill key cabinet positions. Rex Tillerson — the former ExxonMobil CEO Trump tapped to be his secretary of state — answered questions Wednesday in a nine-hour session about a range of issues, including Syria, climate change, and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s budget. Tillerson had good things to say about two Republican-initiated foreign aid programs: the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker pressed Tillerson on whether he will support increased budgets at USAID. In his response Tillerson emphasized effectiveness, and promised a comprehensive review of USAID and Department of State programs. He said that a joint strategic plan between State and USAID in 2017 will provide “a perfect opportunity... to take a comprehensive look at the effectiveness and what are our ranges of opportunities out there that might argue for greater funding,” Devex’s Amy Lieberman reported.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres put conflict prevention and sustainable development front and center in his first official address to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday. “We spend far more time and resources responding to crises rather than preventing them,” said Guterres, who began his term on Jan. 1 this year. The new U.N. chief noted that crisis prevention tends to go unnoticed — and has therefore been undervalued in policy discussions and public opinion. “Perhaps because successful prevention does not attract attention. The television cameras are not there when a crisis is avoided,” he said. Guterres emphasized the need for the U.N. to play a greater role in conflict prevention throughout his campaign to lead the international organization — which has seen its effectiveness and credibility challenged by the crisis in Syria, sexual abuse allegations against peacekeepers, and its role in spreading cholera to Haiti. Guterres faces an uphill battle to restore confidence in the U.N. at the same time as populist politicians such as Donald Trump have threatened to pull funding.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
