[Senate Hearing 117-255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-255
REVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2022
USAID BUDGET REQUEST
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 14, 2021
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
47-551 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey, Chairman
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire MARCO RUBIO, Florida
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut MITT ROMNEY, Utah
TIM KAINE, Virginia ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon TODD YOUNG, Indiana
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii TED CRUZ, Texas
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
Damian Murphy, Staff Director
Christopher M. Socha, Republican Staff Director
John Dutton, Chief Clerk
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Menendez, Hon. Robert, U.S. Senator From New Jersey.............. 1
Risch, Hon. James E., U.S. Senator From Idaho.................... 3
Power, Hon. Samantha, Administrator, U.S. Agency for
International
Development, Washington, DC.................................... 5
Prepared Statement........................................... 6
Additional Material Submitted for the Record
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
Robert Menendez................................................ 44
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
James Risch.................................................... 60
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
Benjamin Cardin................................................ 75
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator Tim
Kaine.......................................................... 79
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
Edward J. Markey............................................... 81
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
Marco Rubio.................................................... 84
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
Jeanne Shaheen................................................. 90
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions Submitted by Senator
Todd Young..................................................... 91
(iii)
REVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2022
USAID BUDGET REQUEST
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Foreign Relations,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:34 a.m. in
room SH-216, Hon. Robert Menendez, chairman of the committee,
presiding.
Present: Senators Menendez [presiding], Cardin, Shaheen,
Coons, Murphy, Kaine, Markey, Merkley, Van Hollen, Risch,
Johnson, Romney, Paul, Young, and Cruz.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY
The Chairman. This hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee will come to order.
Administrator Power, thank you for coming before the
committee to testify on the Administration's proposed budget
for USAID. We look forward to your testimony and getting a
better understanding of your vision for operationalizing the
budget request.
Let me start by saying that for the first time in a few
years I am pleased to see the budget restores the principles of
defense, diplomacy, and development, the three D's, as equal
elements critically important to the success of U.S. foreign
policy.
As we know, foreign assistance, development aid, and
humanitarian relief are not charity programs. USAID programs
around the world are concrete manifestations of American values
and the partnership of the American people.
AID personnel in the field work in tandem with local
partners and communities building sustainable programs to
promote health programs, private sector development, governance
reforms, and desperately needed relief.
This work lifts people out of poverty, improves lives, and
also helps build societies' resiliency to predatory economic
practices masquerading as development.
The Biden budget requests increase for development
assistance of the Economic Support Fund, the Asian, Eastern
European and Central Asia program, and other demonstrate a
renewed seriousness and interest in international cooperation.
The budget request for programs that support democracy
promotion, improve food security, build resilience capacities,
address the climate crisis, and promote equitable and inclusive
economic growth will be critical to realigning U.S. foreign
policies with that of our allies and addressing the needs of
vulnerable and fragile countries.
Under President Biden's leadership, the United States is
gradually gaining control of COVID-19. However, the disease is
surging around the world. Deadly third waves in Latin America,
Africa, and Asia have cost thousands of lives, overwhelmed
fragile health systems, and disrupted livelihoods.
We know all too well that other countries' ability to
combat these kinds of deadly and contagious viruses directly
impacts the health and safety of all Americans.
USAID is playing a critical role in the U.S. overseas
response in combating new and emerging variants that threaten
our fragile progress and the livelihoods of Americans.
I look forward to discussing USAID's plans for supporting
global vaccine distribution, advancing the global health
security agenda, and strengthening pandemic preparedness.
Finally, there are regional challenges that have never been
greater, and I look forward to understanding how you are
positioning USAID to address ongoing crises.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, we are witnessing
severe challenges to democratic governance, and the pandemic is
exacerbating the region's social and economic inequality,
driving people to new levels of desperation for fundamental
rights and freedoms.
In recent weeks, we have seen the assassination of Haitian
President Moise, the unprecedented mobilization of thousands of
Cubans demanding their freedom, the consolidation of the
region's third dictatorship in Nicaragua, and a contested
election in Peru, and the Administration is rightly
prioritizing efforts to address the drivers of migration from
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, starting with
strengthening democratic institutions and good governance,
growing economic opportunity, and improving public safety.
These crises pose risks to the stability of the hemisphere.
Afghanistan's rapid deterioration poses a serious national
security risk. Many of our Afghan partners who champion
democracy and human rights are unable to apply for the Special
Immigrant Visa program or other existing channels to protect
Afghan allies.
I urge you to accelerate your plans to address the
potentially life-threatening situation these individuals face
with the current U.S. withdrawal from the country.
How we withdraw and what political arrangement is left in
our wake matters deeply not just for U.S. interests, but also
for the lives of these brave Afghan partners.
Africa is facing numerous security and development
challenges: the protracted conflict in Ethiopia, a fragile
transition in Sudan, coups in Mali and Chad that are
diminishing efforts to counter extremism in the Sahel, and
Nigeria, the so-called anchor state in West Africa, is beset by
terrorism, conflict, and democratic backsliding.
In the Middle East, we have to find ways to elevate USAID's
role in helping promote good governance and private sector
development in places where we have been more focused on
military engagement.
So I know how deeply inspired you are to ensure that USAID
is leading the efforts to both prepare for the challenges ahead
and to heal the wounds and sufferings of those affected in this
complex world.
We have full confidence in your ability and look forward to
hearing your vision for executing and communicating USAID'S
strategic vision for this year and beyond.
You are running an immensely valuable institution, and I
want to know what you are doing to empower and inspire the best
from the people at USAID.
Again, with our appreciation for your work and for
appearing before the committee, I turn to the distinguished
ranking member, Senator Risch.
STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES E. RISCH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO
Senator Risch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you,
Administrator Power, for being here today.
This is, truly, an important moment for U.S. foreign
assistance. Thanks to American ingenuity and swift vaccine
rollout, our country is finally opening back up for business,
and yet many countries around the world are still struggling to
combat COVID-19.
We have known since the beginning of this pandemic we will
never be fully secure at home if we allow this disease to run
rampant abroad.
Carefully planned and appropriately targeted U.S. foreign
assistance can help other countries get a handle on their
COVID-19 outbreaks and counter the second order impacts of the
pandemic.
Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to USAID to
this end. However, emergencies like these present numerous
opportunities for fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
I am interested to hear from you how USAID plans to use
these resources while guarding against their misuse.
Ms. Power, you and I have discussed the fact that Chairman
Menendez and I recently introduced a bill intended to overhaul
the U.S. global health security architecture. This bill would
place the State Department firmly at the center of our global
health security efforts by providing sorely needed foreign
policy and aid coherence.
It would also recognize and enshrine USAID's role as a
prime implementer of U.S. global health security assistance. I
hope to hear your thoughts on this legislation.
Regarding Asia, I believe that advancing an effective
strategy to compete with the People's Republic of China must be
the United States' top policy priority.
I expect that we will hear today about how the proposed
USAID budget would address this strategic imperative and also
how it would bolster U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific region
as a whole.
USAID should prioritize countering malign foreign influence
by authoritarian nations. This objective is also a key priority
in the Strategic Competition Act legislation Senator Menendez
and I authored, which recently passed our committee.
I look forward to hearing the specifics of what USAID plans
to do to counter this type of influence and where it plans to
prioritize programming, both in terms of geography and issue
areas.
It is notable that this malign influence is exercised not
just through governments, but also through multilateral
institutions. The PRC's ability to co-opt and manipulate the
international COVID-19 response through the World Health
Organization, and now through COVAX, is appalling.
I hope to hear how USAID and you, as our representative to
COVAX, will shed light on the irony that China has contributed
nothing to COVAX and yet now stands to profit from it when,
indeed, they started this whole mess in the first place.
Turning to Afghanistan, since the withdrawal announcement,
the Taliban have ramped up their attacks on government-held
areas and now control almost a third of all districts.
I am deeply concerned that the Administration's foreign
assistance plans for Afghanistan do not reflect the reality on
the ground. In truth, we will have a hard time implementing aid
programs and providing the necessary oversight of taxpayer
dollars given the increased instability in Afghanistan.
I have appreciated the Administration's consultations with
Congress on assistance to the Palestinian people, but as long
as the Palestinian Authority continues its despicable pay for
slay program, we will scrutinize every dollar to ensure it is
compliant with the Taylor Force Act and other laws.
The Administration can secure secession of the pay for slay
before opening the floodgates of assistance.
In recent years, the United States has committed more than
$1 billion to support Sudan's fragile democratic transition. We
must be good stewards of this assistance.
While I recognize the need to live up to commitments under
the Abraham Accords, including for wheat purchases, this must
not come at the expense of commitments to democracy and human
rights.
My staff recently returned from Ethiopia where they saw
firsthand the efforts of USAID to help mitigate the suffering
of people in Tigray and other parts of the country. USAID
leadership should follow the ``do no harm'' principle
delivering assistance, while leaving the politics of the U.S.-
Ethiopia bilateral relationship to the diplomats.
I am concerned by the proliferation of political crisis in
the Western Hemisphere demanding immediate and substantive
attention from the United States. We were all appalled by last
week's assassination of Haiti's president and the attack on his
wife and urge USAID to work with like-minded partners to help
restore democratic order and self-reliance.
The United States has spent close to $3.6 billion in
foreign aid to northern Central America without much success in
improving governance, conditions, or reducing the illegal
migration from the region.
Before committing additional substantial U.S. funds, the
Administration should describe how it will hold the governments
in this region accountable for their commitments to improve
governance and protect would-be refugees arriving at their
borders.
Likewise, the United States is the largest provider of
foreign assistance to help Venezuela's neighbors manage the
humanitarian crisis unleashed by the Maduro regime and its
allies in Cuba, China, and Russia.
USAID must make absolutely certain that our humanitarian
efforts do not legitimize the Maduro regime in any way, or its
foreign allies, for that matter.
Thank you for being here today.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Risch.
All right. Madam Administrator, your full statement will be
included in the record, without objection. I would urge you to
summarize it in about 5 minutes or so we can have a discussion
with you.
With that, the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE SAMANTHA POWER, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S.
AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WASHINGTON, DC
Ms. Power. Thank you, Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member
Risch, and esteemed members of the committee. Thank you also to
your staff, who are such great partners to USAID.
Last month, I traveled to Honduras, Guatemala, and El
Salvador to hear directly from the people impacted by the
cycles of poverty, violence, climate shocks, and corruption,
and I traveled to assess and expand the impact U.S. assistance
was having on their lives.
What I saw there was a local reflection of global trends,
people that continue to lose loved ones and suffer through
lockdowns due to a still raging COVID-19 pandemic that has
already left 4 million people dead around the world, families
that have been traumatized by more frequent and intense
hurricanes and rare weather events, many in need of urgent
humanitarian assistance, and, as you indicated, everyday
citizens who are angered by poor governance, autocratic
behavior, and corruption that limits opportunity, investment,
prosperity, and personal freedom.
These various challenges are combining in volatile ways,
culminating in frustration that drives people to the streets,
as we have just seen this week in Cuba, rage that spills over
into deadly conflict, as we have seen in Burma and the Tigray
region of Ethiopia, and despair that causes people to flee
their communities, as we have seen in Central America and
across the world with a level of mass displacement not seen
since World War II.
These are not positive developments, it is safe to say, but
as an American, I am very glad that USAID is uniquely
positioned to confront them, and I am immensely grateful to you
for sustaining support for the agency's vital programming.
Your continued bipartisan support for USAID saves and
improves millions of lives each day, while enhancing U.S.
national and economic security as we emerge from a once-in-a-
century pandemic and as we confront the inroads that China has
made in different parts of the world by increasingly using its
financial power as leverage to advance its interest.
The FY22 budget request of $27.7 billion for foreign
assistance funding fully or partially implemented by USAID will
help us address urgent priorities and allow the United States
to lead the world in providing development and humanitarian
assistance to promote security and improved economic
conditions.
It will also allow the United States to lead on the global
stage and to leverage our activities to inspire our allies and
our private sector partners to contribute more, but in order
for us to get the most out of our programs, we know we must
also make ourselves a more capable and nimble agency at a time
of heightened need, and to do this we need to increase local
partnerships and address staff shortfalls.
Lasting solutions to development challenges require local
organizations that have the insights to develop tailored
solutions and the credibility to implement them. Yet, in FY
2020, USAID obligated approximately 5.6 percent to local
partners around the world.
To engage authentically with local partners and to move
toward a more locally-led development approach is staff, time,
and resource intensive, but it is also vital to our long-term
success to sustainable development.
I look forward to engaging with you in the near future
about how we can pursue flexible solutions that allow us to
increase our level of local partnership while still carefully,
vigilantly, protecting taxpayer dollars.
This budget that we are proposing will also help us build
institutional capacity commensurate with USAID's role as a
national security agency.
Over the last two decades, the funding levels and
complexity of our programs has expanded at a rate that
significantly outpaces our staffing.
Each USAID contracting officer, for instance, has managed
over $65 million annually over the past 4 years, more than four
times the workload of their colleagues at the Department of
Defense, who manage an average of about $15 million.
Moving forward, we are seeking not a return to the previous
status quo, but to work with members of Congress to increase
our number of direct hires while maintaining a strong focus on
creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive agency.
With your support, USAID will move aggressively to tackle
the world's toughest challenges in order to build a more stable
and prosperous future for us all.
I look forward to our continued partnership and here today
to answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Power follows:]
Prepared Statement of Samantha Power
introduction
Thank you Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, and
distinguished Members of the Committee. I am grateful for the
opportunity to discuss the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 President's budget
request for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The global challenges we face today have become more complex and
numerous, casting a large shadow over our lives. A persistent pandemic
has left over 4 million dead, swelled the ranks of the extreme poor for
the first time since the late 1990's, and exposed the pervasive
inequities that continue to fray societies across the globe.
Authoritarian regimes like China and Russia are acting more
aggressively by the day, exploiting not only the COVID-19 emergency,
but vulnerabilities in our democracies. A rapidly changing climate is
sending fiercer storms our way and inflicting droughts, deep freezes,
and wildfires upon communities. Mass displacement is at its highest
since World War II. And every day, it seems as though new horrific
crises emerge, such as that in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where
Ethiopians are facing both conflict and the worst food insecurity the
country has seen since the 1980's famine killed over 1 million people.
These are not positive developments, but as an American, I am very
glad that USAID is uniquely positioned to confront them, and I am
immensely grateful to you for sustaining support for the Agency's vital
programming. Your continued bipartisan support for USAID saves and
improves millions of lives each day, while enhancing U.S. national and
economic security. When we fight the COVID-19 pandemic abroad, we help
stem the rise of variants that can possibly lead to new outbreaks at
home. When incomes rise in the developing world, those countries become
more self-reliant and less dependent on U.S. or other donor support.
When the U.S. delivers aid to those affected by natural disasters and
humanitarian crises, we demonstrate the best of American values and
build the type of goodwill that inspires action and cooperation from
our allies.
As we emerge from a once-in-a-century pandemic and confront the
already substantial inroads that China has made in different parts of
the world, the FY 2022 budget request of $27.7 billion for foreign
assistance funding accounts fully or partially implemented by USAID
will help us address urgent priorities, and allow the United States to
lead the world in providing development and humanitarian assistance to
promote peace and security, effective and accountable democratic
governance, and improved economic conditions. The budget request will
provide USAID with critical resources to combat the COVID-19 pandemic
abroad, address the drivers of violent extremism and the root causes of
conflict and migration, build resilience to extreme weather patterns
caused by a rapidly changing climate, defend democratic institutions
and fight corruption, help support civil society and independent media,
and meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable populations.
In order for us to get the most out of our programs, we know we
must make ourselves a more capable and nimble Agency at a time of
heightened need. Collaborating with local actors to address local
priorities in the world's poorest countries remains fundamental to
USAID's mission. USAID assistance and development expertise can provide
local leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society, and all people the tools
to take the lead in their own country's development. We have long
advocated an inclusive approach to development and moving forward we
will double down to seek to ensure that marginalized populations can
reap the benefits of our programming. The President's FY 2022 budget
request strengthens the Agency's ability to respond to short-term
shocks, while allowing us to deepen investments that will help us
secure a more stable and prosperous future.
usaid as a national security agency
USAID seeks to make the world safer, healthier, more democratic,
and more prosperous. The Agency was created as a tool to promote peace
and prosperity following the devastating impacts of World War II. We
are facing a wide range of threats today, be they from autocratic
nations attempting to subvert liberal and democratic norms, pandemics
that upend the global economy, displacement of tens of millions of
people due to natural and manmade disasters, or existential threats to
our environment that jeopardize our future on Earth. USAID has a
central role to play in tackling each of these challenges.
Development has often taken a backseat to defense and diplomacy as
a means of advancing U.S. national security objectives. But President
Biden made clear that defense, diplomacy, and development are all vital
components of our foreign policy, as reflected by his decision to
elevate the USAID Administrator to become a standing member of the
National Security Council. I take that responsibility seriously and
will continue to advocate tirelessly for development and humanitarian
goals at the National Security Council.
As the world's premier global development agency, USAID is uniquely
placed to address the world's toughest problems, catalyze our partners,
and strengthen our global standing at a time when China increasingly
uses its financial power as leverage to advance its interests.
ending covid-19 and strengthening global health leadership
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to wipe away decades of development
progress. Extreme poverty has increased for the first time in almost 25
years, and it could take many years to recover from the health,
economic, and education impacts. In order to keep Americans safe,
mitigate the risk of new variants, and rebuild our economy, we must
fight the pandemic everywhere. Our global health leadership is evident
in USAID's response to emergency requests for support in partner
countries such as India and Nepal, where USAID stepped up to deliver
life-saving personal protective equipment, oxygen, and medicines to
communities battling a ferocious second wave of the virus. With your
support, we will continue to meet people around the world in their hour
of dire need. Millions of lives hang in the balance, and USAID support
can mean the difference between life and death.
The U.S. is also rallying other countries to bring about the
vaccination of the world. President Biden's recent commitment to
deliver 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by June 2022 is the
largest-ever by a single country and is a historic pledge to
supercharge the global fight against the pandemic. This is on top of
the 80 million surplus U.S. doses that the Administration has been
distributing in recent weeks. As part of this work, USAID has re-
engaged with our multilateral partners including the World Health
Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. As USAID teams help
strengthen cold chains and health systems, we are coordinating our
vaccine supply efforts with the COVAX initiative to provide doses to
countries in need and working as a government to increase the overall
vaccine supply.
Even as we move quickly to support vaccine uptake and provide
additional crucial support to countries battling the pandemic, USAID
works with other USG partners on preventing child and maternal deaths,
controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and combating infectious diseases
like malaria and tuberculosis, while building resilient health systems
and advancing global health security to prevent the next pandemic.
While COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on many global health
outcomes, the tuberculosis (TB) response has been particularly hard
hit. As a result of the pandemic, an additional 6.3 million people are
projected to be stricken with TB, and an additional 1.4 million people
are expected to die from the disease between 2020 and 2025.
Nutrition gains have also been set back, with an estimated 2.5
million additional children expected to experience stunting by next
year. In addition, over 6 million women experienced disruptions to
family planning services. And 164 million treatments for neglected
tropical diseases--three quarters of the normal total--went unprovided
in 2020. Postponed immunization campaigns are putting around 228
million people, mostly children, at risk for diseases such as measles,
yellow fever and polio. Because services have been redirected, in many
countries around the world, people are dying at higher rates of these
preventable illnesses than they are of COVID-19 itself.
The FY 2022 budget request includes $3.9 billion to strengthen
USAID's role in global health activities, expand the number of
countries we work in, and work to retain the hard-fought gains made
over the last 60 years. Last year, as we supported our partners who
were trying to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus, together with
international partners we nonetheless managed to achieve historic
successes in global health, including certifying the Africa region as
wild polio-free, providing 80 million people with mosquito nets in an
effort to prevent malaria, and launching innovative programs designed
to deliver quality, evidence-based voluntary family planning and
reproductive health care as well as maternal, newborn, and child health
services in USAID partner countries. For every dollar invested by
USAID, we have worked with partners to secure $26 in donated medicines
for neglected tropical diseases, yielding a total of $26 billion for
mass treatment campaigns to date.
combating climate change
Climate change is the greatest common threat the world faces today,
setting back progress on core priorities, from food insecurity to
displacement to the rise of zoonotic diseases. We must move far more
aggressively to address this threat, including helping communities
anticipate, respond and recover from increasingly intense shocks.
President Biden has called the climate crisis ``the number one issue
facing humanity.'' It is a crisis that does not recognize national
borders. Just as we have witnessed storms that increase in frequency
and intensity in Asia each year, we have seen wildfires in California
eight times larger than they were 50 years ago. The same extreme
weather patterns that lead to recurrent droughts in sub-Saharan Africa
that displace people from their homes also caused the anomalous deep
freezes in Texas in February 2021 that cut power for millions and left
more than 20 people dead.
Since 2000, climate-related disasters have affected almost 4
billion people globally, costing an estimated $2.2 trillion. Without
urgent action, climate change could push an additional 100 million
people into extreme poverty by 2030. That's why President Biden
rejoined the Paris Agreement on the first day of his Presidency and
committed to tripling the U.S. Government's funding for climate
adaptation by 2024. The U.S. is leading by example, announcing a bold
commitment to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent
from 2005 levels by the end of this decade. However, approximately 85
percent of global carbon emissions come from outside the United States,
with about two-thirds of these emissions coming from developing
countries. The FY 2022 budget request includes more than $600 million
to enable State and USAID to work with partner countries to set and
pursue ambitious goals toward net-zero emissions, expand critical
renewable energy infrastructure, adapt in a manner that mitigates the
deadly effects of rising seas and extreme weather events, and improve
the management of carbon-rich forests and landscapes. In addition, as
announced during the Climate Leaders' Summit, USAID plans to mobilize
$3.5 billion in private investment for climate, working in
collaboration with the U.S. International Development Finance
Corporation (DFC) and partner governments to use innovative solutions
to procure and fund green energy projects. We are also working with the
InterAmerican Development Bank, the DFC, several pension funds, and
venture capital firms on Natural Climate Solutions to conserve,
restore, and reforest 20 million hectares by 2025. The request will
support USAID's plans to double private investment in adaptation in 20
of the most vulnerable countries and accelerate the transition to net-
zero emissions in at least 20 partner countries.
USAID works with and in countries that are most at risk of climate
change. Our programs support countries as they seek to anticipate and
manage climate-related disaster risks and adapt to climate change. From
working with NASA to provide satellite information that helps
governments and farmers make decisions on water resources, food
security and disaster preparedness, to developing and improving
agricultural insurance, microfinance and other tools that empower
people to manage weather and climate risks, our programs are building
resilience to climate change. Concurrently we are supporting countries
to rapidly reduce their emissions, and increase carbon storage, all
while helping them secure a clean energy future, develop their
economies sustainably, and protect their forests, coastlines, and
watersheds.
USAID is also in the process of developing a new Agency-wide
Climate Strategy to ramp up climate change mitigation and adaptation
efforts, and further integrate climate change considerations into our
assistance programs across all sectors. Ensuring that women and girls
can meaningfully lead on addressing climate change is key to this work.
Research shows that climate change adaptation, mitigation, and
resilience building is more effective when women are involved. As the
burden of climate events falls disproportionately on the backs of low-
income, Indigenous, and marginalized communities, we will also seek to
target our assistance to strengthen the resilience of these
populations.
bolstering democracy and countering authoritarianism
As is well known, the cause of democracy is currently on its back
heel in many parts of the world. Amid the 15-year democratic decline
globally documented by Freedom House, nine more countries slipped into
a state of autocracy in the last 5 years alone, representing more than
300 million people. Authoritarians are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a
further excuse to curb individual freedoms and tighten their grip on
power. As we have seen in Uganda, Russia and other contexts,
authoritarian regimes in particular have used COVID-19 as justification
to target LGBTQI+ persons. The pandemic has also tested the ability of
fragile democracies that are trying to respond to and maintain public
confidence in their institutions. The People's Republic of China
increasingly supplies technological surveillance tools to other
nations, and uses its financial leverage to sway their actions. As
countries grow more repressive, they become more inclined in turn to
support China's initiatives on the global stage, including those to
weaken human rights norms, in ways that are detrimental to U.S.
interests.
Yet for all of this, other trends and events should motivate us to
step up to do more to meet this challenge. Mass pro-democracy
demonstrations reached an all-time high of 37 in 2019, higher than
during the Arab Spring or the end of the Cold War. And as the 2018
women-led revolution in Sudan shows, no matter how tight a dictator's
grip on power may seem in a given moment, the will of the people can
suddenly assert itself--and prevail. Although the country's democratic
transition remains tenuous, Sudan's Civilian-Led Transitional
Government is ushering in reforms in an effort to take the country down
the path to democracy.
The FY 2022 budget includes a request for $2.8 billion in foreign
assistance across USAID and the State Department to meet this moment.
First, we need to bolster our ``Rapid Response'' capacity to quickly
seize on opportunities to support democracy throughout the world when
there is a political opening of the sort that occurred in Sudan, or an
attempt to roll back democratic progress as in Myanmar. Second,
corruption is the Achilles' heel of many illiberal regimes, and USAID
will use our programmatic assistance, and our voice to support
reformers, independent media, and civil society actors fighting
corruption and promoting accountability. The President's budget request
of $50 million to fight corruption aligns with President Biden's
National Security Study Memorandum identifying corruption as a core
United States national security interest. Third, we will help countries
fight misinformation and disinformation, increasingly used by malign
actors to stoke public anger against democratically-elected officials
and civil society. Fourth, we will work to support activists and
citizens subjected to digital repression by regimes that are becoming
increasingly sophisticated at surveilling and censoring their
populations, including across borders. By the same token, we will
continue to provide support for governments to align regulatory
frameworks for emerging technologies with democratic values. Finally,
in the service of these goals, we will work to support independent and
public interest media, helping journalists and whistleblowers withstand
government repression, legal harassment, disinformation, and attacks on
media outlets' financial viability. This work includes protecting the
human rights of at-risk groups, such as LGBTQI+ persons in line with
the President's Memorandum to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+
Persons Around the World. USAID is in particular focused on combatting
rising violence targeting transgender persons through supporting a
Global Barometer on Transgender Rights and expanding livelihood
opportunities.
