Improving the Effectiveness of Resources for Development
As important as it is to increase foreign aid to poor countries, it is equally important to improve the quality of that aid so the increases will make a real difference in the lives of poor people. The Program seeks to change United States foreign assistance policies and improve the evaluation of development projects to ensure that investments are used in the most effective ways possible. In addition, the Program supports initiatives that increase transparency and accountability in the revenues and public expenditures of developing countries. Our funding in this area focuses primarily on supporting the efforts of civil society organizations to monitor government budgets and track public expenditures and public service delivery.
Supporting Effective Policies to Assist the World’s Poorest Farmers
The Program also supports reform in trade and farm subsidies to help struggling farmers in developing countries gain increased market access and improved prices for their products. The Foundation's investments have focused on policy reform in multilateral trade negotiations and the reform of domestic farm policies in rich countries - in particular, U.S. farm policy and the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.
Ensuring Quality Education in the Developing World
A new partnership between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation will invest in research and demonstration projects, as well as in evaluation and advocacy, to improve the quality of education in developing countries. The initiative will use the lessons learned from these projects to set the stage for greater efforts by private philanthropy to contribute to the goal of universal education. The efforts will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Continuing our Long Commitment to Mexico
The Program also works in México, where the Foundation has a satellite office. Working with local experts and organizations, this work focuses on pressing social and economic development issues. The Program has identified three priorities for grant making in México: promoting transparency and government accountability, improving the enabling environment for philanthropy in México, and strengthening the knowledge base for development.
Strengthening the Knowledge Base for Development
Many development failures can be traced to the absence of strong, country-specific policy analysis coming out of the developing world. Indeed, research institutions and think tanks play a crucial role in equipping civil society actors with the unbiased information they need to participate constructively in policy debates. To this end, the Program is developing a new initiative to provide funding to research centers and think tanks in the developing world that focus on global development challenges.
Next: The Global Development Program's Framework
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