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Alum Commissioners Analyze Foreign Aid

During 20 meetings in Washington, D.C., interspersed with study trips to 18 developing countries, the U.S. HELP Commission failed to find a single government official or development expert willing to defend the way the United States currently delivers foreign aid.

Members of the bipartisan commission were selected by the president and Congress to analyze U.S. foreign development assistance and find ways to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. Leo Hindery, MBA ’71, the commission’s co-vice chairman, and Eric Postel, MBA ’83, were appointed by former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. The two Business School alumni joined forces on a study trip to Malawi and later worked long hours on the committee that wrote and revised the commission’s final report, which was delivered to the president, secretary of state, and Congress Dec. 10.

The commissioners agreed that aiding developing countries with the aim of making them self-reliant is in America’s national interest. But the process is not working. They found an incoherent mishmash in which at least 20 government units separately dispense aid and often are at cross purposes, with the Department of Defense taking on an increasingly large role. Furthermore, “our professional development corps has been eroded and replaced with people who must focus mainly on managing outside contractors,” they wrote.

The commission’s solution is to restructure the system: Put development on a par with diplomacy and defense, integrate aid agencies, coordinate with the private sector and nongovernmental organizations, and develop a long-term strategy—with funding—that can survive political party change.

“Only when bold leadership is prepared to enact bold, enduring changes through legislation can we fix the now long-standing problems,” they wrote. “We encourage the next administration and Congress to take the necessary steps to overhaul America’s approach to development assistance, and we urge Americans to support our call for change.”