President Biden pledged to host an international Summit for
Democracy so that democratic governments can align to confront
authoritarianism, fight corruption, and promote respect for human
rights. This Summit is an opportunity to elevate support for democracy
as a cornerstone of our foreign policy, in concert with our allies and
partners.
addressing irregular migration from central america
For far too long, Central Americans have been entrenched in cycles
of poverty, violence, and corruption. El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Honduras are home to some of the world's most dangerous cities, riven
by criminal gangs, extortion, and gender-based violence, all of which
persist and flourish due to lack of rule of law and pervasive
corruption throughout national and municipal authorities. Weak
governance and endemic corruption undermine social and economic
progress, and troubling recent developments, such as the Salvadoran
legislature's dismissal of the Attorney General and the magistrates of
the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, illustrate democratic
institutions are under pressure. The grim circumstances these countries
face are compounded by the increased frequency of extreme weather
events, particularly in regions reliant on subsistence farming. Last
year, the powerful, back-to-back storms of Hurricanes Eta and Iota
brought heavy rains and severe flooding, affecting millions of people.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had far-reaching impacts, not only on
health, but in undermining food systems, food security, and economic
prosperity in the region and COVID-related lockdowns have yielded
increasing rates of domestic and other gender-based violence. These
compounding factors are contributing to the increases in Central
Americans who are abandoning their homes to embark on the dangerous
journey toward the U.S. southern border in a desperate search for a
better life. Without reliable harvests, sustainable sources of income,
and guarantees of physical safety, many see migration as their only
option to survive and provide a future for their children. Those who
attempt the journey and are returned are met with insufficient support
to reintegrate in their communities.
The President's FY 2022 budget request includes $861 million across
State and USAID, as a first step toward a 4-year $4 billion commitment,
to support opportunities for families in El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Honduras to feed their children and build stable and secure lives at
home so they do not feel compelled to migrate irregularly to the United
States. This approach includes a greater emphasis on building economic
resilience, an emphasis on data-based evaluation to identify and
address conditions in emigration hot spots, and a recognition that
improved local governance free from corruption is needed to unlock
improvements in living conditions and economic opportunity. At the
direction of President Biden, USAID is aggressively ramping up programs
in all three countries. USAID's programs can improve incentives for
individuals to stay in their local communities. Through whole-of-
government initiatives like Feed the Future, we are addressing the root
causes of poverty and hunger. Increased agricultural incomes and
greater resilience for smallholder farmers, for example, improves food
systems and expands economic opportunity.
Like you, though, we recognize that ultimately political will from
the region's leaders will be the best predictor of whether economic and
security conditions in the region improve. In the wake of challenges to
democratic institutions in the region, we are speaking out in defense
of the rule of law. We are deepening our support for local actors
fighting corruption as well as those holding governments accountable
both for their performance and for their infringements or attacks on
democratic norms. USAID is working with civil society, U.S. and local
private sector partners, faith-based groups, and reform-minded
officials in local governments to multiply our impact in addressing the
interrelated economic, governance, and security conditions that
contribute to an individual's decision to migrate.
bolstering humanitarian assistance
Even as the world races to address the COVID-19 pandemic, we must
still grapple with other emergent and protracted crises. Political
conflicts are becoming more intense, hunger is on the rise, severe and
frequent weather events and natural disasters are exacerbating chronic
vulnerabilities, all of which are taking a heavy toll on civilians and
leading to situations of protracted displacement. As of April 2021, the
United Nations World Food Program estimates that 296 million people in
the 35 countries where it works are without sufficient food--111
million more people than in April 2020. And more than 34 million people
are currently on the very edge of famine and risk starvation, up from
27 million people in 2019. The United States is the world's largest
donor globally for humanitarian assistance, and we will continue to use
our contributions to get other countries to step up to do more. For
example, we are working with Gulf donor nations to strengthen the
ability of communities in Bangladesh to withstand the impact of
cyclones. We also significantly scaled up humanitarian assistance in
the Northern Triangle countries, and urged the United Nations to
release a Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), and are actively engaging
with other donors to shore up commitments to the response. For example,
on June 10, the European Union announced $22.3 million in new funding
assistance to Mexico and Central America, and other donors, including
Canada, Germany, Sweden, and South Korea, have signaled interest in
supporting the HRP.
In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the scale of humanitarian need is
staggering and sobering. After more than 8 months of hostilities
between multiple armed actors, approximately 5.2 million people are in
need of food assistance, out of a total population of around 6 million.
As soon as the conflict in Tigray started, USAID immediately began
providing life-saving aid. The United States is the largest donor of
humanitarian aid to the Tigray response, providing more than $488
million in food, nutrition services, agricultural supplies, safe
drinking water, shelter, health care, and essential services to protect
the most vulnerable.
Our Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, which deployed in
March, has been focused on rapidly scaling up our life-saving efforts
to reach even more people, but it will not be enough if the current
trajectory continues. I want to be crystal clear--we expect widespread
famine in Ethiopia this year. This is a man-made catastrophe, and it
needs to end. The Government of Ethiopia and all armed actors need to
immediately allow for unimpeded humanitarian access into and throughout
Tigray. Aid operations also depend on fuel, electricity,
telecommunications, and banking services which need to be restored and
maintained. I ask for your support to use your voice in the days and
weeks to come as we find ways to support the people of Tigray, hold
accountable those who have harmed civilians, and press for an end to
the violence and suffering.
Around the world, USAID's dedicated teams and partners continue to
respond to other grim man-made crises with untold levels of suffering.
In Yemen, by most metrics the world's largest humanitarian emergency
after more than 6 years of war, two of every three people, or 20.7
million people, need humanitarian assistance this year. The UN projects
that nearly one in two Yemeni children under 5 years of age will be
acutely malnourished this year. Our brave relief agency partners
surmount numerous obstacles every day to deliver lifesaving assistance
to millions of people, but in many places, they cannot access
populations in need due to cynical intransigence from those who control
the territory, and they do not have enough money--despite generous
contributions from the United States and other donors, the UN appeal
for Yemen is only a third filled this year. Of course, we at USAID
continue to do all we can to support U.S. Special Envoy Lenderking in
his efforts to bring about the political solution that alone will end
the war.
In addition to Tigray and Yemen, our DARTs are also responding in
places like Syria, where we are seeing heightened humanitarian needs
due to the ongoing conflict, economic crisis, and COVID-19 outbreak
there. Our humanitarian experts also remain on standby to respond to
unexpected natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes,
floods, and even volcano eruptions like those we have seen recently in
the Democratic Republic of Congo and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
This has been a year like no other that came before, but we expect
continued, deepening need well into the upcoming year. The FY 2022
budget request includes $6.3 billion in humanitarian assistance
administered by USAID that will allow the Agency to address
unprecedented humanitarian needs. We will also invest in resilience and
risk reduction efforts that reduce the economic and human cost of
disasters. Studies show that every dollar spent on adaptation and
resilience can save as much as $3 in humanitarian aid. Over the past
decade, we made substantial investments in early warning systems and
emergency response in Central America. This meant that when storms Iota
and Eta ripped through the region in November of 2020, the number of
people killed was in the low hundreds; in 1998, a storm of similar size
and trajectory killed 10,000 people. Helping people affected by natural
disasters and humanitarian emergencies reflects our values as
Americans, demonstrates our global leadership, and makes the world a
safer place.
expanding economic growth
The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened development challenges, exposed
inequities, and erased years of progress on poverty reduction through
its impact on the global economy. Global gross domestic product shrank
by 4.4 percent, the worst decline since the Great Depression, according
to the International Monetary Fund. Despite the bleak economic outlook,
there are opportunities to recover and accelerate reforms so that the
U.S. can revive relationships with our trading partners.
USAID assistance will support economic recovery with a laser focus
on job creation, strengthening small and medium businesses, and
reducing the time and cost to import and export goods. At the beginning
of this year, USAID launched its new Economic Growth Policy, which
confirmed and elevated the need for inclusive, sustainable, and
resilient growth as central to sustainable development and poverty
reduction. This is needed now more than ever to address the devastating
and ongoing secondary impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy. In
particular, the new policy strengthens our focus on engaging with the
private sector and improving the conditions for foreign investment in
emerging markets, which in turn creates local jobs and market
opportunities for American companies and investors. Our work will also
create market pressures on governments to reduce corruption, enforce
the rule of law, and ensure access to economic opportunities for all,
especially women. This effort is a driving force behind our request for
the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund, which will work to empower
women economically, while also preventing and responding to gender-
based violence and supporting marginalized populations.
The FY 2022 budget request increases our inclusive economic growth
programming to $4.9 billion globally across State and USAID, bolstering
our work to create conditions for more favorable investment climates.
We are also stressing the importance of economic analysis for
increasing our impact per taxpayer dollar spent. The request also funds
economic growth programs that are essential for sustainable development
in developing countries, which generate the public resources
governments need to invest in education, health, rural roads, as well
as digital and other infrastructure. The Agency needs to adapt its
systems, processes, and procedures to support full engagement with the
private sector. In particular, we must upgrade our hiring, data,
relationship management, professional development and procurement
systems to engage the private sector at scale.
investing in our people
None of our work is possible without the dedication of our staff
across the world. This last year has demonstrated their strength and
provided lessons on what we need to do to meet the challenges and
opportunities that we will face in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic
has not only had an impact on the work we do overseas and the
communities in which we work, but also on the lives of our dedicated
USAID teams. Many of our staff have been working diligently to provide
life-saving aid to communities around the world, even while their loved
ones battle and succumb to COVID-19. Moving forward, we are seeking not
a return to the previous status quo, but to a more dynamic work
environment that better supports our staff. The FY 2022 budget request
includes $1.9 billion to invest in our people and ensure a diverse,
equitable, and inclusive workforce, and we will utilize these funds to
strengthen the Agency to maximize our impact and build institutional
capacity commensurate with USAID's role as a national security agency.
With your support, we are also increasing the size and agility of
the career workforce to better advance U.S. national security
priorities. Since last year, we have hired approximately 500 career
employees and are working to reach our target levels of 1,850 Foreign
Service and 1,600 Civil Service employees this year. However, it is not
enough just to recruit talent, we must nurture and develop it. We will
work to empower and support our Foreign Service Nationals, local
country employees of USAID who represent the heart and soul of our
workforce. And we will also build on the successes of our Staff Care
employee assistance programs as we continue to invest in our employees'
physical and mental well-being.
Underpinning all of our efforts will be a strong focus on creating
a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive USAID. On my first day as
Administrator, I signed into action our Agency's new Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion strategy, designed to help us create a workplace that
lives up to our ideals. The strategy outlines concrete steps the Agency
will take to ensure we are creating a workforce that better reflects
America, including the expansion of initiatives to create paid
internship and fellowship opportunities as well as strategic outreach
efforts to Minority Serving Institutions. The requested funding will
fund new recruitment and training programs to develop a global
workforce that reflects our nation; and it will help us implement
comprehensive training, career mobility, and advancement programs to
help retain diverse employees in entry-level positions and strengthen
the Agency's culture of inclusion, equity, and access. It will also
help us address Government Accountability Office recommendations to
enhance data collection and reporting efforts, and strengthen our
ability to disaggregate workforce data across various demographic
categories.
advancing peace and stability
The number of flashpoints in the world right now is striking, from
raids killing dozens of people in the Sahel, to an ISIS-offshoot group
storming a city in northern Mozambique, to armies in the Caucasus
standing off, to long-standing conflicts in the Middle East boiling
over. Violent extremist groups like Boko Haram in West Africa are
taking advantage of conflict and instability to recruit and expand
their ranks. Our military alone cannot solve these challenges; USAID
assistance is a much more cost-effective way to advance peace and
security. As former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said,
``Development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.'' We will use our
resources to support civilian efforts to erode the appeal of extremist
groups like ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda, and help our partners
become prosperous and peaceful nations.
The FY 2022 request expands resources for our newly-established
Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization. I share the concerns
many of you have about the rise in conflicts, and accompanying risk of
increasing mass atrocities, in many of the countries where USAID works.
Even more alarming is the risk of violence spreading into places we
previously considered safe from these threats, such as coastal West
Africa. This budget request includes funds which will allow USAID to
work toward preventing violence from spreading across West Africa,
applying non-military solutions to counter the recruitment and advance
of violent extremist organizations, and bringing stability to areas in
crisis. This budget also gives USAID the chance to effectively deploy
resources in conflict prevention and stabilization to implement the
Global Fragility Act in select countries and in coordination across
diplomacy, development, and defense efforts. Whether through flexible,
small grants mechanisms targeting the grassroots, implementing the
Women, Peace and Security Strategy, or leveraging political openings to
build peaceful, prosperous societies in countries like Sudan, USAID
will continue to work with interagency partners to build peace and
stability and create paths to resilience.
conclusion
The challenges I have described here don't just threaten countries
far from our shores--they impact our national security and prosperity
directly, here at home. The steps we take to combat COVID-19, climate
change, hunger, conflict, and other ills abroad, make us safer, while
demonstrating compassion and cooperation with people all over the
world.
With your support, USAID will move aggressively to tackle these
challenges in order to build a more stable and prosperous future for
all of us. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Madam Administrator.
We will start a round the questions. First, let me say I
know that you mentioned to the ranking member and I before we
started the hearing that we have three highly qualified USAID
nominees that are pending with completed files, and I also
believe that we need to get them out of the committee and,
hopefully, confirmed prior to the August recess so you can do
the work we want you to do.
I am prepared to notice a hearing for the two deputy
nominees next Thursday, and we will be working with the ranking
member to, hopefully, get an agreement so that we are in a good
place so that we can try to move those nominees ahead.
Under the previous administration, USAID was frequently
absent from budget planning and decision-making processes
affecting the agency. How were you and the agency involved in
the development of the FY22 budget that we are discussing
today?
Ms. Power. Well, sir, I was not present from the creation,
personally, just because of my own confirmation schedule.
In terms of my own personal involvement, I came in after
the top-line levels had been assessed, but the agency was very
much involved working, of course, with the State Department.
Many of the accounts that are in the proposal are only
partially managed by USAID. There is a division of labor
entailed, a natural synergy at its best, with the State
Department, and then, of course, working with OMB to make sure
that we are prioritizing the President's priorities and so I
believe the involvement was intense and iterative.
The Chairman. Now, let me turn to the COVID issue. The U.S.
is gradually gaining control of COVID-19, but the disease
continues to surge worldwide. Most people on the planet are
still waiting for vaccinations.
The U.S. has made a range of announcements to support
access, including vaccine donations to specific countries and
support for sharing intellectual property.
What additional steps can we take right now to accelerate
the rollout of vaccines worldwide? For example, the President's
vaccine donation announcement is significant, but there is
still considerable need and demand for other means of
mitigating the spread of COVID and the therapies for treating
the sick.
How does the 500-million-dose donation fit into the
Administration's broader global cooperation strategy to beat
COVID?
Ms. Power. Thank you so much. There are a number of
different elements, as you say, to the broader strategy and
vaccines, of course, rightly, make global headlines. I believe
the 500 million purchase of the Pfizer doses is absolutely
critical.
That will be dispensed by June of next year with 200
million distributed this year and 300 million the first part of
next year, alongside the 80 million surplus doses.
As you note, donating doses and getting shots in arms are
two very different things, and so USAID, with our 80 missions
around the world, is involved in enhancing vaccine readiness to
make sure that the cold chains are in place in order to work
with our partners UNICEF, PAHO, and others, as well as health
ministries to make sure that the countries that receive the
vaccines put them to good use, vaccinated health workers
providing second shots for those who did not have second shots
delivered because the India doses were pulled back because of
India's own crisis.
So vaccine readiness is key and the ARP money has been
vital to USAID's ability to support our partners. As you note
though, vaccines, because of the supply issues around the
world, are only going to reach a small share of the world's
population in the next calendar year.
Therefore, whether it comes to PPE or oxygen or other forms
of health support that went by the wayside because of the
attention to COVID or the shattering of health systems brought
about by the arrival of COVID, U.S. funding for those health
systems and those other dimensions of the COVID response is
also critical.
Again, the ARP made generous funds----
The Chairman. Yes. Let me ask you, you mentioned the ARP
funds. You notified Congress on $115 million in ARP funds for
accelerating vaccine distribution, and the President's
announcement in Cornwall to purchase 500 million doses, which
spurred matching commitments from G-7 partners, is this $115
million the amount necessary to fulfill the entire 500 million
dose commitment?
Ms. Power. You would know better than I. It was before my
time, but that when the ARP was passed, again, so generously
here on Capitol Hill, it was not envisaged as the means to
cover vaccine purchases.
So, the second $2 billion that was allocated for COVAX went
toward the Pfizer purchases and much of the ARP money that we
had intended to invest in health systems has also----
The Chairman. So the answer is no, that is not enough?
Ms. Power. There are lots of demands on the ARP. Thank you.
The Chairman. How is this procurement going to be
distributed? Is it going to go to COVAX? Will we, through
USAID, distribute doses bilaterally? If so, how are you
prioritizing bilateral distribution?
Ms. Power. I think it is a both/and scenario. The terms of
the Pfizer deal, as you may know, are for COVAX countries, so
for low income and lower middle income countries.
The 80 million surplus doses that we are providing
bilaterally have more flexibility. They are not subject to
those terms, and so that is where you are seeing the kinds of
doses we were just talking about to Latin America and to our
partners in Indonesia, Vietnam, et cetera, just in the last few
days.
The Chairman. Well, I would just close on this.
Look, I am all for COVAX, but I think the United States
should be more robustly engaged in the bilateral distribution
of the vaccines.
China is all over the Western Hemisphere and other places
in the world. So I go to the Dominican Republic, speak to the
President, who tells me, I really want to work with the
Americans, but China is here offering it to me. I cannot get it
from the United States.
This is a country in a time in which the Western Hemisphere
is moving all in the wrong direction in terms of democracy and
human rights that both observes that, that is in the midst of
doing things.
They have about 60 percent of their hospital beds are being
used by Haitians and he is taking care of them. He has 150,000
Venezuelans that have fled to the country. He has given them
working papers. It is those type of actions that we want to
support, but when he is faced in terms of life and death
decisions between let us choose the Chinese vaccine or let me
at least buy American vaccines and I cannot get them, then
there is another dimension in addition to doing the right thing
on vaccination that has a force multiplier in terms of our
diplomacy and our interests. I just hope that the
Administration will look at that.
Senator Risch.
Senator Risch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me start there.
I was just astounded the other day when COVAX said they
were going to buy the Chinese vaccine. I assume you saw that
release. Have you discussed that with the other people at
COVAX?
Ms. Power. Yes, Senator.
Senator Risch. Do they appreciate the irony of this where
China started this and refused to participate in COVAX, and
will not contribute money, will not contribute vaccines, but
then COVAX is turning around and actually paying them for their
vaccines.
I mean, this is odd. It is strange, to say the least.
Ms. Power. If I may just make a couple points here.
First of all, it is appalling that Beijing chose to make a
profit on those vaccines rather than to contribute financially
to COVAX or to donate its state-owned doses to COVAX to reach
people in their hour of desperate need. There is no other way
around it. It is appalling.
From the standpoint of COVAX and why that transaction went
forward, it is the case, as you know, Senator, that the supply
for this third quarter of this year is not available,
fundamentally, and the Delta variant is raging, because, as I
indicated earlier, India pulled back the Serum Institute of
India doses that COVAX had expected to provide, for example,
second shots and to reach health workers.
Hundreds of millions of doses that COVAX had expected to be
able to distribute never arrived. The U.S., as you know,
through Pfizer is moving to address the supply issue, but that
will not really kick in until August and then into the later
part of this year, and even that will only scratch the surface
in terms of the global need.
So I think what you are looking at is a raging pandemic, a
supply challenge that the U.S. and Europe will be addressing,
and you will see other pharmaceutical companies also have their
drugs probably licensed toward the end of this year, but in
that hour of relative desperation, it felt it needed to bring
vaccines online as quickly as possible, particularly, again, to
get those second shots and those health care workers reached.
That is no excuse for what China did in that context.
Senator Risch. I appreciate that. From your position at
COVAX, what are you finding as far as the other countries'
acceptance of the Chinese vaccine?
I mean, here in the U.S. we see even slight ineffectiveness
is greeted with real disdain, and as we read what is going on
with the Chinese vaccine, it seems to be pretty low quality
compared to what we are producing.
What is happening there? What are the countries saying
about getting the Chinese vaccine?
Ms. Power. Well, as you know, different studies have
yielded different research findings as it relates to a number
of the vaccines on the global market, including the two Chinese
vaccines in question.
It was licensed to be used and, again, because it is not a
question of choosing COVAX, choosing between Sinovax or
Sinopharm, and Moderna--I think it is obvious what the choice
would be if that were the choice--it is choosing one of these
Chinese vaccines or not having supply in this period.
So, I think, and just to come back to the chairman's point,
across our hemisphere and around the world, people's very
strong preference appears to be for a U.S.-manufactured
vaccines, particularly mRNA vaccines, like Moderna and Pfizer.
So once that supply becomes available, I think it is going to
be very clear choice.
Let me just say one more thing, if I could--sorry--which is
to the branding point about COVAX because I think this is
implicit in what you are saying, and the chairman raised it.
When COVAX doses are donated by--because of the generosity
of the American taxpayer and because of the generosity of the
U.S. Government, those are branded with the American flag.
Those are not branded just simply as COVAX, as an international
organization.
Our ambassadors are there to meet the planes when they
land. We are very aware of what China is using its vaccines and
people's desperation to extract and we do not ask for anything
in return, unlike our Chinese counterparts, but we are intent,
certainly, on making it known when it is our vaccines that are
arriving of the higher quality that we know them to be.
Senator Risch. Thank you, Ms. Power. My time is up. I am
not going to ask another question, but one area I wanted to go
into and I will just underscore for you that assistance to the
Palestinians are going to be very closely scrutinized by some
of us here.
I know there are people in the House of Representatives
that have a different view of this than we do, but as long as
they have the pay for slay program, we are going to look at
every penny that is spent with the Palestinians.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Cardin.
Senator Cardin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ambassador Power, welcome. Nice to have you here. Thank you
for what you are doing.
Last week, I was in Bulgaria and, as you are aware, the
Biden administration recently imposed Magnitsky sanctions in
Bulgaria against former corrupt officials. I thought I would be
attacked on the use of those sanctions when I visited.
Instead, we were heroes. The Bulgarian Government and
people look at this as an opportunity to really deal with a
systemic corruption problem that they have.
You indicate in your statement that corruption is the
Achilles' heel of many illiberal regimes, and I agree
completely with you on those statements.
Our committee has passed legislation that would build up
the strength of our missions in understanding the circumstances
in the countries in which they represent the United States with
tools to help deal with the corruption in these countries.
So my question to you is, you talk about rapid response in
your statement, and when there is an opportunity we have to be
able to move quickly.
Can you just share with me your strategies on how you are
going to use the tools that you have at your disposal to deal
with the widespread corruptions that we are finding in so many
countries that is really fueling autocratic regimes and attacks
against their own country?
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
In President Biden, you have found a true partner in
combating crime and corruption in so far as he is the first
American president to have issued a presidential memorandum
declaring the fight against corruption in our national security
interests.
I just this month have created at USAID the first ever
Anti-Corruption Task Force and it will entail, in answer to
your question, a combination--and it is reflected in the 2022
budget request as well--but a combination of providing support,
for example, to civil society and independent media actors who
are exposing corruption and malfeasance.
It is also going to entail mainstreaming the anti-
corruption fight across USAID programming areas, and I do not
mean simply for the purpose that we would all share, which is
to avoid fraud, waste, and abuse. Absolutely. We are already
all over that, but actually just looking at where corrupt
actors can be found and where our leverage can be used in other
sectors to shine a light on what is the Achilles' heel, I
think, to these illiberal forces.
So some of this is about using our platform and our voice
and our spotlight, and some of it is about working with the
Treasury Department, Justice Department, on some of the
accountability tools that that you have been so critical in
putting in place.
I really think that we have lined up the moons here and all
of the elements to have the most aggressive anti-corruption
plank to our foreign policy in American history.
Senator Cardin. Let me make a suggestion. We use the two
branches of government, I think, effectively to deal with the
global challenge of trafficking in persons with the legislation
that was passed by Congress with the focus in the State
Department in regards to trafficking and the accountability
issues.
I think we have made tremendous progress globally on that
issue. We can do the same with corruption. The legislation that
we are passing here will give you additional tools and
expectations in our relations with other countries, and it
strengthens America's position when we work together.
I would just urge you to work with us on that legislation.
Let us get it to the finish line, and that will give you some
additional ability to work in-country to get changes.
I want to touch on the other issue that you mentioned in
that statement in the same area and that is that the cause of
democracy is currently on its back heels in many parts of the
world. Then you cite the Freedom House study that shows a
decline of democratic states.
When you look at the percentage of resources that are
devoted to democracy building, it is not a large sum of your
budget. I noticed that you have requested additional funds, and
we appreciate that, but it seems to me you have limited funds
to deal with a huge problem and I would just welcome your
thoughts as to how we can effectively promote democratic
institutions.
Ms. Power. I think there is a broader and deeper question
even at the heart of your inquiry, Senator, which is, are we
looking with fresh eyes at the standoff between democracies and
authoritarian forces or autocratic forces around the world.
I think each administration looks at the democracy funding
and programming of the administration before it and looks to
see should it be adjusted in this way or that way.
