Personal tools
You are here: Home Campaigns Aid Reform

Aid Reform

Since 2002, the US national security strategy has considered development to be one of three "pillars" of national security, along with defense and diplomacy. To strengthen this pillar, in recent years the US government has formed a host of new agencies and initiatives. Overall, US funding for aid has increased significantly in the past five years.

Oxfam America is working to increase the effectiveness of US foreign aid by placing the voices and priorities of poor people at the center of aid policy and practice. Through analytical and field research, we will bring out the hopes and concerns of intended beneficiaries, implementing partners, aid professionals, other donors, and host governments. Through political advocacy, we will ensure that these voices are heard by policy makers who have the power to make US foreign aid more effective in the fight against global poverty.

Meet the Oxfam America staff members who are working on the Aid Reform initiative.

In our effort to improve US foreign aid, we should listen to those who know best: the professionals who deliver aid and the people who receive it. They know how aid can and should work; how methods of aid delivery affect its outcomes; and how aid can motivate governments and communities to invest in their own development.

AidNows are monthly two-page briefs on hot topics in the aid effectiveness debate. They offer snapshots from the field, fresh perspectives on old subjects, and new and surprising data that helps inform how we think about foreign aid.

What others are saying about Oxfam America's Aid Reform initiative and the Aid Reform movement.

Don't cut ordinary Haitians out of planning Haiti's future!
World leaders and financiers will meet in New York this month to map out Haiti's reconstruction. But community leaders and poor people from Haiti haven't yet been invited. Call on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to push the meeting's organizers to give Haitian citizens and community leaders a seat at the table and a voice in the deliberations. It's a major chance to turn things around for Haiti.
Afghanistan: People First
Eight years and 30 billion dollars later Afghanistan is still one of the poorest places on Earth with nearly half of Afghans living in poverty. While international support has improved the lives of Afghans, we still have a long way to go to meet basic needs across the country. It’s time to think about development based on Afghans' needs first rather than on military objectives and exit strategies.
Tell your senators to co-sponsor the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009
Right now, the US foreign aid agency needs help. Until it is strengthened and rebuilt, American efforts to relieve global poverty will suffer.
Learn more about what Oxfam is advocating in foreign aid reform
Read "Ownership in practice: The key to smart development"
Learn how aid works
Read "Foreign Aid 101," Oxfam America's primer on aid.
Tell Congress to co-sponsor the Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act of 2009
We need to stand up for the millions of people around the world who face hunger on a daily basis.
Tell your representative to become a co-sponsor of the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009 (HR 2139)
This is our best chance to improve the way we tackle global poverty. But the bill won't pass without broad Congressional support.
Join the Aid Reform campaign mailing list
More actions
Rescuing Education for All
How reform of the Fast Track Initiative should lead to a Global Fund for Education
Why are humanitarian advocates leading on aid reform?
AidNow series
Transparency is happening right now: USAID and Indonesia's national budget
AidNow series
Band aids and beyond
Oxfam calls for a shake-up in the way the world deals with food crises in Ethiopia and beyond.
Ownership in practice: The key to smart development
Countries should provide foreign aid in ways that strengthen the voice of poor people and the responsiveness of the state.
Why should water, sanitation, and hygiene advocates lead on aid reform?
AidNow series
Why should health advocates lead on aid reform?
AidNow series
What development professionals need: Voices from the frontlines
AidNow series
Field report from Cambodia
Smart Development in Practice series
The White Oak Recommendations on Effective Global Development in the US National Interest
"D" is for Different: Why diplomacy and development are not the same, and why it matters
AidNow series
What Happened at the G20?
Initial analysis of the London summit
Failing the Cardozo test
Why US foreign assistance legislation needs a fresh start
Field report from Afghanistan
Smart Development in Practice series
Field Report from Southern Sudan
Smart Development in Practice Series
Ten Point Plan to Change Course in Afghanistan
Oxfam America's memo to President Obama
Why trade policy can help or hinder the US's fight against poverty
AidNow series
The tied aid "round trip"
AidNow series
When developing countries lead, will the US follow?
AidNow series
The Humanitarian Response Index: Where we stand
AidNow series
Measuring the right results
AidNow series
Field Report from Mozambique
Smart Development in Practice Series
From Poverty to Power
For the US to become a global leader in smart development, it should focus on strengthening responsible and effective states and helping active citizens to foster equitable economic growth through their own efforts.
Field Report from El Salvador
Smart Development in Practice Series
New Day New Way
The importance of supporting development and reducing poverty abroad are understood now as never before to be both moral imperatives and prerequisites for sustained US national security.
Getting results from our aid: Rethinking what we measure
AidNow series
Foreign Aid 101
Oxfam sets out to answer fundamental questions through a quick and easy guide to understanding foreign aid.
"Foreign Assistance Reform in the Next Administration: Challenges and Solutions"
Perceptions of Poverty from the "Poor," Conceptions of Poverty from the "Poor"
This executive summary presents the broader lessons from APPPA's findings and documents a sample of the vast selection of personal understandings of poverty from people living in Afghanistan. By providing these first-hand perspectives, the APPPA aims to contribute to increasingly relevant, effective poverty reduction projects.
Falling Short
The prospects for peace in Afghanistan are being undermined because Western countries are failing to deliver on their promises of aid to the tune of $10 billion and because aid going to the country is used ineffectively, according to this report by ACBAR, an alliance international aid agencies--including Oxfam--working in Afghanistan.
Smart Development
Oxfam's briefing paper on making aid work.
More research
Oxfam America Organizing Guide
Tips for taking action in your community
Oxfam America House Party Guide
Tools for hosting a high-impact event
Take Action: Global Food Crisis
Already 854 million people on our planet suffer from hunger. Now, as food prices climb high and fast, conditions are becoming worse and threatening the well-being of millions more people.
More tools for activists
Oxfam America President Ray Offenheiser on Bloggingheads.tv
Mark Leon Goldberg of UN Dispatch and The American Prospect, chats with Ray Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, about how we can bring US foreign assistance and foreign aid practices into the 21st century.
Reform US Foreign Aid Policy
US foreign aid has saved millions of lives and helped millions more overcome poverty. Yet foreign aid is still under-performing and often fails to reach the people who need it most.
Predictable, multiyear aid is life-saving in difficult contexts
An interview with Melissa Phillips, NGO Secretariat Coordinator in Juba, Southern Sudan.
Bring US Foreign Assistance into the 21st Century
This short video was produced by our partners at the Center for Global Development.
Sustainable Security
Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser discusses how 21st century sustainable security requires working together across borders for joint solutions to global challenges.
More multimedia

