Passing the Baton on Data and Evidence
District of Columbia | August 13, 2021
Since the founding of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1961, scholars, practitioners, and politicians have debated how much, if any, foreign assistance the United States should provide in low- and middle-income countries. While we do not claim to have a definitive answer, we do believe there is a straightforward, bipartisan consensus that the foreign aid the United States provides should be spent in the most effective way possible. Regardless of political stripe, everyone can agree that, for the good of the taxpayer— and the world’s most vulnerable people the Agency strives to help— USAID should focus on maximizing the impact per dollar of its funding.[1]
We firmly believe that better use of data and evidence, in every sector, is the key to making foreign aid as effective as possible. We were pleased, therefore, to hear Administrator Samantha Power emphasize this idea in her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate, “I will work tirelessly with Members on both sides of the aisle to ensure that taxpayer dollars are well spent. Guided by evidence, I will work with you to adapt or replace programs that are not delivering.” This clear commitment to evidence and effectiveness echoes similar statements from former USAID Administrators on both sides of the aisle: Mark Green[2], Gayle Smith[3], and Raj Shah[4]. The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, the result of a bipartisan commission on the use of evidence, and the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 put wind in the sails of efforts to use data and evidence to improve the value for money of U.S. foreign-assistance spending. While it is clear therefore that maximizing the value for money of foreign assistance is a bipartisan, even a non-partisan aim, it is also clear that much work remains to translate these pledges into reality. .. (Excerpts from the Wilson Center)