I really hope that the President's democracies summit,
which I know many of you are providing input on, provides an
occasion to give the kind of fresh look at the resources
required to meet this moment with China trying to pull
countries into the autocratic and authoritarian column every
single day using the tools of suppression and technological
surveillance to do so, and then when a country has turned more
autocratic, then calling on that country to vote with China in
the U.N. to undermine human rights and democratic norms.
I think there really is a question about whether we are
resourced and thinking sufficiently ambitiously because we know
they are, and so I welcome going deeper on that conversation.
We have requested a modest increase. We are doing a soup to
nuts look at our programming, including in consultation with
many of you, but ideas welcome because this is not an
afterthought for Beijing. This is the point.
Senator Cardin. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Johnson.
Senator Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Administrator Power, welcome. I want to concentrate a
little bit on Central America. I know you recently made a trip
to the Northern Triangle countries.
We have a crisis on our border. I know many members are in
a state of denial, but we have been apprehending about 6,000
people per day over the last 3 months--the human depredation,
human traffickers, the open lanes for additional human
trafficking and drug smuggling. It is a crisis on our border.
I know that the Vice President went down to Central America
looking for root causes. I just want to ask you, did you
discover or did you come to any conclusions in terms of what
the root cause of that out migration is?
Ms. Power. I know you know because I know how carefully you
are tracking this--but a complicated stew of forces.
Some communities you meet with people where gang violence
where, literally, there would be bodies on the streets because
of gang violence, where our programs attempt to reduce the
number of homicides, knowing that that would be a reason--I
cannot even imagine being a mother and handing one's child over
to a coyote, but it is a level of desperation sometimes around
physical security.
Senator Johnson. Can I----
Ms. Power. That is acute, and the economic, of course, is
the main, especially in the wake of COVID.
Senator Johnson. Let me just, quick, interject and I want
to let you finish answering the question.
When you mentioned gangs, one fact that is really not very
widely known, of the unaccompanied children that are coming
into this country being apprehended, 70 percent are males.
Seventy percent are 15, 16 or 17.
That would be the prime age for recruitment into gangs,
things like MS-13. That is not a fact that we are focusing on
very much when we are talking about the crisis, but go on. You
were talking about the gangs in Central America.
Ms. Power. Well, just offering that as one source. I
actually keep a handy chart, and I am sure you have seen some
like it, but we actually have crunched the data.
You do not need to see the specifics, but just in looking
at any country of the three, looking in which areas is it by
virtue of--is it some hurricane aftershock, but in which
countries when we look at intention to migration surveys, is it
unemployment or economic--perceived economic despair, in what
cases, again, is it a spike in homicides.
So it is very important that we tailor our programming per
community in accordance with what those actual causes are,
which also fluctuate, of course, with time.
Senator Johnson. I was asking for a root cause. I have my
own ideas on this. Let me just kind of throw something at you.
When I went down there in 2015, I was surprised at the
reaction we got from the presence of both Honduras and
Guatemala when they said, we are dealing with corruption and
impunity. Corruption, I understand. I think we were talking
about that earlier.
Impunity, what do you mean by that? Well, impunity springs
from the fact that you have the drug cartels that are
untouchable. I mean, literally untouchable.
That then spreads over the rest of society where you end up
with the gang activity and you end up with the extortionists
shooting a cab driver, burning his cab if they do not hand over
the ransom.
The drug cartels exist in Central America because we shut
down to a great extent the drug trafficking through the
Caribbean and redirected it through Central America. The drug
cartels exist because of America's insatiable demand for drugs.
So if you are looking for a root cause of all the problems
in Central America, almost all of them, it is America's
insatiable demand for drugs.
So if we are not willing to recognize that fact, we are not
addressing the root cause, and quite honestly, we do not stand
any chance whatsoever wiping out those drug cartels. They are
just endemic. The communities rely on the profits of the drug
cartels.
So we have to keep that in mind. So when you are proposing
$860 million for Central America, where is that going to go?
How does that not just go down a hole and completely wasted if
we are not willing to recognize what the true root cause is?
My final point is when I was down there the presidents of
both Honduras and Guatemala begged our delegation, please fix
your laws. This is not helpful to us to lose our future.
I saw a recent interview with the new president of El
Salvador making the same point. This is not as successful
economic model for Central America to lose all of our people.
I would just encourage this administration and you, as you
are looking at how you design these programs, please recognize
the true root cause, which is America's insatiable demand for
drugs, recognize that our open border, our pull factors, is not
helpful.
It is destructive to Central America. If we really want to
help them out, we need to secure our border. We need to stop
that flow of their citizens.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Coons.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member
Risch, and, in particular, Administrator Power. Thank you for
your testimony and for your continued service to our nation.
I am pleased to see the Biden administration's budget
request for USAID includes investments to address the ongoing
COVID-19 global pandemic and to bolster our ongoing role in
global health, foreign assistance in the Indo-Pacific
specifically to counter China's influence there and in other
regions of the world, and demonstrates our commitment to
fighting climate change.
I look forward to working with you to improve the
effectiveness of USAID. Like Senator Johnson, as he was just
describing, I, too, have just returned from Guatemala and have
a number of questions about how we are going to effectively
deliver assistance in a way that will bend the curve of a
number of challenging developments there.
I visited a shelter for trafficked youth, as did you in
your recent trip, and one of the inspiring aspects of that
visit was that it was a locally developed and run program.
Our assistance to that particular initiative did not
require funding to go through a governmental agency. It goes
directly to an NGO.
So, Administrator, I would be interested in hearing what
you think is a possible strategy for increasing the
localization of our assistance programs, devoting a larger
share of development assistance funds to supporting initiatives
implemented by local partners and what role additional staff
would have in making that possible.
I might, and perhaps this is motivated by that trip,
recommend piloting that in a region, for example, Central
America, where we lack credible national government partners in
development.
Ms. Power. Yes. Your last point about lacking credible
government partners is an important complement, I think, to the
exchange I just had with Senator Johnson. I mentioned violence
and economic despair, but the governance and corruption trends
are really going in the wrong direction, requiring us to think
very creatively about how we steward these resources that we
hope, again, that you will be generous enough and the American
people be generous enough to provide in order to deal with
those causes of despair and migration that can be tackled
within the region.
So the question you pose on how to strengthen our
relationship with local partners can sound a little bit
abstract, a little bit wonky, a little bit sort of inside
foreign assistance, like, a perfect Samantha Power/Chris Coons
exchange.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Power. It is so important because, as I tried to say
briefly in my opening statement, it is the essence of whether
the development we do is going to be sustained over time.
Because we, USAID, want--and you all as well and the
president want to move quickly, often there is just a lot of
gravity pulling us toward very large, often U.S.-based
contracting partners that may deign to enlist local partners as
part of the overall contract or grant but, fundamentally, the
investments are not made in that internal capacity and that
ability to have the accounting capacity, the ability to comply
with USAID's regulations, many of which are in place in order
to be responsive to the need for oversight that you have.
So the shorter answer is I think we are off to a good start
with the new partnerships initiative and the local works
initiative, which both, again, I think came out of a
partnership between USAID and Congress.
I think that we need to try to lower the barriers of entry
because it is so onerous to work with USAID for these small
local organizations, and we need to invest in the internal
capacity those organizations have to meet the legitimate
oversight questions and challenges that we absolutely have to
retain in order to do our jobs as stewards.
Senator Coons. Well, I look forward to working with you on
tackling USAID's procurement process, the challenges both in
terms of regulations and staffing that you face in terms of
trying to be flexible so that you can better respond to
changing circumstances such as we are seeing in Ethiopia or
Afghanistan or Haiti where developments--challenging changes
and circumstances require more than just disaster aid, but
require us to change prioritization or strategies around
development.
If I might, just a quick last question, Mr. Chairman.
The Development Finance Corporation is a new tool that
through its loan programs can reduce the cost of financing
development by leveraging private sector resources, and the
Senate just passed an important bipartisan bill that supports
the expansion of the DFC's lending authority to enable our
competition with China, something Chairman Menendez and Ranking
Member Risch really championed through this committee.
I would be interested in your views on how you ensure that
the DFC remains focused on development and what your role will
be in strengthening the DFC as we expand its capacity to
compete on behalf of the United States in partnership with the
private sector against the increasing influence that China is
having around the world.
Ms. Power. I probably do not have time really to respond in
detail, but just to say that, as a kind of Rip Van Winkle here
who was gone for 4 years and now is back in government, I do
think the enhanced capacity you all have given the DFC is, from
my standpoint, the newest, freshest tool in the toolbox.
Your continued message that this is a development finance
institution is really important. I did not have a chance, Mr.
Chairman, when you were asking about the sort of full set of
tools in the toolbox on COVID, developing vaccine manufacturing
capacity in Africa, where they are importing 99 percent of
vaccines, DFC has just announced a big deal with J&J in South
Africa with other international financing bodies.
Multilateralism, what we do, and that is going to bring
more than 500 million doses online coming from South Africa by
the end of 2022. I think that is just the beginning.
Certainly, my impression--and as the vice chair of the DFC,
my impression is that that is very much the orientation of the
leadership of DFC to meet these needs in developing countries,
recognizing that that is going to be profitable for everybody
over time.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Paul.
Senator Paul. Good morning.
Are you aware of how much revenue the Federal Government
brings in?
Ms. Power. Probably order of magnitude, but not the
specific.
Senator Paul. It is about $3.8 trillion estimated for this
year, last year about $3.7 trillion, but we are spending close
to $7 trillion maybe this year, a little over $6 trillion last
year.
So the deficit was of historic proportions last year, over
$3 trillion. It will be, again, $3 trillion or more by the time
the majority party weighs in.
Amidst that massive deficit, do you think that debts
matter? Do you think it matters how big a deficit we have?
Ms. Power. If I can stay to my area of expertise, which is
how we spend the money that you are generous enough to
appropriate, I am probably on safer ground.
I have my views as a citizen, but I am here in my capacity
as USAID administrator.
Senator Paul. All right. The thing is, is that we probably
do need people in government who do understand a little bit
about finances.
I mean, you are asking for a 15 percent increase in the
welfare that we give to other countries and, really, I think it
is irresponsible. It is the wrong thing we should be doing.
We should be conserving our resources, particularly
conserving them for our country as opposed to sending them to
other countries.
There is not a great deal of evidence that the money that
we launder throughout the world really over time has been a
benefit to us. There is a great deal of evidence that much of
it has been stolen.
We mentioned corruption. Yes, there is plenty of corruption
and often the government-to-government money has been stolen
through the years, but some of it is spent on things that are
just--if the American people knew about them would be outraged.
Some of the AID money went to spreading green growth in
Peru, some sort of climate alarmism, selling Serbian cheese,
venture capital fund in Bosnia, small business loans to people
who have been deported, and dealing with truant Filipino
youths.
In Afghanistan, we spent $60 million on a hotel that was
never completed. It was a shell of a hotel across from our
embassy. It became such a danger that our troops had to patrol
it and, ultimately, will have to be razed if it has not been so
already.
They will probably need more money to raze it. After we
gave somebody $60 million, the contractor ran off with the
money.
The people who want global climate alarmism to spread
through both AID and our defense budget built a $45 million
natural gas station in Afghanistan. The first problem was it
was supposed to cost $800,000, and then in the ever lack of
efficiency of government, it ended up costing $45 million when
initial estimates were $800,000.
That was the first problem. The second problem is the
average Afghani makes about $800 a year. Does not have a
regular car, much less a car that runs on natural gas.
So the thing is, if you look at the history of the welfare
that we distribute around the world, you really see a history
of both sending it to corrupt nations.
If you look at the money sent to the Mubarak family, to
Egypt, I think it is a billion and a half a year, but over,
like, a 30-year period I think it was $40-some-odd billion.
Well, Mubarak's kids were each worth about $5 billion.
Mubarak himself became worth about $10 billion, and I do not
think anybody argues that some of that was not gotten by taking
the cream off the top as our aid came in.
That is the history of it, throughout Africa, throughout
all of these nations, of people skimming off the top, but it is
insulting to Americans.
We are running a $3 trillion debt, and it does have
ramifications. What we are seeing is inflation throughout the
economy right now. It is an insidious tax. It hurts the poor
the worst. It is a regressive tax, and we are going to see more
of it.
It comes from people who do not seem to have an opinion
about debt, who just seem to just go along their way and say,
oh, I am going to help people. I call it the big heart small
brain syndrome. Give everybody money. Give everybody free
money.
Give the world free money, because we have a big heart and
we want to help people, but we do not see, really, the
ramifications of what the debt is doing to our country and what
it will ultimately do.
If you want to see the unraveling of it, look at Venezuela.
That is what our future will look like if we consider to not be
concerned about debt.
So my admonition to you is you should care about the debt
and that you should be aware of the debt in coming forward with
a budget that asks us to increase by 15 percent when we will
have a deficit of over $3 trillion this year.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator. I do not have much time to
respond. I would be grateful just to say a couple things.
First of all, I have made multiple endeavors to come and
see you. I would love to talk about the programs that you have
concerns about.
I actually think when I had the privilege of serving the
Obama administration, there were a number of issues related to
assistance to particular governments where were you and I had a
meeting of the minds, if I recall, unless I am misremembering.
On the broader sort of view of foreign aid, I just think it
is really important to disaggregate what we are talking about
and to dig into particular programs, and that is why one of my
priorities as administrator is to enhance the rigor of our
evaluations, to be accountable, to look at some of the programs
maybe on your list. Maybe they should be stopped or maybe they
should never have started and maybe we can learn from them.
If the pandemic has not taught us how connected the health
and safety of Americans is to people who live around the world,
I do not know what will. We are connected, and if we do not
invest in global health systems internationally, it is going to
be the Americans who will pay the price.
Senator Paul. Nobody is arguing we are not connected. It is
just whether we have to pay for everything.
Ms. Power. So you want the Chinese then to pay and to exact
their leverage in that manner? You want someone to do it, but
we are to be the freeloader on a Chinese-led world order? I am
not for that.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Senator Murphy.
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Great to see you, Ambassador. Thanks for your continued
service to the country. I wanted to try to hit a couple hot
spots in the Middle East in the time that I have.
First, I want to talk about Lebanon, a country that right
now does not occupy a lot of oxygen in this town, but were it
to disintegrate would be our and the world's obsession for the
next decade.
Right now, the economy is in freefall. The currency is
virtually worthless. The country's economy is built on a
pyramid scheme that enriches a set of elites, which have sort
of a frozen status quo for years.
The question is what is the best way for the United States
to use its aid to try to promote the type of reform that will
help this country sort of get back on a path to sustainability?
How can we change the current dynamic?
For instance, should we be considering, perhaps, a narrower
approach? I mean, my sense is that we have tried to put broad
conditions on our aid. Should we be thinking about focusing,
for instance, on one sector of reform, like banking reform, and
narrowing our ask?
What we are doing today does not seem to be moving the
needle. What would you suggest should be our approach to using
our aid in Lebanon as leverage to try to rescue this country
from a crisis today that does, frankly, within the next year
threaten to propel the entire nation into chaos, continued
economic freefall, and potentially civil war?
Ms. Power. Would that there were a silver bullet for the
gravity and breadth of the crisis unfolding there, I guess I
would just offer a couple associations and look forward to
maybe talking with you more about this.
First of all, Lebanon is a place where we have been more
successful than we have, for example, on a country like Yemen,
in multilateralizing our response and in getting Europeans and
others to step up.
I think if we were to go in the direction that you
describe, a sector-based approach, it would be essential that
other sectors not be left behind.
Second point, which, again, is true of every country we
have talked about so far today, which is governance,
governance, governance. Absent the kind of political unity, you
do not even see garbage collection occurring, right? State
formation, state erosion ends up being critical in terms of
making the partnership work for the Lebanese people.
Then the third and final point is there are huge demands
being placed on global humanitarian emergency assistance, as
you well know. Tigray now alongside South Sudan, alongside
Yemen, Syria, Venezuela. We could go on.
Just looking back a couple years, you would not have
thought that Lebanon would potentially find itself on that
list.
As the USAID administrator, I am both interested very much
in governance and economic development, but we are also in a
situation where we are having to provide emergency humanitarian
funding because that is how weak the governance and the ability
to deliver for the people has become.
Senator Murphy. Let me turn to Gaza.
According to the U.N., the main border crossing that we use
to get humanitarian goods into Gaza is operating only at about
50 percent capacity right now due to Israeli delays and
restrictions.
UNRWA has not been allowed to get insulin and syringes in
since October of last year. UNICEF has been barred from
importing epoxy into Gaza.
What are we doing right now with the Israelis to try to
ease these restrictions and do you have any hope that there
might be the opportunity to reopen another crossing?
I know this is a priority for this administration. We want
to make sure that only the right things get into Gaza. At the
same time, we are going to repeat history over and over and
over again if we do not find a way to relieve the legitimate
humanitarian suffering there.
Ms. Power. Yes, and maybe if I could, Senator Murphy, just
to take this occasion too to respond to something Ranking
Member Risch talked about at the close of our exchange, which
is I think we are all on the same page in wanting to ensure
that our funding goes to the intended beneficiaries.
Given the Taylor Force Act, given, of course, prohibitions
on any funding going to Hamas, that is what USAID and our
partners on the ground do. We live by American law and the
rules that have been put on the books and they have been put on
the books for a very good reason.
So I think part of what we need to do is unlock some of the
funding that is going to be very important for the
reconstruction effort and for economic development.
With our Israeli interlocutors, there seems broad support
for that. There is a recognition that economic deprivation and
despair helps create a receptive environment for radicalization
and that is not something that is in anybody's security or
economic interest to see happen.
I hope we will soon have an ambassador in Israel. Again,
the nomination is up here, and I hope, like others, will move
forward so that we will have the ability to maintain that
dialogue.
As it relates to Gaza, it is really important to remember
in addition to all of our vetting, we have a third layer of
vetting for anything that goes into Gaza, for obvious reasons,
but also COGAT, the Israeli system by which supplies go
through, is there as well as a check on what goes in.
You are right, that can produce delays and that is
something, again, in terms of people not getting the resources
that they need, that is not in anybody's interest, but it also
should offer some assurance for those who are concerned about
assistance not reaching, again, its intended destination, that
we have systems in place, again, to make sure that the
humanitarian development assistance goes for its intended
purpose.
Senator Murphy. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
For the members' information, there is a vote going on. It
is the chair's intention to plow through for at least a half
hour and then we will see where we are at, at that point.
Senator Young, I understand, is with us virtually.
Senator Young. Thank you, Chairman.
Administrator Power, welcome to the committee.
Here, unfortunately and tragically, in the midst of the
worst border crisis, arguably, in our nation's history, this
year, tons of illicit drugs will enter the country. Thousands
of migrants who are fleeing violence and corruption through
Central and South America will illegally cross our southern
border.
Now we are staring at yet another emerging crisis in Haiti
and the ongoing protests against the tyrannical communist
regime in Cuba. We have to do more to address and stop the root
causes of these crises before they arrive at our door. I know
this is something that has been emphasized by various members
of the Administration.
I believe the Biden administration's rhetoric has invited
much of this crisis, though. It is well documented that many
migrants would not make this dangerous journey and risk their
lives if their home countries could be provided some semblance
of security and governance, which leads me to USAID.
I do believe that USAID has a large and important role to
play in helping those nations regain their sovereignty from the
narco terrorists who are at the heart of the crisis.
So I am glad to see USAID has increased funding for the
international narcotics control and law enforcement efforts,
even if only by small measures.
Administrator Power, first, do you believe there is a
crisis at the southern border--I think the president indicated
directly at one point there was--and if so, what is USAID doing
in response to the border crisis?
Specifically, are you working with the Northern Triangle or
elsewhere in the region to stem the flow of migrants? Maybe you
could speak about that.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator. I am looking at the same
apprehension numbers and border crossing numbers that you are
and certainly see the worrying flows, as you noted, instability
throughout the hemisphere means that this is not only an issue
also of the Northern Triangle.
There are root cause issues in a number of countries that
we have to think through.
Because you raised it, if I would just say a quick word on
Haiti, I think it really underscores why economic development,
security, and governance are the three legs on the stool.
If any one leg is shorter than the others, the stool kind
of topples over, to use a probably tired metaphor. In Haiti,
the political dysfunction, the absence of political unity right
now combined with the physical insecurity and the spikes in
violence and homicide, combined with COVID and the exacerbation
of all the preexisting economic conditions, again, creates a
very, very potent and destabilizing mix.
You asked specifically about the Northern Triangle
countries. I was down there. One of the most important
purposes, I think, of any high-level trip, including by members
of this body, is to send the message that there is no
workaround for democratic backsliding.
There is no workaround for corruption. We cannot attract
the kind of private investment. We might be interested in
moving supply chains as we diversify our supply chains to some
of those countries. How do you do that, right, when the
corruption trends are going in the wrong direction?
I had the unfortunate task since I saw you last, Senator,
of rerouting funding that was supposed to go to the Attorney
General's office and the Supreme Court's office in El Salvador.
It had to be rerouted away from those offices because the
individuals in those offices were fired by the President and we
decided it was not a worthy investment because it had become--
these were sort of political choices and politicized bodies. So
we invested, instead, in civil society, organizations holding
that government accountable.
So we do things like that. I also think lawful pathways of
migration, the H-2B and H-2A programs, which are quite nascent
in the Northern Triangle countries, stressing and entering
their facilities where asylum claims can be processed in the
region.
USAID is working really closely with labor ministries to
try to staff them up so they are in a position to process
lawful migration claims. There are actually very few overstays
on H-2B and H-2A visas in that program, as I understand it, but
we have a lot to learn from----
Senator Young. Administrator, I am going to interject,
respectfully----
Ms. Power. Of course.
Senator Young. --just on account of my time expiring. Thank
you for your effort to comprehensively respond to my line of
inquiry.
Ms. Power. Sorry.
Senator Young. I will say that Senator Cardin and I are
trying to provide the Administration with tools to deal with
the corruption side of things, to actually allow countries to
be tiered based on levels of corruption, and then allow
sanctions to be imposed directly upon those individuals who we
know are responsible for various levels of corruption.
We think those tools will be effective at the State
Department and, by extension, assist USAID and the people of
those countries as well.
Moreover, I think immigration reform and ensuring that our
nation's immigration laws are fixed can be helpful. You
mentioned the various H-2 programs, and I think we can build on
the success of those programs.
Of course, border security is going to have to be part of
that. That is not part of your portfolio, but it bears
mentioning. We will never get major immigration reform until we
take that seriously.
One final----
The Chairman. Senator, I am sorry, but you are 1:38 over
and we have a vote on the floor.
Senator Young. I do understand. Thank you for indulging me,
Mr. Chairman, and I will follow up with some written questions
for the administrator.
Thank you so much.
The Chairman. Thank you very much. For the attention of
members, I am now told by the floor that because President
Biden is coming to the Capitol, the timeframe on the clock will
not be as extended as normal.
So I am going to recognize Senator Kaine. That will get us
to when they say they are going to close the floor, and then if
I can have somebody come back, we will continue. The next
person on the next side is Senator Romney.
Senator Romney. Cannot make it back.
The Chairman. Cannot make it back.
Well, let me see if I can stay and see if they do not close
the vote. So have you voted already?
Senator Romney. No.
The Chairman. Okay.
Senator Kaine, if you want to----
Senator Kaine. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Just three observations. I just returned from the Americas
with a group of six senators, bipartisan, from this committee--
Senators Portman, Coons, Senators Lujan, Hoeven, and Crapo--
Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, and just three
observations concluding with a compliment to USAID.
Number one, I agree with Senator Johnson. We really have to
grapple with root causes, and the root causes are violence and
lack of economic opportunity and weak institutions and
corruption, but they are very connected to the U.S. demand for
drugs. Just today, the CDC put out statistics. Overdose deaths
went up by 25 percent last year, highest overdose death total
in the history of the United States, and we heard this over and
over again and we know it in our communities.
The insatiable demand of U.S. citizens for drugs and their
willingness to send cash south creates narco trafficking as a
powerful and wealthy industry, and that industry creates
violence in the neighborhoods of Honduras and other nations and
people flee violence.
It weakens institutions and creates corruptions, and that
causes people to leave, and it puts a limit on economic
investment and that causes people to leave.
So we have to grapple with this in a multidimensional way,
but there is no way to deal with this without dealing with our
own demand because if we do not do that, we will be back
talking to the tenth president in the future from all these
countries and we will have exactly the same problem.
It does not mean the solutions are easy. My hope, if we
recognize this, is that we might talk about these immigrants in
a different way than we often do, because their pain is our
pain. Many of them would not be here if it were not for our
pain.
So we see them showing up at the border, like, how dare
you. Well, they are coming because of us. They are coming
because we have ravaged their neighborhoods.
All eight of my great grandparents came to the United
States from Ireland, just as you did, Administrator Power, but
my great grandparents did not come because U.S. drug demand was
destroying their community.
The people that I worked with in Honduras, 40 years ago and
the folks who are just like them today, they are deeply, deeply
affected by what is going on in the domestic reality of our
nation's life and they are seeking a refuge from conditions
that we are complicit in creating.
Again, that does not make the solutions easy, but as we
talk about people who are arriving under these conditions, I
hope that our rhetoric might be more compassionate about them.
Second, it would have been easy to rationally understand
this, but not until I went to the Americas did I realized how
powerful the U.S. vaccine diplomacy has been. We met with all
four presidents of these countries and the shortest meeting was
2 hours.
We usually do not get meetings with heads of state, but I
attributed it to they had not seen CODELs in a while, but I
really attribute it to their gratitude around the vaccine
deliveries. They talked about the vaccine issue out there and
that China and Russia will sell them vaccines and will make a
contract and maybe deliver or not, or maybe delay delivery.
The U.S. is getting the vaccines, and I hope--and I am
going to submit this for the record, Administrator Power,
because this is an answer for you and others--I would like to
see a chart about vaccine donations in the world and what the
U.S. is doing and what other nations are doing.
We are doing it bilaterally, but we are also doing it
through being the largest contributor to COVAX. I would like
that all on the chart, because the appreciation for what we are
doing and the belief that the U.S. vaccines are the gold
standard while there is questions about the quality of the
other vaccines, that gives us an enormous opportunity to
continue to build goodwill, and I hope that we will.