Features Subscribe | View All

"Africa's future is up to Africans"

"Africa's future is up to Africans"

President Obama's first speech in sub-Saharan Africa hits important points on good governance, responsible use of natural resources, trade, and defeating poverty.

Read more

In Cambodia, USAID helps citizen groups protect their legal rights

In Cambodia, USAID helps citizen groups protect their legal rights

Support to the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) helps USAID foster an environment where citizens can have a voice in their government and demand broader accountability.

Read more

Lessons on how PEPFAR can be integrated into a country's own health system

Lessons on how PEPFAR can be integrated into a country's own health system

PEPFAR's evolving role in Mozambique is a model for countries that have only just begun to hold donors accountable to their national health priorities.

Read more

Dispatch from the field: Diogo Milagre, Mozambique

Dispatch from the field: Diogo Milagre, Mozambique

Diogo Milagre is Deputy Executive Secretary of the National AIDS Council, the agency within the Mozambican government that coordinates the national response to HIV/AIDS.

Read more

In El Salvador, USAID program grows a new generation of rural entrepreneurs

In El Salvador, USAID program grows a new generation of rural entrepreneurs

By building on local knowledge—and adapting to local conditions—USAID and Fintrac help farming communities overcome poverty.

Read more

Q & A on aid in Afghanistan

Q & A on aid in Afghanistan

Oxfam's policy advisor, Matt Waldman, talks about how we can make aid more effective in Afghanistan.

Read more

Building on strength in Afghanistan

Building on strength in Afghanistan

Far from hopeless, the Afghan people are determined to build a peaceful future—and US foreign aid can help.

Read more

Listening and learning to improve aid

Listening and learning to improve aid

As part of the Listening Project, Oxfam America talks to community members about their experiences with international aid—and gains some valuable insights.

Read more

» More stories «
Document Actions