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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.

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.
ACT FAST with Oxfam
We can beat poverty and hunger—but we’ve got to ACT FAST. When you pledge to ACT FAST with Oxfam, you agree to do three things. Each step builds on the power of numbers: 1, 10, 100. And each person who takes the pledge brings us closer to our goal of beating poverty.
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
Working together to end poverty and injustice
An overview of Oxfam America and our approach to poverty relief and lasting social change.
Oxfam in West Africa
Across the vast Sahel and down through the lush rainforests of Ghana, there is a growing sense of possibility.
Oxfam in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean
All across this diverse and beautiful territory, new faces of leadership are emerging. Women, rural communities, and small farmers are adding their voices to the political dialogue, calling on their governments: Hear us now.
More publications
Transparency is happening right now: USAID and Indonesia's national budget
AidNow series
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
The Right to Survive
The humanitarian challenge for the twenty-first century
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
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

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