Finally, a thank you to USAID. We went to two locations,
the Albergue de Arguellas in Quito, Ecuador, run by Jesuit
Relief Services, but funded partially by USAID, and the Raices
de Amor in Guatemala City run by a local nonprofit, partially
funded by USAID, and we really just saw the tremendous need and
the creative work that we are doing.
The Quito facility was a facility for immigrant families
coming across the border from Venezuela, some from Colombia.
One described showing up with the family and just knocking at
the door, and it just reminded me of the old story of a
pregnant mom and a husband showing up and is there room at the
inn. No, there is no room at the inn.
Well, this was a place in a really poor neighborhood in
Quito, where yeah, there was room. You knock at the door, there
is going to be a place for you, and this is funded by USAID.
It was a real manifestation of the continuing crisis in
Venezuela and, to some degree, in some parts of Colombia as
well.
The second site was the Raices de Amor in Guatemala City,
which is for human trafficking victims, mostly girls under the
age of 20, as young as 13 or 14 who have--I was going to say
lost everything, but many did not have much to lose, who do not
have anything, but find in this small community in the heart of
Guatemala City some adults will care about them and, hopefully,
help them get on a better life path.
This is enormously important work in a region that really,
really needs us, and so you have a wonderful responsibility, a
grave responsibility, on your shoulders. I look forward to
working together with you and I will submit for the record this
question to try to get a chart that all the committee can see
to demonstrate the tremendous generosity of the American people
around the vaccines and hope that we can continue that.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Romney is recognized. I would like to ask Senator
Shaheen, since she has voted, to preside until I get back.
Thank you very much.
Senator Romney.
Senator Romney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Do not let them
close the vote till I get there. I will be very brief, and I am
not going to ask Administrator a series of questions because of
the time, but I would note a couple of things.
First of all, I appreciate very deeply the work that you
do. I recognize, as Senator Paul did, the damage that debt does
to our nation. I am concerned about a 15 percent increase in
your budget and think that is a mistake for us to be adding
budgets at this time.
At the same time, I believe that your organization has a
humanitarian purpose, but also a national purpose, and American
national interest is being fostered by USAID or we would not be
devoting the level of resources we are to the effort.
I would be interested in your perspective on our national
interest in the way we apply our resources and, perhaps, a
report of how successful we are in pursuing our national
interest in providing that humanitarian relief. That would be a
topic number one.
Number two, I also concur with the comments that were made
by Senator Kaine and Senator Johnson about focusing on root
causes, but with regards to root causes coming from the
Northern Triangle, I believe we met the enemy and the enemy is
us, as Pogo once famously said.
The problem is here. Our ability to change gang violence,
corruption, and so forth in other countries is, obviously, very
modest. If we are going to try and change things, it has to be
changed here.
Finally, let me just note this. I am very concerned about
the USAID employees in Afghanistan and the risk they may be
under, and would like to hear in a report to this committee the
level of threat to our Afghan citizens who worked with USAID
and whether we are getting them out, can get them out, and
whether they are able to qualify for the Special Immigrant
Visa.
With that, I am going to leave and go vote. So please go
ahead and respond. You have got 3 minutes----
[Laughter.]
Senator Romney. I will be back and will hear your comment.
Thank you.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
Your first question is profound, and even if you have given
me lots of time I do not think 3 minutes would do justice to
why it is in our national interest to support this kind of
work.
I offered one response in my exchange with Senator Paul
around the pandemic and pandemic preparedness where our
national security, our individual security, our collective
security is so linearly tied with other countries' ability to
get viruses under control because it is the paradigmatic
example of a threat that crosses borders and does not respect
border controls or problems without passports, as they call
them.
It is in our collective interest to see countries curb
their emissions, given the harrowing rate of warming and the
extreme weather events that are going along with that warming,
weather events that, again, are problems without passports that
do not respect national borders and that are wreaking great
havoc on American farmers, with American wildfires, with
flooding, with 118+ heat in Portland, Oregon, you name it,
which itself has really pernicious health effects all around
the world, but also here in this country.
Those are just a couple examples, but also, Americans have
so much to be proud of. We have so much to be proud of in
having gone into West Africa in 2014 and mobilized a global
response to an Ebola epidemic that otherwise would have become
a pandemic, and mobilizing other countries to carry their fair
share.
Same in the Democratic Republic of Congo in dealing with
the recent Ebola crisis there. If the United States had not
done that, Lord knows where Ebola would now be within Congo and
well beyond.
PEPFAR, George W. Bush's tremendous creation. Seventeen
million people alive today, lives saved because of the
generosity of the taxpayer, but also giving the world and
ability to get HIV/AIDS under control, relatively speaking.
We still have objectives that have not been met in that
regard, but, again, both in our interests in terms of the
health and welfare of the American people and so consistent
with our values and what Senator Kaine was talking about in
terms of people's gratitude and sense of partnership with the
United States.
Because unlike our competitors, we are not extractive in
the way that we provide development assistance. We are not
transactional. We are not asking for something in return.
We are not asking to make a buck on COVID vaccines when
people are in their hour of greatest need, and that is the
spirit in which development assistance is provided, that spirit
of partnership. As it happens, it then translates into more
influence in the world and an ability to advance our interests
in other ways, an ability to mobilize coalitions around things
that are more narrowly in our short-term self-interest.
I know I am out of time. I would love to respond as it
relates to USAID personnel and our implementing partners on
Afghanistan, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Senator
Shaheen might have a question in that regard as well. So
perhaps I can wait and say something on that in a little bit.
Senator Shaheen [presiding]. Well, thank you, Ambassador.
It is too bad that Senator Romney was not here to hear your
answer. I am sure he would have appreciated it.
Senator Van Hollen.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Shaheen, and welcome
again, Madam Administrator.
Let me start with a question on Power Africa. You were part
of the Administration that helped launch Power Africa, a very
successful program, in my view, but one that could be expanded
and has even greater potential.
Power Africa delivered first-time electricity to more than
103 million people and helped connect more than 22 million
homes and businesses to electricity.
I know this occurred before you were confirmed, but the
Administration's budget actually cuts the budget for Power
Africa compared to last year's level by about 26 percent.
So if you could talk a little bit about whether or not you
agree that Power Africa is an important program and whether you
want to work with this committee to restore at least level
funding for this program.
Ms. Power. Thank you. Well, let me just say that our
ambition is to take this flagship program and to expand it by
bringing in new private sector partners in other countries as
well. There is a lot of interest in Power Africa in Europe and
Asia and beyond.
I think the target now is to connect 60 million homes and
businesses to electricity by 2030, so to expand on the numbers
that you have shared. Again, it is how American development
assistance should work. We leveraged $650 million and turned it
into $56 billion in commitments.
I will share, just briefly, that I spoke with the Sudanese
Prime Minister Hamdok last week and, of course, just as the
chairman was saying earlier, it is so in our interest as the
United States to support those bright spots that exist
globally--Sudan, Dominican Republic, he was mentioning.
Unfortunately, there are not that many in terms of
governance and the trend lines in governance, but the very
first thing he wanted to talk about was Power Africa.
So suffice it to say I think it is an incredibly important
program. Senator Romney was taking issue with the modest
increase in the President's budget request.
I mean, just given that there are more conflicts happening
anywhere in the world right now than any time since the end of
the Cold War, given the COVID fallout and the rises in extreme
poverty of a kind we have not seen in generations, the fact
that routine immunizations are not occurring, kids are out of
school.
I mean, 15 percent compared to the state of the world today
versus 2 years ago----
Senator Van Hollen. I agree with you, Madam Administrator.
We definitely need to have the resources to match our ambitions
when it comes to our global strategy and priorities. That is
why I hope we will also work to increase the amount for Power
Africa.
Ms. Power. I did not mean to go back to that----
Senator Van Hollen. Yes.
Ms. Power. --but it was simply to say that that is why I
think that it is those other demands on our funding is the only
reason that you see that reduction.
Senator Van Hollen. I understand.
I would like to turn to a question that was raised by
Senator Murphy, and I think all of us, support continued
resources for the Iron Dome defense system and Israel's
security assistance.
I am also pleased that the Biden administration has resumed
funding to support humanitarian projects in the Palestinian
areas. As you know, the Administration proposed, I believe, $75
million in ESF funds to the Congress.
My understanding is that request is currently being held
here by the ranking member. I look forward to a conversation
with the ranking member and his team about that.
Have you had conversations with the ranking member and his
team to try to resolve that issue?
Ms. Power. We have tried to ensure that we can move the
money that we think is so critical to meet basic needs in terms
of food vouchers, livelihoods, youth engagement--I mean, again,
where the potential for radicalization is there and the East
Jerusalem hospital network. We are very eager. We feel that we
have the vetting mechanisms in place to offer the assurances--
--
Senator Van Hollen. Is it not the case that this is some of
the--or if not the most vetted money that AID----
Ms. Power. It is the most vetted money.
Senator Van Hollen. Back to you. Right?
Ms. Power. It is the most----
Senator Van Hollen. It is the most vetted money because----
Ms. Power. It is the most vetted money.
Senator Van Hollen. --we all want to make sure we comply
with the limitations that have been rightly established in the
law.
We also, I would hope, want to provide important assistance
as part of engaging with the Palestinian people. Hopefully, at
one point, getting to the point where we can resume the
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a two-
state solution.
Is it not the case that this is 2020 money and if it is not
dispersed by the September 30, you no longer can spend these
monies?
Ms. Power. I believe that is the case, yes.
Senator Van Hollen. So I hope the Administration will
continue to push hard. I will work with you to push hard. I
just think it would be irresponsible to allow those funds to
lapse, and I hope the Administration will use all its
authorities when it comes to that request that you have made.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator. I would just note the
combination of the recent conflict and then the COVID fallout
and the economic havoc and downturn that that caused means that
the needs are even more acute than the cycle of post-conflict
needs in that region.
Senator Van Hollen. Yes. It is reckless and wrong to be
holding up those funds, in my view.
So thank you.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen.
Senator Cruz.
Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ambassador Power, welcome.
Right now, Americans, in the eyes of the world, are focused
on the nation of Cuba, are focused on thousands of Cubans who
are bravely taking to the street, risking their lives to
protest.
I will say I have been disappointed by the responses from
the Biden administration that have been lukewarm at best. You
are someone who cares about human rights.
In your view, what are the protesters in Cuba seeking and
what are the impediments to their getting it?
Ms. Power. Well, I mean, you only have to hear the cries on
the street for freedom. You only have to hear the complaints
about the inability to access basic health services at a time
of a raging pandemic.
You only have to see the internet shutdowns and the
frustration that you cannot associate, speak, do anything
freely.
I am not there. Even if I were there, I am sure it is a
heterogeneous set of motivations for different people, but
people do not want to be repressed and they want to enjoy
individual dignity, and the regime denies them that.
Senator Cruz. So I believe the Cuban communist regime is an
evil oppressive dictatorship that regularly, as a matter of
policy, commits murder, commits torture, represses the people,
and strips them of their basic rights.
Do you agree with that characterization?
Ms. Power. I believe it is a repressive horrific regime
that has not ever met the aspirations for freedom and human
rights of the Cuban people. This is a government that day in,
day out, abuses the rights of its people.
Senator Cruz. The Biden administration put out a statement
describing what was happening in Cuba as the Cubans exercising
their right to peacefully assemble.
Do Cubans have a right to peacefully assemble under this
dictatorship?
Ms. Power. Well, we have seen calls to combat by the Cuban
Government that are reprehensible. I am sure you are tracking
very carefully the alleged disappearances of some of the
protesters where their whereabouts to this day are unknown, and
no, again, as I indicated, there is no freedom of association
for the Cuban people, nor has there been.
Senator Cruz. We are also seeing, in addition to protesters
chanting ``Libertad,'' chanting ``Freedom,'' in addition to
chanting ``Down with the dictatorship,'' we are seeing them
waving American flags. Why is it, do you think, that they wave
American flags?
Ms. Power. Well, this is something we have seen around the
world, and for all of our imperfections, we are a country based
on an idea, a set of ideas, that people are entitled to human
rights and equality and dignity.
I believe that that flag, our flag, certainly for me as an
immigrant to this country, embodies those aspirations.
Senator Cruz. Across the globe, we have seen this
repeatedly, whether in Cuba or in Hong Kong, and I think there
is no symbol today in the world that more powerfully embodies
freedom than the American flag.
Sometimes it seems that those protesters and dissidents in
other countries understand that better than some people in our
own country do.
Let me shift to another area, which is Gaza.
Recently, I traveled to Israel in the wake of the massive
rocket attacks that Israel faced, and at the time met with
senior leaders in the Israeli Government, who consistently
raised concerns about money in Gaza being diverted to go to
Hamas and going to terrorism.
In fact, we heard specifically about water pipes designed
to provide clean water and sewage being turned into rockets,
the same steel pipes that were meant to have clean water
instead being used as weapons of war and rockets.
Likewise, concrete meant to build homes and buildings being
turned into the infrastructure for terror tunnels to attack
Israeli citizens.
What specific steps will you take to prevent Hamas from
using the metal, the concrete, and the money that the Biden
administration intends to pour into Gaza?
Ms. Power. I am out of time to do your question justice,
but I have also visited those crossings and have met with
families that have in the past, at least, been able to hear the
sound of digging and the sense of anxiety and insecurity that
creates in the wake of, again, one of these cycles of conflict.
I can only imagine how chilling that is.
USAID has--we work really closely with COGAT. You probably
met with the Israelis who are themselves right there at the
crossings deciding what goes in, checking.
If we are talking specifically about Gaza, we work with
international partners, trusted partners. I was indicating
earlier we have for Gaza the most elaborate set of vetting
procedures that we have anywhere in the world. It is a third
layer. We vet not only the prime contracting partner and the
sub awardee, but the sub sub awardee.
Even though we do not have a big staff presence, we have
third party monitoring. Again, we are working in lockstep with
our Israeli partners and the needs are acute. We really feel
that it is extremely important.
We will adhere to the laws that this body has passed and
that are absolutely essential. At the same time, meeting the
development and humanitarian needs are in the interests of
peace and stability in the region.
Senator Cruz. Thank you.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
The Chairman [presiding]. Thank you very much.
Senator Markey.
Oh, sorry. I am sorry.
Senator Shaheen.
I thought that in all this time you would have gotten a
shot, but I am sorry.
Senator Shaheen.
Senator Shaheen. No, we have had people come so that is a
good thing.
The Chairman. Oh, okay. Well, you are next on the list. So
by all means. Thank you for presiding.
Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you. Again, welcome,
Ambassador, and thank you for the great work that you and
everyone at USAID is doing around the world.
There has been a lot of discussion in this hearing about
the impacts of COVID and the additional challenges that has
meant for countries around the world. It has also had an impact
on women because we have seen the lack of access to family
planning and reproductive health care for women and girls.
In fact, because of the 10 percent decline in use of
contraceptives, we expect that more than 48 million women will
have an unmet need for modern contraception and more than 15
million additional unintended pregnancies will happen.
Can you talk about how you expect to work to expand and
improve USAID's family planning and reproductive health
programs and what we need to do to increase access to these
programs in the middle of this pandemic?
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
Well, I think we have heard the whole range of impacts on
women from the pandemic, including the surge in domestic
violence, described as the second pandemic or a shadow
pandemic.
I would say that the combination of, again, making sure
that USAID is pursuing not only sustainable development, but
inclusive development, and what we have seen over the life of
the pandemic and we will get the data on this in a more
systematized way soon, but is on all of our programs whether it
is, yes, there have been kids dropping out of the school
population, but a disproportionate number of girls.
Yes, there have been drop off in health services across all
populations, but with the disproportionate effect that you
describe, of course, on voluntary family planning.
So I think the combination of our preexisting funding with
an emphasis on those disproportionately affected by the
pandemic plus, thanks to your collective generosity through the
ARP funding, that has given us an opportunity to go back into
our global health programming and ask, okay, what is the COVID
fallout component of this where we have to supplement what we
had planned to do to begin with.
Now, some of that ARP money now has been dedicated to
vaccine purchases, which was not anticipated. So the 2022
budget request is really important in this regard, but it is
going to take a long time. I mean, you could never go back in
time for the people who have suffered, again, these
disproportionate effects in any one of these domains, but even
to get back to where we were in, January of 2020 it is going to
take, really, years.
The other thing I would point to, it is not exactly on
point but is the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund. It is
not on point because it is not family planning specific, but it
is an effort in expanding WGDP, which existed and it was doing
important work in the last administration, but expanding that
effort and the resources dedicated to it to deal with some of
these very specific COVID effects on women, and happy to talk
more about that.
Senator Shaheen. Well, I hope we will see an ambassador for
global women's issues nominated soon to help address those
challenges in the State Department.
I do want to go on to Afghanistan because, as you pointed
out, I do have an interest in what is happening there, as we
all do.
There are reports out today that we have begun evacuating
SIV applicants who have helped the United States. I do not know
if that report is accurate, but, obviously, we have thousands
of Afghans who have helped the United States over the last 20
years who are in the queue, and in real danger if they are not
able to leave the country.
So I would like for you to respond to that and what we are
doing through USAID to help with that in terms of any Afghans
who worked with USAID.
I would also like you to talk about what we can do to help
women and girls once we are completely out of the country,
which I think is probably just imminent, and what USAID can
continue to do to help, particularly, women and girls in the
country.
Ms. Power. Thank you.
Well, in brief, our intention is to continue our
programming. We are every bit as aware as you of the
deteriorating security environment, of the Taliban's recent
gains.
It is hard to disentangle the development questions,
whether those development questions are relating to women and
girls or the population as a whole, from the question of
ongoing security relationship with the Afghan Security Forces.
So I think if you saw the handover ceremony where General
McKenzie now has, in a sense, assumed command from CENTCOM, but
looking at the ways in which we can continue to pay Afghan
Security Forces, vet them, maintain their ability or support
their maintenance of their ability to hold their ground.
Things have not been going well these last weeks. It is the
fighting season, but I want to start with noting the importance
of security cooperation.
Our partners want to stay. I think you and I have talked
about this a little bit in the past. Many of our partners were
there prior to 9/11 and have worked in some of these what I
would consider impossible circumstances and have found a way to
continue to deliver assistance.
We, USAID, and the U.S. embassy as a whole through COVID
have also learned to work remotely. We have not been out and
about because of lockdowns nearly as much as we might have been
before, and so that has given us some technical capacity.
We are consolidating our hub at the embassy, true, but have
an ability to, again, partner with our implementing partners.
So, again, it is the security situation that will, I
suppose, influence the cost benefit calculus of any particular
partner as they think of--especially those outside of Kabul,
but our intention is to continue to fund those efforts and it
is, certainly, what the Afghan people want more than anything.
Very briefly, and it just is too important not to try to
address even though I know I am over time, as it--thank you and
thank everybody up here for raising your voices on the fate of
our Afghan partners.
That includes not only USAID staff or embassy staff or
interpreters and translators who have worked with our military
or the intelligence community, but our implementing partners--
those NGOs that have been out there on the front lines
promoting women and girls' education.
Just to take the USAID staff question as a kind of proxy
for this larger challenge, about half of our current USAID
staff at the embassy are eligible for SIV, only half because of
the time requirement which is to 2 years, so they might be just
shy of that.
Of our 5,300 Afghan implementing partners, two-thirds are
not eligible for SIV because, as you might recall, the
legislation makes contractees eligible, but not those who
receive USAID grants or cooperative agreements.
As a result, we have to look at other mechanisms in those
scenarios to think about how to not create inequity as it
relates to taking care of those who have risked so much in
partnership with us.
What I can say, and I am sure you have been in these
conversations, is that this is a huge priority for President
Biden. We do have other refugee resettlement options. There is
an effort, as you as you indicated----
The Chairman. Administrator, I am going to ask you to
augment the record. I love your very complete answers.
Ms. Power. Always.
The Chairman. We have another vote coming up and we still
have some colleagues who have questions to ask. So with all due
respect.
Ms. Power. I never thought I would be the one to want to
prolong a hearing.
The Chairman. Well, you are doing a good job of it.
[Laughter.]
Senator Shaheen. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Shaheen.
I understand Senator Merkley is with us virtually and then
Senator Markey will be next.
Senator Merkley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
thank you, Administrator Power. I wanted to applaud the fact
that you are working to have USAID produce a climate strategy.
When do we expect to see that?
Ms. Power. I believe you are going to see it by October or
November of this year, of course, but let me get back to you on
the precise timing.
Senator Merkley. So in the past, we have often associated
economic development with the production of more electric power
in countries and supported various fossil fuel strategies to
produce that electric power.
Will we completely pivot away from supporting the expansion
of fossil fuel development of electricity generation?
Ms. Power. I am not hearing you perfectly, but certainly,
this administration's emphasis absolutely is on transitioning
away from fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions. That is
our emphasis in Power Africa.
I am the vice chair of the Development Financing
Corporation. That is absolutely the objective, as you know, of
new projects and initiatives that DFC is pursuing. So that is,
certainly, the strategic thrust of everything we are doing in
terms of transition in our energy dialogues, partnerships, also
in encouraging regulatory changes because that is something
USAID missions do well and apart from technological tools. We
know we are running out of time.
Senator Merkley. Great. So I am going to speak more loudly.
Ms. Power. That is better. Thank you.
Senator Merkley. Better?
Ms. Power. Yes.
Senator Merkley. So there has to be absolute clarity here.
We cannot continue to encourage the world to develop new
sources of fossil fuels to power new electric power generation
plants.
If you compare the last 30 years, the previous 30 years,
the changes are dramatic, and it is absolutely savaging the
western part of the United States.
Where I come from, from Oregon, we now live in fear of
summer and the fire season and the droughts that are having
such a huge impact.
So, in your role with DFC, the individuals within DFC have
indicated they plan to continue to finance natural gas
projects. Will you, in your role, say that has to come to an
end?
Ms. Power. Well, my understanding, Senator, and maybe I
should just get back to you on this, but is that that is,
again, the objective for DFC as well.
What I do not know is in terms of projects in the
pipeline--what their obligations are, but that is absolutely
the position of President Biden that we have to move in that
direction and it is my position as well.
Senator Merkley. Well, and let me note that the climate
impacts are having a massive impact on human health across the
world, and so when we think of the mission of USAID of
improving the health and welfare of people around this country,
it is just essential that USAID adopt a strategy, this climate
strategy, for a full transition to renewable energy and away
from fossil fuels.
Otherwise, we are just tending to continue to promote the
strategy that is bringing the disaster we are facing right now,
and every report coming out shows more and more people are
becoming climate refugees.
Ms. Power. Like COVID, climate change effects are now
cutting across, literally, every single aspect of USAID's
programming in a crushing way.
So I agree completely, and I should say and should have
said at the outset that, of course, I am working very closely
with Secretary Kerry and his team as they build out their
diplomatic push to get countries to make the kinds of
commitments they need to make so that USAID can swoop in behind
and provide the programmatic support to facilitate those
transitions.
A huge part of what we do, Senator, is also just deal with
the harms and how to mitigate the damage caused by the
increasing temperatures that we already see, including through
heat resistant seeds and the kind of research we do in food
security.
Because already the famine numbers, the displacement
numbers, the conflict numbers, they are already rooted in
scarcer natural resources and by virtue of hotter climates and
more extreme weather events.
Senator Merkley. Well, and you are absolutely correct about
the connection between what we do and what Senator Kerry is
doing, and as he works with the world to help people pivot off
of fossil fuels, it completely undermines his efforts if we are
continuing to develop fossil fuel resources domestically or if
we are promoting it through USAID or through the Development
Finance Corporation.
So many countries are less well off than we are, and for us
to say, well, we are going to continue to develop things here
at home, but we want you to stop and pivot to renewables does
not put a lot of weight behind the moral authority of the
vision that Ambassador Kerry is working to advocate for around
the world, and without U.S. leadership in this, we are in
complete trouble.
I will look with great interest to your climate strategy,
really encourage you to use your leverage with the Development
Finance Corporation for them to end their fossil fuel
investments and support, which they tell me they want to keep
doing, and I would like to hear a very different answer coming
from them in the future.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Merkley. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Markey.
Senator Markey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much.
I am very pleased. Just following up on what Senator
Merkley was talking about, I am very pleased that there is a
request for $600 million for bilateral climate change
programming within the budget requests.
Asia is by far the part of the world that is most disaster
prone. It experiences twice as many severe storms, major
floods, as the Americas or Africa, and between 2008 and 2018,
more than 80 percent of all disaster-related displacements
occurred in the Indo-Pacific region.
Can you speak about how USAID is planning to mobilize that
funding with those countries? Because, after all, it was, in
fact, the devastating tsunami in 2014 that created the Quad
format, consisting of the United States, Japan, Australia, and
India, to put together a humanitarian response.
So could you talk about what the vision is that AID has for
working in partnership with these countries on climate-related
disasters in the Indo-Asia area?
Ms. Power. Let me attempt to. While noting that your
question is actually more complicated than it would seem
because we have in the budget request, as you noted, a request
for an increase, unsurprisingly, from the last administration
as it relates to climate-specific funding.
Bear in mind also, Senator Markey, that that our emergency
funding request, our Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs request, is
also really the product of climate-related emergencies now
informing the number of emergencies that we have to respond to.
So there is conflicts. Of course, so many conflicts are
themselves related, as we were just talking about, to climate-
related scarcity and so forth.
I mention that because it is not only our climate and
environmental programming and what we might do, for example, to
help a country transition to clean energy sources or how we
might enhance disaster resilience of the kind that we have done
in Central America, where a hurricane strikes and far fewer
people die now than died with comparable hurricanes striking a
decade ago, all of that is incredibly important.
When it comes to just getting out the gate when those harms
have taken hold, and I was not aware of the stat that you just
described in terms of that decade of, again, disparate impact
of extreme weather events in that region, but that makes it
likely that our Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs funding is
likely to be steered in managing those crises.
