You are here » Home » Policy
The Big Picture
President Bush has placed development at the forefront of
U.S. national security and foreign policy. USAID is rising
to the challenge -- American diplomacy and development assistance
will continue to be powerful drivers of political and economic
freedom around the world.
To learn more about why development is now an integral part
of U.S. national security and foreign policy: You should read
the 2002 National
Security Strategy which devotes an entire section to expanding
the circle of development, opening societies and building
the infrastructure of democracy. USAID also recently published
an analysis of the
main trends - and the related challenges - now unfolding in
the developing world. These two documents build the case why
promoting islands of stability in the developing world and
reducing the roster of failing states are top priorities of
U.S. international policy.
Please take a chance to read through our new ideas, look
at the key documents that define us. It is an exciting time
to be helping the world.
| White Paper: The Future of Foreign Assistance |
|
The Administrator unveiled a new White Paper entitled "U.S. Foreign Aid: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century" (PDF) at the February 25, 2004 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Assistance (ACVFA). This paper is USAID's contribution to the discussion of how best to respond to the major foreign policy challenges of our time such as attaining foreign assistance policy coherence within the U.S. Government, increasing aid effectiveness, and affirming USAID's important role in U.S. foreign policy in the 21st Century. This White Paper is a discussion paper about the future of foreign assistance. Comments on this paper may be sent to whitepaper@usaid.gov.
|
| Emerging
Policy Issues |
| TRADING PLACES
More than 40 percent of all U.S. exports and half of
U.S. agricultural exports are sold to developing countries
-- these annual exports account for about 4 million
U.S. jobs. However exports to the United States from
the 48 least-developed countries (LDCs) amounted to
just $8.9 billion or 0.7% of total American merchandise
imports in the year 2000. Learn
more about how and why the U.S. government is working
to help poor countries build up their ability to trade
and to negotiate trade agreements.
BAD TRAFFIC
Failing states remain at the nexus of development and
security policy. Human trafficking - along with drug
trafficking, infectious disease and terrorism - remains
a cruel symptom of state failure. Annually, between
700,000 and 4 million people are bought and sold as
prostitutes, domestic workers, sex slaves, child laborers,
and child soldiers. Learn
more about the Agency's new strategy to combat the
trafficking of persons for sexual or economic exploitation.
|
Back to Top ^
|