That money would allow us to respond to disasters annually
in more than 70 countries, which is what we now have to crazily
bake into our calculation by virtue of conflict, but also of
this surging number of extreme weather events.
Senator Markey. Thank you.
Can I just turn quickly, if I could, to Haiti?
Ms. Power. Please.
Senator Markey. After Hurricane Maria hit in September of
2017, I went down to see what the conditions were and, clearly,
AID was central in helping these people through that disaster.
At the same time, they were still suffering from the legacy
of the U.N. troops in 2010 bringing cholera for the first time
in their history into their country, and it has affected
hundreds of thousands of people in that country, and now they
are in another crisis down in Haiti.
Could you talk a little bit, if you could, about the role
you see AID playing now during this particularly difficult time
for the country?
Ms. Power. Thank you. I think one cannot decouple the
diplomacy from the development and humanitarian assistance. Not
that you would, but, in terms of root causes, there has to be a
path to political unity. There has to be a recognized
government now in the wake of this horrific assassination.
There has to be a roadmap to legislative and presidential
elections, and USAID will support, of course, the effort to get
to elections as soon as practical and as soon as possible.
I think we have a role, of course, in seeking to strengthen
Haiti's sanitation. We provided, I think, 300,000 food vouchers
last year.
We have expanded access to health care, working in 164
clinics, which reaches 4 million of the 11 million people in
Haiti, I gather. So there is that kind of core health and
sanitation and other development investments and then alongside
the emergency responses because with Haiti, especially, what
the country has always struggled with and our investments have
never redressed in a durable way is resilience, is this ability
to withstand a shock, whether a hurricane, an earthquake, or a
depravity like this assassination.
So that is our emphasis and perhaps there will be more
resources now available for that as people focus on Haiti again
as we, unfortunately, tend to do in society, at least, in
cyclical ways even as USAID is on the ground throughout.
Senator Markey. Thank you. I do agree with you, that after
years of assistance it has not brought democracy or stability
to Haiti, and we just cannot continue down the same path
expecting a different result.
So we just have to have a new way in which we relate to
that country, as we move forward and I think we are very
fortunate to have someone like you who has this job, not just
for that situation, but for every other one of these crises
across the planet that are humanitarian crises that need U.S.
help.
So thank you so much for all your great work.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Administrator, I am going to just rattle off a series of
things because of time constraints. I will look forward to
speaking to you afterwards. There is a vote going on, on the
floor.
Certainly, in Cuba, we are seeing unprecedented pro-
democracy protests as courageous Cuban men and women are
demanding change in their country and end to the dictatorship.
They are being met with violence by the regime, bloody
violence.
I want to follow up with you on how part of our Cuba
democracy grants come to USAID, about $6 million or so. So I
want to follow up on how USAID can strengthen its existing
programs to support the efforts of the Cuban people to become
more free.
I am concerned that with what has happened in Armenia--I
mean, with Azerbaijan and Turkey's aggression towards Armenia
that the request does not meet the humanitarian challenge that
has existed and the exodus of people have had to flee to
Armenia. It looks so low. So I want to follow up with you on
that issue.
I would like to follow up on you on our priorities for the
U.S.-Colombia relationship, which is right now in a very
difficult set of circumstances--one of our closest partners in
Latin America and strong bipartisan support for that
relationship.
There is a series of challenges the country is facing with
the overflow from Venezuela and others, and then lastly, I,
certainly, want to follow up with you on the questions of your
trip to Central America plus what we are seeing in the
hemisphere. For example, I support the decision that AID made
with reference to changing some of our funding as it relates to
the actions of President Bukele.
I think there has to be consequences for such actions, but
I would like to get a sense of how and what standards we are
going to create to restore funding for its original purpose so
that we can set clear markers to those in the hemisphere, where
we stand to help your people, but you cannot, ultimately, do
what you are doing if you want our help.
So just a few items that I will follow up with you. They
are all important, and we thank you for your service. We thank
you for your very elaborate testimony today.
The record will remain open until the close of business
tomorrow.
With the thanks of the committee, this hearing is
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:33 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
----------
Additional Material Submitted for the Record
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Robert Menendez
global health security
Question. The President requested $800 million for global health
security programs and activities in fiscal year 2022 including funds
for 70 new positions at USAID to support Global Health Security
programs.
How will these positions be integrated into the organizational
structure at USAID, and how will they increase the ability of the U.S.
to help countries, prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease
outbreaks?
Answer. The President's request for Global Health Security programs
and staff will be fully integrated into the Agency's organizational
structure to strengthen its critical prevention and response efforts
around the world. With these additional resources, USAID will establish
Global Health Security programs and staff in additional countries and
invest in programs to detect future infectious disease outbreaks. These
program and staff resources will enable USAID--in partnership with
interagency partners, other nations, international organizations, and
public and private stakeholders--to build country capacities to prevent
avoidable epidemics, detect threats early, and respond rapidly and
effectively to disease outbreaks and other critical infectious disease
threats (including reducing antimicrobial resistance) in an effort to
prevent them from becoming national or global emergencies.
Question. What specific actions should we be taking with our
partners to strengthen health security and ensure we are prepared for
the next pandemic? How does this budget support such efforts?
Answer. The President's FY 2022 budget request emphasizes the
importance of USAID re-establishing partnerships with host countries,
interagency partners, other nations, international organizations, and
non-governmental stakeholders to build countries' capacities to prevent
avoidable epidemics, detect threats early, and respond rapidly to
disease outbreaks and other critical infectious disease threats, so as
to prevent them from becoming national or global emergencies.
Consistent with National Security Memorandum-1, USAID believes the
following areas present opportunities to work with our partners to
strengthen global health security:
USAID will continue to build country capacities to prevent,
detect, and respond to infectious disease threats through the
Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and related programs.
USAID will utilize the additional resources to expand country
capacity building projects into new countries and regions,
spanning Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America--
implementing a One Health approach working across the human
health, animal health, and environmental sectors.
USAID will replenish the Emergency Reserve Fund to the pre-
pandemic level, ensuring the Agency is ready to respond rapidly
to infectious disease threats.
USAID's request will support the objectives of the Access to
COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (the ACT Accelerator). This
initiative consists of four components with real world impacts:
diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines (commonly referred to as
COVAX), and the Health Systems Connector.
Question. How has USAID leveraged the lessons learned from years of
successful work in combating infectious diseases overseas? How
specifically has USAID leveraged the PEPFAR, TB and Malaria platforms,
networks and lessons learned to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? What
is the strategy for applying lessons learned from the work of the
Office of Infectious Disease moving forward and can you give us some
timeframes for defined results?
Answer. The U.S. Government has leveraged and continues to leverage
numerous programs and initiatives to help partners prepare for and
respond to COVID-19, including through the Global Health Security
Agenda (GHSA), the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR),
the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), and U.S. Government
tuberculosis (TB) control programs. USAID will continue to leverage
these and other existing investments and networks to respond to COVID-
19 and prepare for future outbreaks.
In FY 2020, GHSA programs utilized past investments and
platforms to support partner country COVID-19 response
activities, including contact tracing, risk communication and
community engagement, and coordination of public health
response efforts. Partner countries that were provided
assistance through GHSA were able to build upon the related
health security platforms and programs to mount their COVID-19
responses. For example, in Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal,
scientists and their networks of laboratories trained by USAID
projects quickly mobilized to rapidly detect SARS-CoV-2 in
early human cases by using laboratory protocols to detect new
viruses before specific tests for COVID-19 were broadly
available. Additionally, animal health laboratories
strengthened by the USAID projects were able to provide much-
needed surge capacity for testing of human samples during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of USAID's implementing partners that receive PEPFAR
funding for HIV/AIDS services have received COVID-19 funds for
response activities, including case management, oxygen,
diagnostics and laboratory support, supply chain strengthening
and vaccine readiness technical assistance activities. For
example, the EpiC and RISE projects have been providing COVID-
19 assistance in a variety of the above-mentioned activities in
more than 50 countries, including Nigeria, Eswatini, El
Salvador, Ghana, Kazakhstan, India, Indonesia, Mozambique and
Philippines. USAID has leveraged PEPFAR-funded partners to
expand access to medical oxygen through the procurement and
distribution of oxygen-generating equipment and related
consumables and durables, along with site preparations to
ensure the equipment is properly installed and necessary
clinical and non-clinical technical assistance to train
facility-level staff on the use and maintenance of this
equipment. Partners have helped strengthen and improve clinical
management of COVID-19 patients, including training and
mentorship for physicians, nurses, biomedical engineers,
community health workers, and other members of
interdisciplinary health care teams. Tools and resources have
been developed and disseminated in all areas of COVID-19 case
management, including IPC, home-based care, triage, mental
health and psychosocial support, as well as procurements
completed for essential equipment and supplies. In Thailand,
for example, training was provided on post COVID-19 care and
support to strengthen the knowledge and skill of the peer
community workers in order to provide appropriate care and
support to people who recovered from COVID-19 infection.
USAID's TB investments have strengthened the ability of
partner countries to detect and prevent the spread of other
airborne infections, such as COVID-19, including bi-directional
screening and testing for TB and COVID-19, identifying cases
through joint contact investigations, and supporting the
expansion of digital X-ray screening tools and introduction of
genotyping technology in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. In
many countries, TB staff are also working on COVID-19 responses
because they have the necessary skills. To mitigate COVID-19's
devastating impact on TB services, USAID developed 9-month TB
targeted efforts in seven high TB burden countries. However, as
COVID-19 surges in these countries, USAID anticipates potential
setbacks. USAID will continue to leverage existing investments
and networks to respond to both TB and COVID-19 and prepare for
future outbreaks.
PMI, led by USAID, adapted its programming to respond to
COVID-19 and to support the development of global guidance for
malaria programs to adapt to COVID-19. PMI-supported service
delivery platforms are being used to diagnose and manage fevers
and report on progress related to both malaria and COVID-19.
PMI central and bilateral partners have also built on malaria
investments to encourage behaviors to combat COVID-19. PMI
support to strengthen laboratory surveillance to monitor for
insecticide and malaria drug resistance is being leveraged for
rapid detection and surveillance of COVID-19 in multiple
countries.
central america
Question. What steps can USAID take to strengthen the relationship
between civil society organizations and governments in the region
specifically as it relates to improving democratic governance?
Answer. USAID is reinvigorating efforts to engage with local
partners and deepen locally-led development approaches. Local civil
society organizations (CSOs) have a nuanced understanding of a
country's current and historical context, including the formal and
informal rules of the game that shape how governance functions in the
country. CSOs are aware of the political actors and their interests at
all levels, allowing CSOs to identify potential levers and
opportunities for reform. In addition to providing direct support to
CSOs working to strengthen democratic governance, USAID also
collaborates with CSOs to strengthen their internal leadership,
management, governance, and technical capacity. This approach builds
CSO capacity to develop and implement policy, advocacy, and partnership
strategies and identify and engage government stakeholders, maximizing
the impact and sustainability of their work.
Beyond the provision of resources and technical assistance, USAID
coordinates with our interagency partners to facilitate collaboration
and dialogue between CSOs and governments; publicly expresses support
for constructive CSO initiatives that may be viewed as threatening to
entrenched interests; and, where necessary, supports physical and
digital security measures for CSO leaders and staff facing harassment
and threats.
In El Salvador, USAID is building the capacity of, and supporting
local CSOs to fight back against closing civic space. This includes
fostering collaboration among CSOs and coordination with local
universities, thorough analysis of the country's legal framework
related to CSOs, the review of draft laws, the development of proposed
reforms, and the facilitation of well-informed, unified CSO
communications with government officials and other domestic actors on
proposed and enacted legislation. This includes newly elected
legislators who are unfamiliar with international law on freedom of
association or Financial Action Task Force recommendations, the
internationally endorsed global standards against money laundering and
terrorist financing.
In Guatemala, USAID is facilitating conversations between youth and
Government of Guatemala (GOG) staff managing La Ruta, a government-led
dialogue with Indigenous Peoples to strengthen governance, security,
and prosperity in areas with high levels of outward migration and
illicit trafficking. USAID also supports CSO implementing partners to
complement and reinforce efforts under La Ruta, including formal
agreements with the Social Welfare Secretariat and mayors' offices on
cost-sharing, government certification of CSO-provided vocational and
technical training programs, and public resource grants for service
provision.
At the start of 2021, USAID supported a new campaign in Guatemala
called ``Safe Return to School'' led by the local non-profit FUNSEPA.
This partnership among USAID, the Government of Guatemala, and local
civil society has gained additional support from the U.S. Department of
Defense and the private sector. The campaign provides schools in
Guatemala with the tools they need to safely reopen while also
preventing the spread of COVID-19 and creates an opportunity for a
trusted civil society organization to be at the planning and decision
making table with the Ministry of Education.
In Honduras, USAID is creating dialogue opportunities between CSOs
and the Government of Honduras (GOH) to advance the priorities of
vulnerable populations. These dialogues are focused on creating
conditions for more inclusive electoral processes. USAID is also
supporting local CSOs to strengthen their institutional capacity to
combat corruption and impunity in Honduras in cooperation with the GOH.
For example, through a subgrant to the Association for a More Just
Society (ASJ), USAID is working with the Public Ministry to increase
access to justice and improve the efficiency of the security and
justice sectors.
Additionally, USAID is working with local citizen oversight
organizations to engage with municipal governments to improve the
quality of services. For example, within the 40 western Honduras target
municipalities of the Honduras Local Governance Activity, 38 citizen
transparency commissions monitored the distribution of essential COVID-
19 prevention supplies (masks, hand sanitizer, gloves) to approximately
97,993 households, equivalent to more than 400,000 individuals.
USAID/Honduras provides support to the National Anticorruption
Council (CNA) to strengthen its institutional capacity so that it
remains a credible and independent actor capable of combating
corruption and impunity in Honduras. During FY 2020, CNA provided
technical assistance to nine GOH institutions, including the Honduran
Social Investment Fund (FHIS), on transparent procurement practices.
CNA also provided oversight to FHIS to ensure the proper use of public
resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, CNA
trained 333 public officials and 132 non-governmental organization
representatives in accountability, transparency, and advocacy.
Question. Beyond the assistance USAID is dedicating to strengthen
democratic governance in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, what
actions does USAID need to take, and perhaps more importantly how do
our diplomatic approaches need to evolve to enshrine democratic
principles in these countries?
Answer. USAID is actively working to bring in new partners and
perspectives through more flexible and responsive grant and contract
mechanisms and creating spaces for dialogue, consultation, and
feedback. For example, the practice of meaningfully engaging youth in
the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of projects
and activities that concern them--such as youth violence prevention
initiatives--is increasingly institutionalized. Similarly, the recently
established Northern Triangle Task Force holds regular consultations
with local and international civil society organizations. Moreover, the
Agency is strengthening cross-sectoral and interagency approaches to
corruption and democratic backsliding. Additionally, USAID developed a
mission-wide anti-corruption strategy in Honduras, and USAID
participates in regular interagency rule of law discussions and
collaborates with interagency stakeholders at the Embassy in Guatemala.
In El Salvador, USAID responded to the removal of all five magistrates
of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber and the removal of
Attorney General by redirecting funding from the associated
institutions and establishing benchmarks for re-engagement with the
Government.
Question. What immediate and long-term policies, programs, and
actions are required to advance prosperity, combat corruption,
strengthen democratic governance, improve civilian security, enhance
the rule of law, and strengthen migration management?
Answer. In accordance with President Biden's February 2, 2021,
Executive Order, USAID is collaborating with interagency partners on
forthcoming strategies that both address the critical factors pushing
Central Americans to migrate and strengthen multilateral efforts on
migration management. This includes corruption, which remains a
pervasive and systematic challenge to country development throughout
Latin America and which feeds into and exacerbates the migration
crisis. Throughout the region, corruption drives crime, violence, and
migration; fuels transnational criminal organizations--including gangs
and cartels; contributes to environmental degradation; and contributes
to democratic backsliding. And around the world, rampant and systemic
corruption is preventing governments from making greater progress on
the Sustainable Development Goals and meeting the needs of their
populations. Data suggests corruption impacts and undermines the rule
of law (ROL), citizen trust, and country competitiveness and
investment, while driving increased risks of bribery and links to
global crime. Under President Biden's leadership, countering corruption
is a U.S. foreign policy priority, which he noted ``rots democracy from
the inside and is increasingly weaponized by authoritarian states to
undermine democratic institutions.'' Underscoring this commitment, on
June 3, the President issued a National Security Study Memorandum
(NSSM) (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/
2021/06/03/memorandum-on-establishing-the-fight-against-corruption-as-
a-core-united-states-national-security-interest/) establishing the
fight against corruption as a core U.S. national security interest. And
in order to meet this moment, I have stood up a new Anti-Corruption
Task Force to strengthen, elevate and integrate anti-corruption across
USAID's work, and to feed into broader U.S. Government efforts to
counter this scourge.
We are still early in this process, but already well underway in
exploring new lines of work or modalities, mechanisms and partnerships.
We know that this will require new ways to expand both our local and
global partnerships in order to empower civil society activists,
investigative journalists, and grassroots anti-corruption reformers.
USAID already does a lot of work in this space, but we know we need new
ways to expand and diversify our partner base. We will also seek the
development of new partnerships with the private sector, academia, and
groups beyond ``the usual suspects'' in order to expand the stakeholder
base for combating corruption. We will also prioritize exploring new
regional and global programming, especially as a way to strengthen our
ability to address the globalized aspects of corruption, including
illicit finance and transnational organized crime. In line with the
NSSM and planned USG Anti-Corruption Strategy we will explore ways to
pivot USAID programming to tie into broader USG efforts by other
agencies. And finally, we will also explore new modalities to enhance
USAID's rapid response capacity and help us support the journalists and
activists who expose corruption, seize on opportunities to push legal
or regulatory reform, and strengthen the independence of oversight
institutions.
I look forward to working with Congress to implement these
strategies and to receiving your feedback in the coming weeks and
months.
Question. What will USAID do to galvanize support for a credible
electoral process in Haiti?
Answer. USAID is currently supporting pre-election activities that
are intended to lay the foundation for upcoming legislative and
presidential elections. These activities focus on improving electoral
administration, strengthening the competitiveness of political parties,
educating voters on electoral processes, promoting electoral
transparency, and ensuring inclusive voter participation.
USAID is providing more than $3 million to the Consortium for
Elections and Political Processes Strengthening, which includes the
National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute,
and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
USAID is providing technical assistance to Haiti's Provisional
Electoral Council (CEP) through this consortium to build the capacity
of electoral authorities to conduct credible elections. This includes
technical assistance for strategic planning, information technology,
and training for CEP staff, the Communal Electoral Office and the
Departmental Electoral Office staff.
Question. What support is USAID providing to address the
extraordinarily high levels of gender-based violence amongst internally
displaced persons living both in camps as well as with host families.
The UN has reported on a rise in offers of ``sex for shelter.''
Answer. USAID prioritizes preventing and responding to gender-based
violence (GBV) from the outset of crises in recognition of the critical
impact this type of violence has on the lives of women and girls. It
remains central to our efforts, as part of immediate and life-saving
activities during all stages of humanitarian response. USAID funding
towards GBV programs around the world have continued to increase
reaching nearly $95 million in FY 2020. USAID funded 102 humanitarian
assistance awards in FY 2020 that supported field-level GBV prevention
and response and an additional 8 contributed to global research,
policy, and capacity-building addressing GBV in emergencies.
Collectively, these interventions supported over 3.3 million people in
27 countries and at the global level.
USAID humanitarian assistance, such as programming in camps and
host communities in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Ethiopia, DRC, Somalia, South
Sudan, Haiti, and Burma, prioritizes GBV activities that include a core
package of assistance to adult and child GBV survivors. These services
include case management, safety planning, group-based and individual
psychosocial support, establishment of community-based safety patrols
or resource collection groups, women's empowerment activities, access
to justice or legal aid, and mobile-based support or activities to
reach populations unable to access facilities in central areas.
COVID-19 has led to a dramatic increase in GBV, specifically
intimate partner violence, what experts are now calling a `shadow
pandemic.' In recognition, USAID is supporting humanitarian partners to
directly address pandemic-related GBV needs. Practically, this means
adapting GBV services for the COVID-19 reality, which may include
equipping social workers to provide support over the phone or through
virtual platforms, amplifying staffing of domestic violence and other
GBV hotlines, and training for health responders to safely and
compassionately support GBV survivors.
These approaches reflect USAID's commitment to the protection and
empowerment of women and girls in all humanitarian assistance: USAID
has a comprehensive set of safe programming and GBV risk mitigation
requirements for partner organizations implementing humanitarian
assistance programming. This has resulted in humanitarian partners
designing assistance activities in ways that mitigate risks, enhance
more protective approaches across all sectors (including the provision
of shelter assistance), and minimizing the potential for sexual
exploitation or abuse. Humanitarian shelter and settlements programs
specifically must consult with and ensure safe accommodation for women,
girls, and at-risk groups, and take into account the privacy and safety
needs of all beneficiaries, ensure they are able to safely access
shelter assistance, incorporate approaches into shelter programming
that enable women and girls to build or pay for safe shelter, and
minimize the potential for those responsible for overseeing or managing
the provision of shelter to abuse that position of influence or power.
As part of GBV risk mitigation requirements partners are encouraged to
enhance links with and referrals to GBV programming, supporting women
and girls with more immediate access to information, empowerment
activities, and support. Every humanitarian program that USAID funds
requires robust complaints and feedback mechanisms specific to sexual
exploitation and abuse to be in place, along with an implementation
plan for those feedback mechanisms.
Question. The United States has invested significant amounts of
funding in Haiti over the past decade. Can you please describe what, if
any, lessons the agency has learned from our experiences thus far? Is
there anything that the international community can and should do
differently from an assistance perspective?
Answer. We have seen important results in USAID/Haiti's
programming; for example, a 23 percent reduction in infant and maternal
mortality between 2012-2017, or the provision of Haiti's only 24-hour
supply of reliable electricity paid for by Haitian citizens. At the
same time, our own evaluations and external audits indicate where
foreign assistance has fallen short of achieving sustainable
development outcomes. Prompted by this data and the deepening crisis
over the past 2 years, we have sought a new development approach.
In preparation for the renewal of USAID/Haiti's Strategic
Framework, the Mission conducted widespread consultations with Haitian
civil society, private sector, government officials, other donors,
Haitian Foreign Service Nationals, U.S. Congressional staff, and former
diplomats and development officials who have served in Haiti--to
collect lessons learned and chart a new path for our work in Haiti. The
Mission also consulted Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports,
evaluations, and other studies, to gather insights and recommendations.
We expect our new strategic framework will incorporate the
following development shifts:
A new focus on people, communities and systems representing
a fundamental shift away from the U.S. Government's post-
earthquake model of partnership with the central government and
prior emphasis on high-visibility, large-scale infrastructure
initiatives that did not sufficiently plan for sustainability.
Greater localization of our work and engagement of new
partners--particularly with civil society and faith-based
organizations who have a track record of delivering for their
communities.
A focus on building resilience across the portfolio. Shocks,
man-made and natural, are so frequent and recurring in Haiti as
to be a part of the development landscape. Given this, our new
strategic framework calls for the Mission to integrate, layer,
sequence and better coordinate our programming, especially with
regard to humanitarian and food assistance, education, water,
sanitation and the agriculture sector to ensure that our
investments are mutually sustaining and supportive. In
addition, we recognize that our humanitarian assistance must go
beyond helping people after a disaster or conflict. As such, we
are expanding efforts in disaster risk reduction to help
communities better prepare for disasters and reduce their
impact.
Question. What efforts are underway to prevent a humanitarian
disaster in Tigray?
Answer. USAID is committed to providing humanitarian assistance to
people in need in Tigray. U.S. humanitarian aid totals nearly $488
million since the Tigray crisis began. USAID funding provides emergency
food assistance, health and nutrition services, shelter, safe drinking
water, and critical programs to protect the most vulnerable people.
Unfortunately, we continue to see a de facto blockade with limited
entry of humanitarian goods or personnel. Despite official Government
of Ethiopia approval of convoys and United Nations Humanitarian Air
Service (UNHAS) flights into the region, delays and murky explanations
from the Government of Ethiopia have led to the UN and aid agencies
facing major challenges with ground and air access to deliver supplies
to Tigray. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has also
expanded fighting, moving into Afar and Amhara regions and causing
further conflict-related impediments.
USAID, along with the interagency, continues to advocate with
parties to the conflict and fellow donors at various levels on the need
for a negotiated ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access. USAID is
also evaluating all possible avenues for getting assistance to those in
need. Our teams in Washington, DC, and in the field are working on this
day and night to try to get assistance to Ethiopians on the ground.
Question. What measures is USAID taking to protect its partners and
personnel operating in Tigray?
Answer. USAID takes its responsibility for the safety and security
of its personnel very seriously. We are committed to ensuring that
staff members are protected and have access to the requisite safety and
security training, guidance, and equipment.
A comprehensive safety and security plan exists for Tigray field
personnel, providing guidance and defining standard operating
procedures around potential threats in-country, related to
transportation, health, crime, hazards, and other risks. All USAID
staff, including the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), fall
under Chief of Mission authority and follow the security guidance of
the Regional Security Officer (RSO). Additionally, psychological
support is provided to staff through USAID Staff Care services.
USAID partners are required to submit specific and localized safety
and security plans that address the unique threats and vulnerabilities
faced by local and national staff and must budget to support the safety
and security of its personnel based on those plans. Our technical
experts review these plans to ensure they meet our minimum standards.
USAID is also funding the UN Department for Safety and Security
(UNDSS) in Tigray in order to support partner safety and security.
Question. The Administration's request represents a 10 percent
reduction from FY20-enacted levels of support, which makes sense given
some of our current issues with the Ethiopian Government. How are we
reprioritizing where and how we invest in the country?
Answer. USAID's Mission in Ethiopia uses a Country Development
Cooperation Strategy that integrates learning and adaptation throughout
the strategy's execution timeline. USAID will continue to ensure
disaster risk management and resilience are integrated into its
development approach. By extension, the USAID Mission will also
continue to prioritize areas with poor development indicators such as
food and food security programming to ensure Ethiopia is addressing the
basic needs of its people. As a reflection of the changing relationship
with the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray crisis, USAID's Mission
in Ethiopia has already pivoted portions of its development portfolio
and will continue to explore near-term operational pivots as
opportunities arise. Longer-term, the Mission will also engage in a
strategic review within the year to reassess the nature of the
development partnership with the Government of Ethiopia. This review
will be used to determine where additional strategic pivots are
required to ensure our partnership with the Ethiopian people continues.
Question. How will the budget support efforts to reach out to civil
society in areas outside Addis to underserved and underrepresented
groups throughout Ethiopia?
Answer. Expanding space for civil society throughout the country
will continue to be an objective within the Mission's larger strategic
framework for years to come. With inclusive political dialogue at the
national and subnational levels essential to Ethiopia's long-term
stability, civil society will play a key role in making sure Ethiopian
voices are heard at all levels of this process, and in monitoring and
holding government and other actors accountable for human rights
abuses, when and where they occur. Our Mission in Ethiopia is
continually evaluating new avenues to strengthen the voices of civil
society actors throughout the country, not just in Addis.
Question. How does this budget request support activities meant to
respond to the ongoing needs that will result from the many incidents
of gender-based violence that occurred in the course of the conflict in
Tigray--and similar incidents that may have and may be occurring
elsewhere in the country?
Answer. I am deeply concerned about ongoing gender-based violence,
including sexual violence, and the needs of women and girls in
Ethiopia. USAID humanitarian programming in Tigray includes protection
services for survivors as an integral part of our response, including
safe spaces, psychosocial support, and case management. USAID funding
also supports the expansion of GBV case management support, training
for social workers and community-based case workers, providing dignity
kits to GBV survivors, and establishing child-friendly spaces, among
other activities. The humanitarian budget request supports the
provision of lifesaving assistance, including ongoing needs resulting
from GBV in Tigray, around the country, and in other complex
emergencies worldwide, noting that the complex emergencies around the
world far outstrip our ability to meet all the needs.
Beyond the Tigray response, USAID/Ethiopia is working with various
civil society organizations (CSOs) and partners to enhance their
capacity for gender equitable approaches in improving participation,
inclusion, and accountability. USAID/Ethiopia supports GBV prevention
and response measures across multiple development activities as well as
in COVID-19 and disaster response programs. This includes work to
strengthen the ability of women and women-led civic organizations to
meaningfully engage with government bodies and to advocate for
improvement and implementation of legislation against GBV. This
includes activities that promote reflection, dialogue, and behavior
change around school related gender-based violence within the
development portfolio. USAID/Ethiopia is also providing spaces for men
and boys to engage in social and behavior change that promotes healthy
and gender-equitable masculinities. USAID supports civic actors and
media advocates to advance gender equality and women's empowerment and
to create safe spaces for participation of women and marginalized
people in the local governance process. USAID also promotes the
importance of women's leadership and meaningful participation in peace
building and conflict resolution.
Question. Sudan's civilian-led transition is at a critical
inflection point and the $700 million assistance package that we are
providing to the country will be an important pillar of support. Have
you reviewed the Mission staffing pattern in Khartoum? Are you
confident that the USAID mission in Khartoum is robust enough to
implement and oversee the amounts coming its way?
Answer. USAID's current staffing level in Sudan is based on years
of gradual programmatic and staffing declines that resulted from the
2011 separation of Sudan and South Sudan, as most development
assistance shifted to South Sudan. However, the assistance budget
increases that began in FY 2019 along with the $700 million
supplemental will require an expanded staffing effort on the ground.
Plans are in place to deal with the short- and longer-term staffing
needs to ensure effective implementation of programs.
Question. What analysis has USAID conducted on how to best support
the civilian-led transition, and how will this analysis inform the
prioritization of both the $700 million assistance package and the FY22
request?
Answer. The initial spend plan for the $700 million assistance
package reflected an approach that considered the priorities of the
Government of Sudan (GOS) and the USG as well as existing programming.
The analysis that went into this plan was largely based on engagements
with GOS officials, the U.S. interagency, civil society leaders, and
other key actors, such as donors and NGOs, that are on the front lines
dealing with Sudan's challenges.
Question. In Afghanistan, as the security environment grows
increasingly precarious, it remains critically important that the U.S.
continue to provide assistance to the Afghan people. At the same time,
accountability for programming that assistance will remain essential.
How are you rethinking the provision of USAID assistance in Afghanistan
so that USAID is able to accomplish both--help those most in need,
while ensuring that the assistance is not subject to waste or
corruption?
Answer. USAID faces an increasing level of complex, interrelated
risks posed by fraud, waste, and abuse. Identifying and prioritizing
known risks and existing internal controls are critical in determining
a balanced approach to risk management. The launch of USAID's 2021
Anti-Fraud Plan is an important step in managing this balance,
understanding how well the Agency is assessing and managing fraud and
supporting enhanced performance on Agency goals and objectives.
In Afghanistan, USAID and its implementing partners are well
experienced at delivering effectively in the challenging Afghan
security environment and we have developed systems of monitoring.
Through this multi-tiered approach and third-party monitoring efforts,
we will continue to provide programmatic oversight as needed wherever
and whenever USAID partners and programs operate. If the security
environment affects USAID partners' and programs' ability to operate,
third party monitoring efforts will correspondingly adjust.
Question. If the Taliban were to take control through the use of
violence, which appears to be where we are headed, will USAID continue
to provide assistance?
Answer. The United States is the largest single donor of
humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, and we remain committed to
ensuring every Afghan's basic needs are met. This includes providing
life-saving humanitarian assistance including: food assistance; health;
humanitarian coordination and information management; multipurpose cash
assistance; nutrition and protection support; shelter and settlements;
disaster risk reduction; logistics; and water, sanitation, and health
assistance; and continuing to support development programs in
Afghanistan that support the country's healthcare, education, and
livelihood sectors. Through our assistance, we seek to ensure human
rights--including women's rights--are upheld, Afghan civil society and
media remain operational and unrestricted, access to basic and higher
education are strengthened, and that every Afghan is able to access
critical health care services.
USAID programs in Afghanistan will adhere to all applicable legal
requirements. As needed, we will work with the interagency to determine
how we and our partners are able to provide assistance. USAID partners
are required to report all incidents of diversion, fraud, waste, and
abuse to USAID's Office of Inspector General. USAID centrally monitors
these reports, and USAID Afghanistan staff continually assess such
incidents to ensure that our assistance is reaching those for whom it
is intended and that our partners have effective mitigation measures in
place to help safeguard against similar incidents.
Question. As USAID ramps down operations, our Afghan partners are
especially vulnerable and face immense security risks. What is your
plan for assuring the security of these individuals who have worked
arm-in-arm with USAID for many years?
Answer. As the largest civilian assistance donor to Afghanistan,
USAID remains committed to our enduring partnership with the Afghan
Government and people. We remain committed to a peaceful and prosperous
future for all Afghans.
USAID is not ramping down operations. USAID will continue to
implement programs under its active strategy where conditions permit
while also pivoting over the short- to medium-term toward basic needs
and services, food security and livelihoods, and womens' rights. In
addition, given the increasing displacement of Afghans around the
country, USAID is delivering humanitarian assistance based on need and
where access and security allow.
For further details on the SIV process and Operation Allies Refuge,
we defer to the Department of State.
Question. Regarding Syrian border crossings. What further steps can
USAID take, in conjunction with the UN and NGO partner organizations,
to protect humanitarian supply lines across northern Syria and plan for
continuity of operations, given these constraints and the short-time
horizon?
Answer. USAID welcomes the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC)
passage of UNSC Resolution 2585 re-authorizing the Bab-al-Hawa crossing
for 6 months, with a 6-month extension following the issuance of the
Secretary General's report. Despite the positive outcome--gained with
significant backing and advocacy from the United States--USAID is
already planning for next year to ensure continuity of operations.
USAID's efforts will continue to include robust advocacy for keeping
Bab-al-Hawa open, reiterating the need for additional crossings, and
reviewing and supporting all other possible modalities for supporting
people in need. There is no alternative to match the scope and scale of
UN cross-border assistance, making it a keystone of the humanitarian
response in Syria that the UNSC must continue to authorize.
Question. Does the Administration still plan to work with Turkey on
an alternative cross-border mechanism as publicly referenced by U.S.
Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield?
Answer. The Administration was pleased that United Nations Security
Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2585 passed unanimously by the UNSC on July
9, re-authorizing the Bab-al-Hawa crossing for 12 months--6 months with
a 6-month extension following the issuance of the Secretary General's
report. Its passage avoided a humanitarian catastrophe by allowing the
UN to continue to deliver lifesaving assistance to northwest Syria.
Despite this positive outcome, USAID is already planning for next
year's reauthorization process. The Administration will use the next 12
months to explore all possible contingencies in coordination with our
allies and partners, including Turkey. Regardless of these efforts, we
know there is no alternative to match the scope and scale of UN cross-
border assistance, particularly in northwest Syria where it is a vital
lifeline for vulnerable people.
Question. I am concerned by the lack of a comprehensive strategy
for this [Syrian] 10-year conflict and the implications of that
disengagement for our regional and European allies and Israel.
Answer. USAID acknowledges the challenges of the prolonged Syrian
conflict. Given the vastly different regional operating environments in
Syria, U.S. Government assistance advances three complementary,
mutually supporting goals: 1) the enduring defeat of the so-called
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS); 2) the alleviation of human
suffering; and 3) preserving the current ceasefires and cessations of
hostility as we work towards a lasting, political resolution.
The United States leads the D-ISIS coalition and has made clear our
intention not to withdraw from Syria prematurely and to remain engaged
with European and Israeli allies. USAID will continue its engagement
with donor partner countries and multilateral organizations to
alleviate human suffering in Syria. The United States has raised more
than $300 million from coalition donors to support critical U.S.-led
stabilization programs including new contributions since January 20,
2021. Since 2011, the United States has provided nearly $13.5 billion
in humanitarian assistance and more than $1.3 billion in stabilization
assistance to the people of Syria, allowing USAID to carry out programs
to restore essential services and livelihoods in Syria.
Question. While U.S. stabilization assistance may help guard
against ISIS resurgence, how does it factor into the Administration's
broader Syria strategy including supporting a UN-facilitated political
transition?
Answer. Given the vastly different regional operating environments
in Syria, U.S. Government advances three complementary, mutually
supporting goals: 1) the enduring defeat of the so-called Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS); 2) the alleviation of human suffering; and 3)
preserving the current ceasefires and cessations of hostility as we
work towards a lasting, political resolution, per United Nations
Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2254. As a member of the National
Security Council, USAID is directly involved in the policy planning
process for Syria.
USAID's current stabilization assistance is largely confined to
northeast Syria (NES), in an effort to create a more prosperous,
democratic, and viable alternative to ISIS and regime-mismanagement.
The U.S. Government will not provide stabilization or reconstruction
assistance in regime-held areas until a credible political process
leads to constitutional reform, UN-supervised elections, and a
peaceful, political transition in accordance with UNSCR 2254. Our
programming also seeks to promote an improved relationship between the
citizens of NES and their officials, increased participation of women
and underrepresented populations in governance, and support to civil
society to serve as a check on government. Stabilization assistance
also is helping NES to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and expands
Syrians' access to essential services. Lastly, our stabilization
programs acknowledge the effects of climate change by working with
Syrians to improve their agricultural practices such as livestock
production, water management, and crop management. These are all vital
components to the stabilization of Syria; in that they equip the Syrian
people with the necessary tools to build a better future for their
country.
Question. What is your assessment of the situation at al-Hol camp
in Northeast Syria, where thousands of women and children are being
kept in inhumane conditions, potentially reinforcing the extremist
ideologies that characterized ISIS' rule? Is the level of U.S.
resources being applied to upholding security and humanitarian
conditions at al-Hol and similar camps sufficient?
Answer. USAID and its interagency partners have a shared interest
in the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and repatriation
of foreign nationals from al-Hol as soon and safely as possible to
prevent recruitment by extremists and radicalization of vulnerable
populations, as well as to restore normalcy for children who comprise
the majority of camp residents and are the most at-risk of abuse and
exploitation. USAID supports partners to respond to the humanitarian
needs of populations in al-Hol, including food assistance, health
services, protection, and water and sanitation to meet basic needs.
However, prolonged displacement, protection risks, and violent acts--
assassinations, smuggling, and attempts to indoctrinate children into
extremist ideology--require an interagency and international approach.
USAID and State will prioritize programs that ensure the lasting
defeat of ISIS, support the restoration of daily life for IDPs who
chose to return, and promote accountability for human rights
violations. USAID will continue to closely track the security and
humanitarian conditions at al-Hol and similar camps to ensure that
security conditions improve and the humanitarian nature of displacement
camps is preserved.
Question. With Yemen on the brink of famine, the Administration's
decision to restart assistance programs in northern Yemen and its
recent pledge of $157 million in humanitarian assistance, appropriated
for Yemen in the American Rescue Plan, are welcome sign of U.S.
leadership. What is your assessment of the steps USAID has taken, in
coordination with the UN and other international donors to ensure that
the Houthis are not able to divert or place unacceptable conditions on
international assistance?
Answer. Following a year of collective donor action on benchmarks
for non-interference in humanitarian assistance, and subsequent Houthi
progress on those benchmarks, USAID lifted its partial suspension of
non-governmental organization (NGO) humanitarian programs in northern
Yemen on March 21, 2021. In lifting the suspension, USAID established
new, stringent parameters for our partners that strengthen program
oversight, while ensuring that the Houthis continue to facilitate
timely access for USAID partners.
Many of our NGO partners have been able to resume programs under
these new parameters, including enhanced monitoring requirements to
track attempted interference. The United Nations (UN) World Food
Program has also started biometric beneficiary registration which has
been an important tool to ensure the food is getting to those most in
need. As of July 14, 6 of 14 NGO partners, reaching approximately
790,000 beneficiaries, have resumed humanitarian assistance under these
stringent parameters. We are working closely with other NGO partners to
support the resumption of their operations as we continue to advocate
for unfettered humanitarian access countrywide in coordination with
other donors and the UN, which has maintained robust advocacy through
direct engagement with the Houthis. As we did throughout the partial
suspension, USAID continuously monitors for Houthi interference and our
partners' access to populations in need to ensure that humanitarian
assistance supported by the U.S. Government reaches those for whom it
is intended.
Question. Given the lack of sustained U.S. diplomatic and
development personnel in Yemen over recent years, what steps is USAID
taking to ensure that taxpayer-funded assistance is properly monitored?
Answer. We place the highest priority on taxpayer funds
appropriately, effectively, and for their intended purpose and require
our partners to have proper safeguards and risk mitigation systems to
support the provision of humanitarian aid to those who need it most.
USAID also uses third-party monitoring to conduct external, independent
review and verification of our humanitarian and development programs in
Yemen and we will take action when needed. Findings from our oversight
of USAID-supported programs in Yemen led us to partially suspend non-
governmental organization (NGO) humanitarian assistance awards and
fully suspend our development awards in northern Yemen in March 2020
due to Houthi interference in our partners' operations.
In response to Houthi progress in meeting donor-established
benchmarks for improving the operating environment, NGO partners'
statement that they would be able to deliver programs without undue
Houthi interference, and the urgent need for lifesaving assistance,
USAID resumed support for humanitarian programs in March 2021 under
strict new operational parameters. The new parameters are intended to
enable NGO partners to deliver humanitarian assistance rapidly without
interference, include new monitoring requirements to track
interference, and give USAID the flexibility to adjust or terminate
funding to specific activities or programs, as necessary. The UN World
Food Program has also started biometric beneficiary registration which
has been an important tool to ensure the food is getting to those most
in need. USAID plays a leading role in galvanizing other donors and the
UN to continue robust advocacy efforts both with the Houthis and the
Republic of Yemen Government to maintain unfettered access to people in
need of assistance.
USAID has pivoted development programming exclusively to non-Houthi
controlled areas in southern Yemen, where we work with the Republic of
Yemen Government, development partners, the private sector, and civil
society to provide greater access to basic social services and economic
opportunities, building more responsive local and national
institutions, and supporting conflict mitigation at the local level.
Question. I am concerned with Lebanon's rapidly spiraling economic
crisis, which has pushed a majority of Lebanese into poverty and the
inability of Lebanon's political elite to form a government to address
the challenges facing the country. How will USAID meet the spiraling
humanitarian needs in Lebanon while pushing the Lebanese government to
form an empowered government that works for its people and makes much
needed economic reforms?
Answer. We share the concern regarding the economic crisis, which
is compounded with the other crises, within Lebanon. In response, USAID
has supported vulnerable Lebanese households with emergency food
assistance to over 620,000 people affected both by COVID-19 and the
Beirut port explosions. USAID redirected Economic Support Funds (ESF)
to provide short-term employment opportunities on municipal projects
for 150,000 people. This activity decreases the cost-of-service
provision (water and electricity), while also creating income. USAID
redirected funding to provide food parcels to more than 175,000 crisis-
affected children in vulnerable communities.
Our team of development and humanitarian experts continues to
monitor the situation on the ground to assess how USAID can engage with
our critical implementing partners most effectively to respond to the
needs of the Lebanese people.
We agree continued humanitarian assistance does not reflect a
sustainable strategy and underscore the need for critical reforms and
the strengthening and expansion of social protection systems. While
USAID's assistance can provide temporary relief to crisis-affected
households and businesses, systemic economic and political reform is
necessary to address the drivers of the crisis and prevent economic
collapse and state failure.
Question. Azerbaijan and Turkey's aggression towards Armenia
created significant humanitarian needs. I am concerned that the
Administration's request does not meet the challenge on the ground,
which I hope will be rectified through the appropriations process. Why
is the Administration's funding request for Armenia considerably low,
given the continued needs in the country?
Answer. USAID has provided humanitarian assistance for those
affected by the conflict while also supporting regional peacebuilding
initiatives that safeguard the lives, livelihoods, and freedoms of the
local population. Throughout the crisis in Nagorno Karabakh (NK), USAID
has adapted its programming to effectively respond to the complex
humanitarian crisis resulting from this fighting and assist the over
90,000 displaced persons that arrived in Armenia from NK. USAID is
coordinating closely with the Department of State and interagency
partners on the provision of humanitarian assistance to populations
affected by the fighting in and around NK.
Question. I appreciate the Agency's focus on improving Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and establishing an office to achieve those
ends. Please explain more precisely the role this office will play at
USAID?
Answer. On June 25, 2021, the Biden administration announced a new
Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in
the Federal Government that proposes to strengthen the Federal
Workforce by promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
This Executive Order (EO) seeks to address long-standing disparities in
the hiring and promotion of people from underserved communities across
all federal agencies. USAID is committed to complying with this
Executive Order and is pleased to note that many of the following
actions are currently under consideration or already complete: the
Administrator signed the Agency's 2021 DEIA Strategic Plan on the first
day of her tenure in May 2021. The Office of the Administrator will
update the strategic plan and the corresponding year 1 Implementation
Plan based on the results of the internal equity assessment completed
by the Agency in October 2021. This Plan will also be aligned with the
new Government-wide DEIA Strategic Plan published by the Office of
Personnel Management in November 2021; however, the gap between
strategies outlined in USAID's Plan and the Government-wide Plan is
minimal. The Agency will submit the updated Strategic Plan in March
2022, per EO 14035 DEIA in the Federal Workforce and will update the
corresponding Implementation Plans at that time.
USAID's Respectful, Inclusive, Safe Environment (RISE) learning,
and engagement platform is another important DEIA tool. RISE content
and programming includes foundational knowledge and skills related to
both USAID's workplace and programs. This includes content focused on:
defining respect and civility; promoting diversity, equity, and
inclusion by exploring implicit biases and unpacking micro-messaging;
promoting employee accountability; preventing harassment and
misconduct, including sexual misconduct; promoting inclusive
development approaches in USAID's programs; integrating basic
safeguarding measures in our programs to protect beneficiaries from
harm, including sexual exploitation and abuse; advancing safety and
security; and promoting staff wellness and resilience. Since June 2020,
more than 2,500 discrete USAID staff have participated in RISE
trainings, seminars, and events. This number includes more than 380
senior leaders, including 40 percent of all USAID leaders posted
overseas. The platform trains approximately 280 people a week and
continues to expand.
In collaboration with the RISE platform, the OCRD/DEIA Division
created an Agency-wide diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
Trainer Task Force consisting of over 20 trainers with facilitation and
training expertise to support the Agency. The Task force leads a suite
of five unique DEIA core trainings for employees worldwide. These
sessions are open to all hiring mechanisms and managed through USAID
University. Training content focuses on foundational knowledge around
key DEIA concepts such as inclusion, empathy, bias, micro-messages,
celebrating diversity, and promoting equity. Since the Agency resumed
DEIA training in April 2021, the Agency has delivered 744 total
training sessions provided to 419 individuals across all hiring
mechanisms, and 74 training sessions provided to 39 senior leaders.
Question. I know the Agency keeps statistics and undertakes
evaluations to determine how well USAID is doing to promote DEI. Are
you aware of how this may be happening, particularly as it relates to
promotions among the USAID Senior Foreign Service?
Answer. Yes. USAID is committed to a workforce that at all levels
reflects the diversity of the United States. Approximately 48 percent
of all career hires (Civil Service and Foreign Service) over the past
year were from racial or ethnic minority groups, and less than 7
percent were persons with disabilities. USAID has invested in its
Foreign Service (FS) recruitment and hiring processes, resulting in the
onboarding of extraordinarily diverse, talented employees. In addition
to recruitment, USAID's focus on DEI extends to retention and promotion
opportunities. The GAO's adjusted analysis of USAID data on FS
promotions in fiscal years 2002 through 2017 could not conclude that
there was a statistical relationship between racial or ethnic minority
status and promotion from these ranks, including promotions into the
Senior Foreign Service. (See GAO-20-477). GAO did not conduct an
analysis on employees with disabilities. USAID data from the FY 2020
MD-715 Report (https://www.usaid.gov/open/md-715/fy-2020) shows us that
USAID's Senior Foreign Service is less racially and ethnically diverse
than our total workforce and there is significant underrepresentation
of persons with disabilities. As a result, USAID redesigned the FS
promotion process beginning in 2019 and continuing into 2021. USAID
plans to publish a report in December 2021 on the historical trends in
promotion rates by race and ethnicity and sex/gender. The report will
be based on 5 years of promotion statistics for promotion-eligible FS
employees and will report will provide a more direct reflection of the
impact of the new promotion processes. USAID is also conducting a
barrier analysis to understand where barriers to employment
opportunities, including in FS promotions, may exist in USAID policies,
programs, and practices.
Question. Will you commit to having USAID explain these metrics and
methods for improving DEI to this Committee?
Answer. USAID is committed to transparency and accountability as it
relates to the data we collect and analyze in our Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion, and Accessibility programs. A key component of this
transparency is identifying and addressing data gaps that perpetuate an
incomplete picture of DEIA at USAID. USAID stands prepared to implement
and utilize credible, up-to-date methodologies to analyze data and draw
conclusions that inform future DEIA initiatives and priorities.
Question. Given the ``brain drain'' that occurred over the last few
years, how is the Agency approaching the need to replace expertise and
how is it approaching recruiting new, but seasoned talent?
Answer. USAID is working to attract and retain the brightest minds
that will help the Agency achieve its mission. USAID is engaging and
recruiting diverse quality talent through targeted outreach and
recruitment events. These efforts will expand and maintain partnerships
with organizations serving underrepresented groups (URG) to source
eligible candidates for employment opportunities. USAID recognizes that
the approach will provide additional opportunities to reach talent
pipelines from non-traditional sources including community colleges,
high schools, alumni groups, and professional organizations. USAID will
establish a candidate repository database to support the non-
competitive employment referral process to increase the hiring of
persons with disabilities (PWD) and veterans. Announcements issued via
USAJobs will solicit candidate resumes for non-competitive employment
consideration to supplement outreach and recruitment efforts.
USAID has a strong hiring pipeline and approach and anticipates
reaching its targeted staffing levels in FY 2021 for the Civil Service
(CS) and Foreign Service (FS). As of June 2021, USAID reached 96
percent of the CS hiring target and 91 percent for FS employees
onboard. Additionally, 210 CS candidates are in the hiring pipeline and
USAID is identifying a broader pool of approximately 350 FS candidates
that will ensure a sufficient talent pool is available to maintain
backstop-specific rosters of candidates who are fully cleared. USAID
also received over 20,000 applications to the Foreign Service between
March 2020 and March 2021. This will ensure USAID is well-positioned to
hire for attrition to maintain the targets and to surge as needed
across specific backstops.
Question. USAID's greatest asset is the international development
and humanitarian experts on staff. How are you establishing a culture
where the Agency's actions are based on the insights and talents of its
experts?
Answer. The USAID Leadership Philosophy guides leadership
development programs and practices across the Agency. The Philosophy
embodies what it means to be a leader for everyone USAID employs,
irrespective of position, level, or hiring mechanism, by articulating a
common understanding of desired leadership practices and behaviors that
all staff should demonstrate. USAID's Leadership Philosophy enables
leadership at all levels to foster a culture of respect, learning, and
accountability. At USAID, we believe leaders:
Inspire: Leaders cultivate a passion for mission in
ourselves and our partners, and champion a collective vision.
Listen: Leaders create opportunities for all voices and
perspectives to be heard and valued in an environment of trust.
Develop Leaders: Leaders strengthen the workforce through
continuous learning and regular coaching and mentoring.
Promote Well-being: Leaders are mindful and care for the
well-being of ourselves and others.
Innovate: Leaders encourage informed risk-taking and inspire
curiosity, creativity, and innovation.
Act and Empower: Leaders make informed decisions, delegate
authority, communicate the decision-making process openly, and
ensure timely action.
Advance Accountability: Leaders hold themselves, colleagues,
and team accountable for doing what they say they will do.
USAID is committed to fostering a culture that utilizes and
elevates the expertise of our international development and
humanitarian experts.
Question. I understand politics has a role in establishing
priorities, what are you doing to assure that policy solutions and
strategies for solving problems are guided by evidence and expertise
and are relatively free of politics?
Answer. Consistent with long-standing practice, all of USAID's
policies and strategies are expected to be evidence-based. The Agency's
internal regulations governing policy development (ADS 200) establish a
strong evidence base as one of four principles that all policies and
strategies must embrace, defining ``evidence-based policy'' as:
. . . grounded in research, analysis, and conclusions
supported by evidence. Evidence-based policies accurately
reflect the current state of knowledge in a particular field
and current practices and approaches.
To ensure that standard is upheld, USAID regulations require that
before they are finalized, development policies must undergo internal
and external peer review through formal periods of internal
consultation and public comment.
Building on a long history of using evidence for program
management, USAID's Evaluation Policy (2011) was one of the first of
its kind among federal agencies, and the Foreign Aid Transparency and
Accountability Act of 2016 was based in part on that policy. USAID is
also implementing the Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act
of 2018 and has completed an assessment of evidence capacity at all
levels of the Agency as required under that Act. In addition, USAID's
Program Cycle Operational Policy integrates evidence into all program
planning and management processes. Operating Units have clear
guidelines and requirements for assuring the quality and responsible
use of data to guide program design and adaptations.
In 2019, the Office of Management and Budget determined that USAID
was one of only three agencies out of 22 that were fully compliant with
their standards for transparency and accountability. In 2020, the
evidence-in-government advocacy organization Results for America ranked
USAID second in their Federal Standard of Excellence, an annual
assessment of the evidence practices among nine major Departments and
Agencies.
Question. China's growing presence and influence in the economic
development of developing countries reaches far beyond its neighbors--
The Belt and Road Initiative is present on nearly every continent. What
is USAID doing to counterbalance China's economic influence,
particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia?
Answer. USAID plays a leading role in the Prosper Africa
initiative, which is a whole-of-government effort across 17
participating departments and agencies--about our shared commitment to
Africa. Prosper Africa's integrated, multi-channel messaging campaign,
which includes the rollout of the new Prosper Africa brand at
prosperafrica.gov, is a critical tool for counterbalancing PRC
influence across the continent. Because businesses don't invest in what
they can't see, Prosper Africa makes opportunities visible--reducing
misperceptions of risk, driving private sector interest, and fostering
new connections between U.S. and African businesses, investors, and
workers.
Through Prosper Africa, the USG works to unlock billions in U.S.
private capital flows to promote Africa's economic development,
providing governments with high-quality, private financing as an
alternative to PRC-backed financing arrangements. U.S. investments
under Prosper Africa follow an affirmative development model as opposed
to those from the PRC: they contribute to local job creation, greater
transparency, local economic development, citizen empowerment, climate-
smart solutions, and improved labor and environmental standards.
Since launching the initiative in June 2019, the USG has helped to
close 500 two-way trade and investment deals across 44 African
countries for an estimated value of $47 billion. This includes an
estimated $21 billion in U.S. exports to Africa, equivalent to 100,000
American jobs. USAID has also built a $10 billion pipeline of
institutional investment deals. By tapping into U.S. institutional
investors--the largest pool of underutilized capital in the world--
Prosper Africa both drives investment in Africa and bolsters the
pensions of American workers.
USAID is partnering with the U.S. and African financial services
sector to strategically deploy blended financing resources to develop
cost-effective trade and investment financing tools that position U.S.
and African firms to better compete with firms receiving subsidized
loans, including those from the PRC. Prosper Africa also helps American
companies compete on an even playing field by sharing timely
information on new opportunities, providing comprehensive packages of
assistance, and fostering trade and investment policies that promote
transparency and competition. This includes targeted engagement and
technical assistance for small and medium-sized businesses, including
those led by women and members of the African Diaspora across the
United States, to drive job creation and foster shared prosperity.
Through these activities, Prosper Africa demonstrates U.S.
competitiveness abroad and creates jobs at home, advancing a foreign
policy that serves the American middle class. USAID's upcoming $500
million Africa Trade Initiative will increase the level of technical
assistance available for American and African firms alike.
Weak rule of law, lack of transparency and lack of accountability
within Central Asian government institutions allow the PRC to advance
its interests with predatory loans, one-sided trade arrangements, and
corruption. Many governments owe a substantial percentage of their
total external debt to the Export-Import Bank of China, especially
Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic with each owing around 50 percent of
their total external debt to the PRC. Central Asian governments are
beginning to recognize the perils of China's growing economic
influence, including in the 5G digital space, and are seeking
alternative financing, trade, and investment options to diversify away
from the PRC.
In alignment with the whole-of-government Central Asia Strategy,
USAID programming promotes Central Asia's economic independence by:
developing roadmaps for long-term debt-reduction strategies, including
external debt owed to the PRC and Russia; improving the business
enabling environment by strengthening the rule of law, transparency and
accountability; promoting media literacy, independent media and
investigative journalism to offer fair and balanced coverage of
economic affairs; providing alternative trade and investment channels,
especially intra-regionally within Central Asia; supporting economic
diversification; increasing energy independence; and, supporting
regional integration, self-sufficiency, and independence from PRC
malign influence.
Question. How does USAID account for China's--actual or potential--
economic development presence in countries where USAID has a mission?
Answer. USAID works with our partner countries and the private
sector to identify sustainable alternatives to development needs than
those offered by the People' Republic of China's (PRC) non-transparent
development model. USAID works to leverage additional resources and
catalyze private sector investment in its partner countries across a
wide variety of sectors that are of key interest to the PRC, including
infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and digital connectivity. USAID
provides technical assistance to governments and works with the private
sector to help advance reforms to laws, regulations, and policies to
ensure fair and open market competition, and level the playing field
for legitimate players. On infrastructure particularly, USAID works
closely with partner governments to build their capacity to plan,
budget for, implement, and manage climate-resilient, sustainable,
transparent, and high-quality infrastructure projects. We also work to
advance the leadership of new development partners, such as the India-
led Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. These efforts are
often a viable alternative against the PRC's Belt and Road initiative,
enabling countries to better determine their infrastructure needs.
Question. At $455 million, Colombia represents the Administration's
largest country request for Latin America, underscoring the continued
priority that the U.S. places on this strategic partnership. What are
USAID's programmatic priorities in Colombia and how will the budget
request help address the major challenges facing Colombia, including
the ongoing social unrest and combating the COVID-19 pandemic?
Answer. In Colombia, USAID programs fully support the
Administration's ``whole-of-government'' approach to implementing the
historic 2016 Peace Accords, focusing program investments on
governance, citizen security and rule of law in former conflict areas
known as ``Peace Geographies.'' Increases in funding continue to
address the regional Venezuelan migration crisis, support efforts to
expand state presence, and create the right conditions for economic
opportunities to flourish, including by promoting alternative
livelihoods in areas of high coca production.
Since the Venezuela Regional crisis began in 2018, USAID has
provided $453 million in humanitarian assistance in Colombia. This
humanitarian assistance included emergency food, health, and other
direct assistance for Venezuelan migrants, refugees and host
communities. USAID also prioritizes multi-sectoral humanitarian
assistance for Colombian internally displaced individuals, as well as
food assistance for COVID-affected Colombians.
In support of Peace Accords implementation, our USAID portfolio
priorities in Colombia are land titling, rural economic development,
ethnic community support, human rights and rule of law activities.
United States' COVID-19 support to Colombia continues and has
expanded testing to vulnerable communities and helps increase their
access to high-quality care. USAID has established biosafety and
infection prevention protocols and strengthened the Colombian health
systems' resiliency to withstand future shocks. Testing, tracing and
isolation plans and strategic communication were also devised to assist
individuals outside of the Colombian health system.
USAID also continues to assist in mitigating ongoing social unrest.
In Cali, Medellin, and Bogota, we are facilitating ongoing dialogue
between various strike organizers' leadership and Colombian officials.
Question. Does the budget's climate program numbers represent an
amalgamation of programs that are otherwise covered by Development
Assistance, Economic Support Fund, and other accounts?
Answer. The USAID FY 2022 climate budget request consists of funds
from the Development Assistance; Economic Support Fund; and Assistance
for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia accounts.
Question. Will you please provide the Committee a crosswalk of the
amounts and programs the Administration considers climate programs,
including a delineation between requests for programs that are existing
programs (but have a climate action nexus) and new programs, and any
requests for programs or activities that are new?
Answer. The FY 2022 President's Budget Request includes $642
million in the adaptation, renewable energy, and sustainable landscapes
program areas, which is $208 million above the FY 2021 operating year
budget. The additional $208 million requested increases funding for
existing programs, and to start new programs in high-priority
countries.
Starting new adaptation, renewable energy, and sustainable
landscapes programs in additional countries will be based on technical
criteria. For example, USAID partner countries that are highly
vulnerable to climate change that lack strong governance and economic
capacity to adapt to and recover from natural disasters and other
climate-related impacts would be adaptation priorities; high-and
growing-emitter countries would be priorities for renewable energy; and
countries with globally important forests and other landscapes--
especially if they are threatened by land use change--would be
sustainable landscapes priorities.
Additional direct adaptation funding would enable the Agency to
mobilize additional adaptation financing, support partner country
implementation of their National Adaptation Plans, and allow for
mainstreaming of climate considerations across non-climate USAID
development programming such as democracy and governance, health, and
water. Adaptation-funded climate research and analysis, pilot programs,
and technical staff can pave the way for adaptation actions that
contribute to the success and sustainability of other development
sectors' results.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Question. How is USAID looking to improve its support for the
adaptation needs of countries and communities that are most vulnerable
to the effects of climate change?
Answer. The FY 2022 request includes a significant increase in
direct adaptation resources for USAID to expand successful existing
programming and launch new initiatives. These efforts will support the
adaptation needs of countries and communities most vulnerable to the
effects of climate change. USAID's FY 2022 Adaptation Request,
including direct and indirect adaptation funding, is $205 million,
which is $49.5 million above the FY 2021 653(a) level--this includes an
increase of $82.9 million in direct adaptation resources. The
additional FY 2022 adaptation resources will be crucial to ensuring
that USAID can elevate and mainstream climate change adaptation across
all USAID development programming. USAID is further advancing efforts
to expand diversity and inclusion throughout its programming, including
by prioritizing communities most vulnerable to climate change. These
efforts will be outlined in USAID's forthcoming Climate Strategy, which
is anticipated to be released in November 2021.
With additional FY 2022 resources, USAID will be able to increase
technical support to the field to strengthen existing development and
humanitarian programming by enhancing overall resilience to the effects
of climate change, and ensure new programs support adaptation
objectives.
Direct adaptation funding will further allow USAID to expand
support to partner countries to achieve adaptation objectives included
in their Nationally Determined Contributions and execute National
Adaptation Plans and other adaptation priorities. USAID's investments
in climate change adaptation include: mobilizing public or private
sources of funding and/or financing for actions that increase
resilience to climate-related risks; improving access to or use of
weather and climate information and early warning systems for decision-
making to reduce climate-related risks in climate-sensitive areas or
sectors; supporting formal and informal governance and management
processes to address climate-related risks, including engagement,
planning, policy, strategy and budgeting; and supporting actions that
increase resilience to weather- and climate-related risks at the
community, national, and global scales.
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator James Risch
Question. The budget includes a request for $1 billion for global
health security, ``to prevent, detect, and respond to future biological
threats and pandemics.''
How should these resources be managed and prioritized?
Answer. The President's FY 2022 budget request demonstrates the
importance of USAID's work in partnership with host countries,
interagency partners, other nations, international organizations, and
non-governmental stakeholders to build countries' capacities to prevent
avoidable epidemics, detect threats early, and respond rapidly to
disease outbreaks and other critical infectious disease threats, to
prevent them from becoming national or global emergencies.
Consistent with National Security Memorandum-1, USAID believes
these resources should be prioritized in the following areas:
Build country capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to
infectious disease threats through the Global Health Security
Agenda (GHSA) and related programs. USAID will utilize the
additional resources to expand country capacity building
projects into new countries and regions, spanning Africa, Asia,
the Middle East, and Latin America--implementing a One Health
approach working across the human health, animal health, and
environmental sectors;
Replenish the Emergency Reserve Fund to the pre-pandemic
level, ensuring the Agency is ready to respond to infectious
disease threats; and
Support the objectives of the Access to COVID-19 Tools
Accelerator (ACT Accelerator). This initiative consists of four
components with real world impacts: diagnostics, therapeutics,
vaccines (commonly referred to as COVAX), and the Health
Systems Connector.
Question. Do you agree with the President, the Secretary of State,
and the Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security that
the Department of State must play a leading role in policy coordination
of these funds?
Answer. President Biden has laid out a global health security
coordination structure in National Security Memorandum-1, which places
the NSC at the center of coordination and has strong roles and
responsibilities for the relevant Departments and Agencies, including
the Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and USAID. USAID
works closely with the Department of State, the CDC and others to
ensure we are positioned to prevent or respond to future pandemics.
Ensuring that the U.S. Government is optimally postured and USAID is
bringing to bear our unique capabilities, not just in health but also
in crisis response and broader development expertise, is one of my top
priorities. I agree we need to take a hard look to identify ways to
enhance our impact both globally and within the U.S. Government.
USAID agrees that the Department of State has a critical role in
the U.S. Government's broader global health security effort to oversee
and lead diplomatic strategy and ensure that global health security
policies and programs are consistent with U.S. foreign policy.
Question. Should the United States engage in highly risky public
health research--such as gain-of-function research--in cooperation with
countries that do not have adequate biosecurity standards, that have
violated or failed to uphold the International Health Regulations, or
where the United States cannot certify that such country is in
compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention?
How does USAID ensure that its research and development grants are
fully vetted and do not flow to partners or sub-grantees engaged in
such research?
Answer. USAID does not fund gain-of-function research. Furthermore,
USAID has not funded or conducted any studies or experiments anywhere
in the world that would make viruses more lethal or transmissible in
humans.
USAID provides clear guidance to all Global Health Security (GHS)
programming requiring implementing partners to adhere to rigorous
safety protocols. USAID requires regular reporting on implementing
partners' activities supported with our funding. This reporting is
closely monitored by USAID staff to ensure compliance with U.S.
Government regulations pertaining to GHS research.
Question. Have you asked the Agency to conduct an analysis of
whether any U.S. foreign assistance--whether appropriated to and
implemented by USAID, appropriated to USAID and transferred to CDC, or
appropriated to the State Department and transferred to USAID--has
supported entities that conduct gain-of-function research or research
that presents a dual-use concern?
Will you commit to conducting a thorough review and providing
documentation to this committee?
Answer. USAID funding has never been used for gain-of-function
research. Furthermore, USAID has not funded nor conducted any studies
or experiments anywhere in the world that would make viruses more
lethal or transmissible in humans.
USAID will continue to provide oversight of awards made with
appropriated funds to monitor activities and the use of funds--ensuring
compliance with U.S. Government regulations pertaining to global health
security research.
Question. The budget proposes a substantial increase for Family
Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH), through both bilateral aid
programs and contributions to the UN Population Fund.
How will you ensure USAID compliance with current law, which
prohibits the use of U.S. foreign assistance to perform or promote
abortion, support involuntary sterilizations, or lobby for or against
the legalization of abortion overseas?
Answer. USAID commits to ensuring compliance with the law and all
legislative and regulatory requirements related to family planning
activities and prohibitions on abortion. The Agency has worked for
decades to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, including the
Helms and Siljander amendments.
USAID will continue to work closely with field missions and
implementing partners to ensure awareness of and compliance with
statutory and policy requirements applicable to their programs. USAID
ensures quality of care and compliance through routine monitoring of
program implementation and regular provision of training on the
requirements.
Question. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provided $10 billion for
the international COVID-19 response absent clear guidance and
guardrails. USAID subsequently committed to implementing these funds in
a manner that is consistent with the Foreign Assistance Act and long-
standing provisions of the annual State Department, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs appropriations bill.
Does this commitment include the long-standing pro-life protections
included in the Foreign Assistance Act and the annual State Department,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations bill?
Answer. Yes.
Question. When will USAID provide to this Committee a complete,
detailed spend plan for the funds received through the American Rescue
Plan (ARP) for the international COVID-19 response?
How much has been obligated and expended to date, where, and for
what purposes?
How, if at all, has the FY 2022 request been impacted by the influx
of billions of dollars in supplemental emergency funds for COVID-19
relief?
Answer. The Administration has released the U.S. COVID-19 Global
Response and Recovery Framework, which outlines five objectives, key
areas of action, and lines of effort that guide the funding decisions
for programs and activities of government departments and agencies
implementing our global response. In addition, the Department of State
and USAID submit a Congressionally-mandated report every 60 days on
COVID funding, including obligations and disbursements by operating
unit.
USAID is working to adapt existing programming to combat some of
the challenges raised by the pandemic, primarily through longstanding
development programs that support food security and nutrition, economic
growth, education, and democracy, rights, and governance. Funding in FY
2022 will continue to support these longstanding USAID programs and
development objectives.
Question. USAID is managing U.S. contributions to COVAX.
Are you satisfied with COVAX's performance to date?
Answer. COVAX has performed as well as could be expected in light
of ongoing constraints to the global vaccine supply. While COVAX is
below its original delivery projections, as a result of shortfalls in
global vaccine production and disruption to its planned supplies,
actions such as the G7 vaccine commitment to finance and provide more
than 2 billion doses from the United States and G7 partners by the end
of 2022 are critical to enabling the success of COVAX. The U.S. cannot
beat this pandemic alone. Distributing COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX
remains essential to ensuring that low-and-middle-income countries
around the world have access to the vaccines necessary to save lives
and end the pandemic.
Question. How is USAID ensuring that COVAX is working expeditiously
to get shots in arms while guarding against waste, fraud, and abuse?
Answer. USAID provided the recent $4 billion contribution to Gavi
in tranches, which allowed USAID to ensure Gavi/COVAX obtained the
funding needed from other donors to scale up global vaccine access,
while closely monitoring COVAX's performance. USAID also participates
in Gavi's Audit and Finance Committee, and, as a part of that,
regularly reviews the risks involved in procuring and delivering COVID-
19 vaccines. Gavi/COVAX has multiple methods for receiving reports of
fraud, and all allegations are handled by Gavi's Audit and
Investigation team led by the Audit and Investigation Managing Director
and Whistleblower Compliance Officer. This unit investigates
allegations of misuse within Gavi and in Gavi-supported programs in the
country. USAID will continue to use its oversight role to strengthen
efforts against waste, fraud, and abuse.
Question. How is USAID ensuring that U.S. financial contributions
to COVAX are not used to underwrite the purchase and distribution of
substandard Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, particularly following the
announcement on Sunday that COVAX would, in fact, begin making major
purchases of Chinese vaccines?
Answer. The generous U.S. contribution to COVAX was not used to
purchase vaccines made in China. The full U.S.-provided $4 billion had
been allocated by COVAX prior to the facility's decision to purchase
Sinopharm and Sinovac, and there are no further U.S. financial
contributions to COVAX planned at this time. USAID will continue to
signal concern about procurement of lower efficacy vaccines, and urge
China to pick up its fair share of the global burden on vaccine access.
Question. Under what circumstances would U.S. bilateral vaccine
contributions be more appropriate than contributions via COVAX?
Answer. USAID is proud to support the White House-led initiative to
help vaccinate the world, which includes vaccines provided through
COVAX and bilateral methods. Both multilateral and bilateral efforts
are essential to fighting this pandemic around the world. Vaccine
donations through COVAX bring benefits like increased efficiency,
speed, and risk protection through utilization of COVAX's existing
allocation and legal frameworks. They also build on the supply chain
and logistics infrastructure of organizations like UNICEF and PAHO.
Bilateral contributions can be targeted to local priorities and make
use of USAID staff and networks in-country.
Question. What, exactly, is the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine sharing
strategy and why has it been so difficult for Congress to get real-
time, detailed information about it?
Answer. USAID is proud to support the White House-led initiative to
help vaccinate the world and end the pandemic. No one is safe until
everyone is safe, which is why the first objective of the U.S. COVID-19
Global Response and Recovery Framework is to accelerate widespread and
equitable access to and delivery of safe and effective COVID-19
vaccinations. The Administration's provision of 500 million Pfizer
doses to be shared globally via COVAX, as well as an additional 80
million doses from the U.S. supply, illustrates the Administration's
commitment to this objective. The White House is leading these efforts
through its COVID-19 Task Force, with substantive input from USAID and
others in the interagency. USAID remains committed to providing
Congress with information and updates on our ongoing efforts to fight
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Question. Ancillary medical supplies, such as personal protective
equipment (PPE) and syringes, are critical to the global vaccination
effort.
How does USAID ensure that countries receiving donated
COVID-19 vaccines from the United States have the adequate PPE
and syringes needed to safely complete vaccination campaigns?
Does USAID take into consideration and/or leverage existing
Federal contracts with domestic manufacturers of ancillary
supplies when sourcing for global pandemic preparedness aid?
Answer. For vaccines donated through COVAX, COVAX helps to ensure
syringes and other critical ancillary materials are included with the
vaccines that are delivered. For bilateral donations, recipient
countries need to ensure an adequate supply of syringes and ancillary
equipment. USAID support for country readiness and delivery programs
will help to address these aspects of planning and preparation. The
U.S. Government will continue to track the availability of syringes
globally and help support countries that have identified the
availability of syringes as a constraint to administering vaccines.
While USAID regularly collaborates with other U.S. Government and
U.S. state agencies for securing medical equipment, supplies, and
pharmaceuticals in support of the global COVID-19 response, USAID has
not procured vaccine ancillary supplies domestically. USAID has
received and shipped donations of such commodities from federal and
state agencies as part of COVID-19 relief.
Question. Are you satisfied with the performance of the Global
Fund's COVID-19 Response Mechanism to date?
Does it concern you that only 28 percent of the funds provided to
the Global Fund's COVID-19 Response Mechanism have been used to protect
against backsliding in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and
malaria?
Answer. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
(Global Fund) has generally responded well to the request made by the
U.S. Government, together with the global community, to play a critical
role in financing country COVID-19 response efforts. Building on its
existing platform, the Global Fund quickly established systems and
processes to request, review and approve COVID-19 and HIV/TB/Malaria
mitigation plans for more than 100 countries, which are on track to
implement more than $3 billion at the country level by the end of
August 2021.
However, COVID has taken a toll and exacerbated the impacts of the
three diseases. For example, as a result of COVID-19 and associated
measures to control it, 1 million fewer people in the 23 countries
where USAID focuses TB programming had access to TB diagnosis and
treatment in 2020, compared to 2019 (which represents a 23 percent
decline). Approximately 55 percent of COVID-19 cases in Global Fund-
eligible countries are in high TB burden countries with the largest TB
case notification declines. USAID coordinated with the Global Fund on
urgent TB recovery efforts in seven of these countries. However, as of
July 1, 2021, only four percent of the COVID-19 Response Mechanism
funds are going towards mitigating COVID-19's impact on TB. Further
action is needed from the Global Fund to recover from these continued
setbacks. In other areas, USAID is working with the Global Fund to
support efforts to mitigate COVID-19's impact on the three diseases,
including around supply chain, but Global Fund implementation efforts
could be accelerated.
Question. How, if at all, is USAID working with the Global Fund's
COVID-19 response mechanism to de-conflict and leverage emergency
spending to strengthen health systems more broadly?
Answer. USAID has staff participating on the Global Fund's COVID-19
Response Mechanism grant application review committee, providing TB,
malaria and COVID-19 expertise. (The Department of State's Office of
the Global AIDS Coordinator is representing the U.S. for HIV/AIDS.)
These staff work to ensure that Global Fund grant priorities complement
U.S. Government bilateral funding. USAID's HIV, TB, and malaria
programs are also coordinating closely with the Global Fund to maximize
investments for the longer-term benefit. For example, investments in
community health and supply chain systems not only strengthen overall
workforce capacity for the immediate COVID-19 response, but they also
contribute to response capacity for malaria or other infectious disease
programs in the longer term.
Question. The United States is the global leader in responding to
humanitarian crises around the world. Yet, from Northern Yemen to
Tigray, humanitarian workers are increasingly under attack. Access is
being constrained by armed actors and bureaucratic processes.
Organizations are being harassed. Convoys are being attacked.
Warehouses are being burned and looted. While it is in the interest of
the United States to continue providing humanitarian aid, it is not in
our interest to see that aid used as a weapon against the innocent men,
women, and children it is meant to support.
The budget proposes to increase disaster assistance and food
aid. How do you intend to ensure that it actually reaches its
intended beneficiaries, and is not used as a weapon by armed
actors and governments against perceived opponents?
How do you propose to expand humanitarian access in Tigray
and Northern Yemen, for example?
Is the manipulation and/or denial of life-saving aid to
vulnerable populations a crime against humanity and, if so, how
do you intend to hold those who bear the greatest
responsibility accountable?
Answer. USAID has developed due diligence systems to help ensure
that humanitarian assistance reaches those for whom it is intended--
children, women, and men who are in urgent need of aid--and to decrease
the likelihood that such assistance will result in transactions with
sanctioned entities.
We work closely with our partners to collect performance and
situational data to monitor activities and gather information from
different sources to verify assistance is reaching targeted areas and
beneficiaries. USAID staff closely and systematically track reports,
are in regular direct communication with partners, and immediately
follow up on any reported issues.
Implementing partners are required, under their awards, to provide
regular program updates on the progress of their activities and any
security concerns, and we require partners to report any diversions,
seizures, or losses immediately. USAID humanitarian partners are
required to adhere to strict protocols for engaging with any armed
group, which include the temporary or permanent suspension of programs
in the face of interference by armed actors.
Atrocity determinations for specific cases are made by the
Secretary of State. USAID is committed to delivering humanitarian
assistance in accordance with international humanitarian law and the
principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. We
continue to work with colleagues in the Department of State and the
international community to promote adherence to international
humanitarian law and these principles and ensure life-saving assistance
reaches those who need it. In areas of conflict, we have repeatedly
called on government leaders to ensure humanitarian access. USAID and
the broader U.S. Government have also repeatedly called for
accountability for those who are violating human rights and committing
atrocities. These advocacy efforts will contribute to broader
accountability efforts led by the Department of State.
northern yemen
While interference in aid operations has been most egregious in
northern Yemen, obstruction--particularly bureaucratic delays and
delays at the port, visa denials, and the withholding of necessary
approvals for partners to deliver aid--continues to be a challenge
throughout the country and is increasing in the south. We are working
closely with the U.S. State Department, specifically the Special
Envoy's (SE) Office, to collectively advocate for a lasting peace
process with all parties to the conflict, and in the interim, ensure
our humanitarian partners have the access and ability to reach those in
need impartially and quickly. We are grateful for the SE's recent and
continuing efforts to ensure that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the
Government of Yemen allow the free flow of fuel imports into Hudaydah
Port to ensure Yemenis have access to basic services and humanitarian
assistance. As you know, only a political solution will address the
root problems to end this crisis.
We are working closely with other NGO partners to support the
resumption of their operations as we continue to advocate for
unfettered humanitarian access countrywide in coordination with other
donors and the UN, which has maintained robust advocacy through direct
engagement with the Houthis. As we did throughout the partial
suspension, USAID continuously monitors for Houthi interference and our
partners' access to populations in need to ensure that humanitarian
assistance supported by the U.S. Government reaches those for whom it
is intended.
tigray
In Tigray, we have seen a de facto blockade with limited entry of
humanitarian goods and personnel since the Government of Ethiopia
unilateral ceasefire on June 28. Despite official Government of
Ethiopia approval of convoys and UNHAS flights into the region, delays
and murky explanations from the Government of Ethiopia have led to the
UN and aid agencies facing major challenges with ground and air access
to deliver supplies to Tigray. The TPLF has also expanded fighting in
recent weeks, moving into Afar and Amhara regions and causing further
conflict-related impediments. With the ongoing conflict and
bureaucratic delays, humanitarian assistance can not possibly get to
scale. Without fundamental improvements to access into Tigray, the
region is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. In coordination
with the interagency, USAID continues to press on all parties to the
conflict to allow humanitarian access into and throughout the region
and is pursuing potential contingency options should access continue to
be blocked.
Question. The UN's Global Humanitarian Appeal of $36.1 billion for
2021 is the largest in history.
What is USAID doing to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of
U.S. humanitarian assistance, so we can spread our aid dollars farther,
while also leveraging other donor support to meet historic humanitarian
needs?
Answer. USAID and the Department of State's Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration (PRM) work together to improve the efficiency
and effectiveness of U.S. Government humanitarian assistance. The U.S.
Government seeks to use our humanitarian assistance and diplomatic
resources to leverage other donors' contributions, maximize the impact
of the funding we provide to humanitarian operations, and advance
programs that will reduce humanitarian costs in the future.
One major area of focus is improving our United Nations (UN)
partners' accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness.
USAID and State are driving system-wide efforts, including through the
Grand Bargain--an agreement between donors and humanitarian aid
organizations--to optimize the use of U.S. public resources through
management cost reductions, joint needs assessments for prioritized
humanitarian appeals, and strengthened measures to achieve greater
accountability, transparency, and collective action.
Finally, USAID and State coordinate strategically with traditional
donors, build partnerships with and cultivate greater investment by
non-traditional donors and the private sector, and work towards
expanding the overall donor base. This work includes advocating in
public fora and through private channels for increased humanitarian
burden-sharing and consulting with implementing partners on how to
expand their funding base, including encouraging partners to pursue new
and innovative financing partnerships and mechanisms.
Question. The budget proposes to move $170 million from the Food
for Peace (FFP) program, which is administered by USAID and funded
through the annual Agriculture appropriations bill, to the
International Disaster Assistance Emergency Food Security Program (IDA-
EFSP), which was authorized by Congress through the Global Food
Security Act, is administered by USAID, and is funded through the
annual State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies
appropriations bill. Budget justification documents suggest that this
is intended to provide greater flexibility for market-based food
assistance--such as vouchers, biometrically verified electronic
transfers, and locally or regionally procured commodities--which often
is more timely, less costly, and more locally appropriate than
commodities procured and shipped from the United States.
What is the current cost-per-beneficiary differential
between U.S. procured and shipped Food for Peace commodities
versus food assistance provided through the IDA-EFSP?
What factors drive these cost differentials?
What is the current time differential for deliveries of U.S.
procured and shipped Food for Peace commodities versus food
assistance provided through the IDA-ESFP?
Answer. Recent data indicates that cost efficiencies between IDA-
EFSP and FFP Title II programming are highly dependent on context and
program design, and generalizations have proven challenging. While
often used to compare the cost efficiency of various food assistance
modalities (which include cash, vouchers, locally or regionally
procured commodities, or U.S. commodities), cost-per-beneficiary
figures are influenced by the size and frequency of resource transfers.
In lieu of the cost-per-beneficiary metric, USAID utilizes cost-per-
metric-ton (MT), which allows for inclusion of multiple variables when
comparing modality options. In an analysis of 3 years of award data,
the average cost per MT for Title II U.S. commodities was $1,133. The
average cost per MT for all market-based food assistance modalities
(cash, vouchers, and locally or regionally procured commodities) was
$1,046. Using this same metric, USAID conducted a comprehensive cross-
modality cost efficiency study which covered 444 activities across
multiple fiscal years. One of the primary findings was that it is risky
to make global-level assumptions around the efficiency of various
modalities given the substantial variation of efficiency at the
country-level. Global averages do not allow for a nuanced understanding
of metrics across the countries where we program. USAID's approach has
been to more routinely examine cost-efficiency at a country level in
order to accommodate this nuance. This is further institutionalized
through the USG Modality Decision Tool (attached) (https://
www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/
USG_MDT_Final_2017.pdf) which requires implementing partners to
consider cost as a key decision point when selecting modalities.
This comprehensive USAID cost-efficiency study on modalities and
their cost drivers showed that food assistance costs are often driven
by context, type of emergency and scale, rather than the modalities
themselves. For example, responses with predictable recurring annual
needs with established partnerships and pipelines (i.e. refugee
settings) or those with substantial lead time (i.e. slow-onset,
drought) were significantly more cost-efficient than rapid on-set
disasters and complex emergencies. On average, responding to a rapid
onset disaster costs twice as much as a slow onset disaster such as
drought. Similarly, findings indicated that programming irrespective of
modality tended to be more expensive in certain regions of the world.
For example, programming in Latin America and the Caribbean was on
average 33 percent more expensive than East Africa. The variability of
cost effectiveness of any single modality due to local contexts and
market conditions underscores the value of flexible humanitarian
funding--USAID is at its best when it can use the right tool in the
right place.
The procurement and delivery of Title II Food for Peace packaged
commodities takes an average of 147 days. Of that timeframe, the
average shipment duration, from the U.S. load port to an international
discharge port, is 45 days. For fiscal year 2021 to date, shipment
durations have ranged from 21 to 113 days. Vessel availability, port
operations, transshipments, distance, and other factors all contribute
to a variance in shipment durations. For ongoing cash-based programming
utilizing mobile money or debit cards, resources can be transferred to
beneficiaries days after funds are obligated. The change proposed in
the FY 2022 budget would allow USAID to use the right tool at the right
time, delivering assistance to beneficiaries in days rather than
months.
Question. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a
memo which, among other things, directs the new OMB Made in America
Office to ``review how best to ensure agency compliance with cargo
preference requirements to maximize the utilization of U.S.-flag
vessels, in excess of any applicable statutory minimum, to the greatest
extent practicable.'' This is likely to increase pressure upon USAID to
exceed existing cargo preference requirements for food aid under the
Food for Peace Act, notwithstanding the fact that the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) repeatedly has found that such requirements
significantly increase the cost of food aid while failing to advance
the purposes of the Cargo Preference Act of 1954.
Do you agree that U.S. cargo preference requirements for
food aid have outlived their statutory purpose?
Is USAID working with OMB to mitigate the deleterious impact
of U.S. cargo preference requirements on food aid?
How would an increase of cargo preference requirements
impact the ability of USAID to meet historic levels of need for
food aid?
Answer. USAID takes its responsibility to comply with the Cargo
Preference Act seriously, and understands and values the services that
U.S.-flag vessels provide. However, in many cases, the U.S.-flag fleet
cannot meet USAID's transportation needs for food assistance
commodities due to a lack of competition, availability of ships, or
irregular service to certain destinations. Many of the countries facing
the greatest levels of food insecurity are also some of the most
challenging and high-risk operating environments. As such, the
flexibility to procure the most appropriate and cost-effective ocean
freight service should remain a part of the Agency's toolkit.
USAID is committed to working with Congress and the interagency,
including OMB, to make USAID's food assistance programming as effective
and efficient as possible. The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation
measures have only compounded the effects of climate-related disasters
and complex emergencies, creating unprecedented global humanitarian
needs. For example, an estimated 23 million additional people will
require emergency food assistance compared to 2019. Each food
assistance modality (U.S. in-kind food, locally and regionally procured
food, and cash-based programming) is critical to USAID's ability to
respond appropriately to each crisis.
USAID pays almost 50 percent more per metric ton (MT) to ship
commodities on U.S.-flag vessels than foreign-flag vessels. An increase
in cargo preference requirements would directly result in increased
transportation costs for food assistance programs, which would reduce
the amount of resources USAID can dedicate to purchasing commodities
and reaching beneficiaries with life-saving assistance.
Question. The United States is by far the most generous donor of
humanitarian, global health, and development assistance globally. Much
of that assistance--including for the World Food Program, UNICEF, Gavi,
the Vaccine Alliance, and others--is provided through USAID as grants
or contributions to multilateral organizations. Last Congress, I
introduced the Multilateral Aid Review Act to assess the value of U.S.
taxpayer investments in multilateral entities, including the UN and its
affiliated agencies.
Would you support a comprehensive review of U.S. investments in
multilateral organizations, as part of an effort to ensure that such
investments are efficient, effective, and aligned with the national
security, humanitarian, health, and development interests of the United
States?
Answer. USAID works extensively with multilateral organizations and
often relies on those organizations to advance USAID and broader U.S.
Government development and humanitarian priorities, particularly in the
areas of global health and emergency preparedness and response,
including food and nutrition security; water, sanitation, and hygiene;
and protection in humanitarian contexts. Pursuant to USAID operational
policy, the Agency regularly reviews the organizational capacity of
individual multilateral organizations (identified as Public
International Organizations or ``PIOs'' within Agency policy) to
identify and help mitigate the risks of waste, fraud, and abuse of
USAID resources, prior to entering into funding arrangements with such
organizations. These reviews are informed by the organizations'
internal policies, audits, and guidelines; as well as external
evaluations and international assessments of these organizations. This
includes assessments conducted by the Multilateral Organization
Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), in which the U.S. Government
regularly participates as a MOPAN member. The Agency would welcome the
chance to brief you and your staff on this review process.
Question. Whether Foreign Service, Civil Service, Foreign Service
Limited, Foreign Service National, or other, USAID's most valuable
asset is its people. Unfortunately, with at least 22 different hiring
mechanisms and outdated assumptions about how specific missions,
bureaus, and offices should be supported, the agency is in desperate
need of a modernized strategic staffing plan that is flexible and
adaptive to today's challenges. The budget request includes an increase
for USAID's operating expenses and proposes to increase the number of
Foreign Service Limited positions, including for global health and
humanitarian assistance.
When will we see a comprehensive strategic staffing plan
that aligns positions, skills, and resources across the agency,
transparently and effectively streamlines hiring mechanisms,
and reduces reliance upon costly Participating Agency Service
Agreements (PASAs) to fill positions for which the
participating agency has no business recruiting (such as USDA
hiring democracy officers, for example)?
Will an increase in direct-hire positions be paired with a
decrease in contractors?
Answer. USAID is committed to strengthening its global workforce to
advance the Agency's mission and national security priorities. However,
USAID's staffing has not increased at the same rate as its programmatic
needs and requirements. USAID has complex requirements and needs to
increase the size and agility of its career workforce while also
streamlining non-career employment mechanisms. To enable data-based
decision-making and analysis of the workforce and strategically
allocate staff, the Agency developed innovative tools for data
analytics and workforce planning, including the Talent Analytics tool
and overseas comprehensive workforce planning model.
Although USAID is on track to reach its hiring target of 1,850
Foreign Service (FS) and 1,600 Civil Service (CS) employees by
September 2021, USAID estimates its real staffing requirements to be
2,500 FS and 2,250 CS employees. To meet these staffing requirements,
the Agency would need Operating Expense (OE) appropriations for an
additional 650 FS and 650 CS employees. The increase in direct-hire
positions in many cases would be off-set by a decrease in contractors,
particularly in bureaus such as BHA where the Agency has long had to
rely on contracted positions to fulfill long-term institutional roles
that should be carried out by Direct Hires. However, in other areas,
USAID is not appropriately staffed to meet requirements, regardless of
mechanism. In these cases additional direct-hire positions would come
in addition to other staffing mechanisms currently performing the work.
Examples of this are climate change and procurement (Acquisition and
Assistance) expertise.
Question. Members of the Biden administration, including President
Biden himself, have stated, ``Africa is a priority.''
Do you feel that the President's proposed budget reflects that
sentiment? If so, how?
Answer. The FY 2022 request for Africa is $7.4 billion, $202.7
million (approximately 3 percent) above the FY 2021 653(a) levels, and
a $2.4 billion (approximately 32 percent) increase from the FY 2021
Request for Africa.
The FY 2022 request advances U.S. policy priorities in Africa by
addressing conflict; strengthening democratic governance; improving
global health and combating epidemics; promoting gender equality;
supporting trade and energy transformation; and addressing climate
change.
The PBR supports democratic developments and promotes stability in
countries facing or recovering from conflict, including Nigeria,
Somalia and Sudan. The FY 2022 request for Sudan is $84.4 million, an
increase of $72.4 million from the FY 2021 PBR.
The Request continues critical economic growth investments
including $57.5 million (a straight line from the FY 2021 653(a) level)
for Power Africa to increase access to electricity; and $77 million
(nearly quadruple the FY 2021 653(a) level of $21.0 million) for
Prosper Africa to open markets for American businesses and accelerate
two-way trade.
The request expands assistance to Africa to address climate change
from $76.7 million in the FY 2021 653(a) to $111.0 million in the FY
2022 request.
Question. Prosper Africa: In the FY 2022 request, the Biden
administration prioritizes Prosper Africa, a whole-of-government
initiative to expand two-way trade and investment in Africa started
under the Trump administration, at a level of $77 million ($2 million
more than the FY 2021 request and nearly double the FY 2020 actual
budget figure). Still, resources for Prosper Africa remain limited and
USAID will need to prioritize strategic countries and sectors to
encourage U.S. investment and trade. Moreover, a number of countries
with complex political, economic, and conflict dynamics, including
Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Somalia, are wholly unsuited for strategic
investment under Prosper Africa.
How does USAID intend to prioritize the use of finite resources for
Proper Africa?
Answer. Geographic and economic sector focus will be guided by a
combination of U.S. and African Government priorities and private
sector interest. Specific criteria for prioritizing operational and
programmatic resources across different countries will vary based on
individual department and agency mandates. However, common criteria
include:
Size and attractiveness of the market to private sector
Government interest in enhancing and strengthening trade
ties with the United States
Enabling environment reform trajectory
U.S. Government (USG) presence and engagement
High-level USG policy priorities
Question. Do you agree that countries like Zimbabwe, South Sudan,
and Somalia are unsuited for strategic investments under Prosper
Africa? Do you commit to excluding such countries from Prosper Africa
programming in FY 2022?
Answer. USAID does not currently plan to program Prosper Africa
funds in these countries. We will consult with the committee on any
future planning programming and in accordance with and all special
notification requirements.
Question. Sudan: At the end of 2020, the U.S. committed to
providing Sudan with 420,000 MT of wheat annually for 4 years, as an
incentive for joining the Abraham Accords. While the U.S. already has
met its first-year commitment, current proposals to fund the second
year commitment by raiding previously appropriated economic support
funds (ESF) for democracy and governance, agriculture, and water,
sanitation and hygiene are deeply concerning.
Does the President's FY 2022 budget adequately budget for U.S.
wheat commitments to Sudan under the Abraham Accords while preserving
funding for democracy and governance, agriculture, and water,
sanitation, and hygiene?
Do you agree with the decision not to fund U.S. wheat commitments
to Sudan wholly through USDA's Food for Progress program, which
arguably was created and continues to exist for the exclusive purpose
of opening markets and advancing reform?
Answer. The 4-year wheat commitments under the Abraham Accords are
dependent on Sudan continuing on its path towards democracy. Should it
become necessary to find funding for this commitment, USAID will work
with OMB and the interagency to advocate that all resource options are
on the table, including the USDA Food for Progress program.
Question. Democracy and Governance: Should the United States invest
in the strengthening of political institutions in Africa, particularly
political parties?
Is it a worthy investment for USAID to support political party
strengthening projects in countries like Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South
Sudan, and Kenya? In each of these countries, political parties are
central actors to their countries' political processes, but no
dedicated USAID party strengthening programs exist.
Answer. USAID works with political institutions in many African
countries to make them more effective, democratic, and responsive to
citizens. Among the most important political institutions are political
parties, which we fully recognize play key roles in representation,
policy formulation, and providing choices for voters. USAID's long
experience in supporting political parties has taught us much on how
they develop positions on issues of public concern, stimulate public
discourse, aggregate interests, formulate governing platforms during
election campaigns, and ultimately play a central role in governance.
Early this year, USAID revised our Political Party Policy that
reaffirmed the importance of political party assistance as part of
democracy promotion. The updated policy reaffirms that our programs are
guided by two key principles: we support representative, multiparty
systems; and we do not seek to determine election outcomes.
USAID has conducted political party assistance programming in
numerous countries in Africa over the past three decades, including
Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Liberia. USAID programming supports the
development of viable democratic parties as an essential actor in
representative democracies and their peaceful participation in
elections and political processes.
In countries like Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, with upcoming
national elections, USAID is identifying gaps, challenges and
opportunities in the democracy, human rights, and governance areas to
develop programming that meets priority needs. While USAID is not
currently supporting standalone political party programs in these
countries, political party leaders and activists are key stakeholders
that our Missions are engaging through their broader elections and
political processes programs. Decisions on whether to support political
party programming at a given time in a particular country are context-
specific and based on a number of factors. These include alignment with
the USG country strategy; an assessment of the willingness and capacity
of parties to receive such assistance; the degree of political space in
the country; the availability of funding; and the extent to which other
donors are already supporting political party development.
Question. Somalia and Liberia are the top priorities for democracy
and governance funding in FY 2022 for Sub-Saharan Africa, at $17
million and nearly $16 million, respectively.
Does this prioritization adequately reflect USG priorities for
supporting democratic and governance processes in Africa, particularly
given the poor performance by Somalia in planning for and conducting
direct elections (and subsequently an indirect selection process) in
2020 and 2021?
Answer. The request prioritizes support for African partners that
promote democratic ideals, support fiscal transparency, undertake
economic reforms, and foster legitimate, transparent, and inclusive
political systems that respond to citizens' needs. The African
continent has made important gains in democracy and institution
building; however, these gains are fragile.
Somalia's critical challenges require long-term initiatives that
will address underlying human development, governance, security, and
economic challenges facing a country emerging from more than two
decades of conflict. Somalia's stability is important to security in
the broader Horn of Africa region and is crucial to U.S. national
security interests. While the 2020-2021 electoral process in Somalia
has been disappointing due to the government's inability to secure
direct elections, Elections are only one part of USAID's DRG strategy
in Somalia. The mission has prioritized addressing the conditions that
allow violent extremism to take root and spread by focusing on
grievances arising from poor governance, the absence of justice, and
exclusion from political, social, and economic opportunities.
The United States has enjoyed a long and enduring relationship with
Liberia. USAID has made important gains toward establishing democratic
order and putting in place those institutions critical to long term
prosperity and security. The Ebola Virus outbreak of 2014-2015 exposed
the vulnerabilities of government institutions, as well as the economy,
to unexpected shocks. These vulnerabilities require long-term
commitments from the U.S. USAID's democracy and governance support,
particularly election-related assistance, demonstrates our commitment
to free, fair, and credible elections in 2023 building on the positive
trajectory after Liberia's historic 2017 general elections and first
peaceful transfer of power in over 70 years.
Question. Ethiopia: Ethiopia's democratic and development
trajectory changed significantly with the ascension of Prime Minister
Abiy Ahmed and the seemingly historic reforms that followed. At that
time, many U.S. officials hailed a ``once in a generation'' opportunity
to affect change in Ethiopia, and the United States responded in-kind
with significant investments in the country's development, including in
elections, economic and political reforms, agriculture, among other
areas.
Given Ethiopia's rapidly changing conflict dynamics,
political landscape, and tense bilateral relationship with the
United States over the past year, how does USAID plan to adjust
its overall assistance planning to the country?
Do you believe that the requested conflict mitigation and
stabilization funding for Ethiopia ($2.69 million) adequately
reflects the priority that the United States has placed upon
resolving the conflict in Tigray and addressing other conflicts
in Ethiopia?
What is USAID's long-term approach to supporting Ethiopia
while responding to immediate humanitarian and other assistance
needs? Can we do both simultaneously, and if so, what are the
primary long-term and short-term assistance priorities for
Ethiopia?
Answer. As a reflection of the changing relationship with the
Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray crisis, USAID has already pivoted
portions of our development portfolio and will continue to explore
near-term operational pivots as opportunities arise. Longer term, our
Mission in Addis Ababa will continuously reassess the nature of the
development partnership with the Government of Ethiopia and will use
this to determine where additional pivots are required within its
development objectives to ensure our principled support for the
Ethiopian people continues. Given the evolving challenges,
opportunities and diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, USAID will not
provide any direct financial resources to the Government of Ethiopia.
USAID plans to continue Global Health and Food Security programs as
those represent long-term investments and the needs and opportunities
remain relatively similar. We will shift our Democracy, Governance and
Human Rights funding away from supporting the government where
appropriate, and scale back non-Food Security Economic Growth funding.
We recognize the challenges related to conflict mitigation
programming in Ethiopia. The request reflects a careful balancing of
resource needs in multiple countries across Africa and the world and
our assessment of what we can regionally do programmatically in the
current security and political environment. The Mission's current
strategy places special emphasis on recurring disasters and conflict
vulnerability. The Mission's approach has been to try to address key
vulnerabilities through a resilience approach across sectors and
development objectives. In addition, the Mission has built in conflict-
sensitive approaches to activities through use of ``conflict modifier''
language in awards to ensure that development activities can respond to
shifting needs as conflicts or other potential crises arise.
USAID Ethiopia's Country Development Cooperation Strategy operates
based on a disaster-development nexus to ensure disaster risk
management and resilience are integrated into its development approach.
USAID will continue to mitigate the worst aspects of the Northern
Ethiopia crisis and support viable and inclusive political dialogue. In
the short-term, USAID is increasing humanitarian assistance to address
needs in Northern Ethiopia, and shifting some resources and activities
within existing development programs to complement humanitarian
activities in the region. Our Education program, for example, is poised
to support the rebuilding and recovery of the education system in
Northern Ethiopia once access opens up. At the same time, we will
continue a country-wide program in health, food security, humanitarian
assistance and other sectors to address ongoing needs.
Question. Power Africa: In the face of growing Chinese influence
and investment, and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there
arguably has never been a more important time to advance U.S. strategic
programs to reduce energy poverty, support transformative energy
development, and stimulate economic recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Yet, the President's FY 2022 budget request proposes to reduce by 26
percent funding for one of the most important instruments the USG has
in its arsenal to accomplish these goals--Power Africa--while
simultaneously imposing carbon caps and renewable energy mandates that
inevitably will push developing economies in sub-Saharan Africa closer
to China.
Is reducing energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa a priority for
USAID? If so, how can that reasonably be accomplished while the
Administration redirects funding for Power Africa to undefined climate
change objectives and abandons the bipartisan, bicameral agreement on
an ``all-of-the-above'' approach under the historic Electrify Africa
Act?
Answer. Power Africa will continue to increase access to power and
the use of clean energy, as well as support investments in regional
renewable energy programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Competing and urgent
needs that arose as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic and its secondary
impacts, conflict, and other crises necessitated difficult tradeoffs in
our FY 2022 funding request. We believe our work through Power Africa,
which leverages investments from U.S. and global partners, including
the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, will be able to
achieve strong and lasting results with the resources requested.
In line with the Electrify Africa Act, Power Africa targets
resources to develop and offer the best tools, services, and solutions
from the private and public sector, including its 12 USG agency
partners, to promote transparent market-driven energy development in
sub-Saharan Africa. This approach builds the essential regulatory
reforms and procurement practices to support a prosperous and
democratic future.
Question. How much of the USAID portion of the FY 2022 budget
request will be dedicated to Indo-Pacific region? Please provide the
absolute dollar amount and the percentage of the total.
Answer. The FY 2022 Request includes $1.2 billion ($1.6 billion
State and USAID) in foreign assistance to advance a free and open Indo-
Pacific, of which $287 million is Global Health funding (3.95 percent
of the overall FY 2022 USAID request). These funds will strengthen
democratic institutions, unlock private-sector led economic growth, and
improve natural resource management. Working alongside allies and
partners, U.S. assistance programs will reassert forward-looking global
leadership and engage China from a position of collective confidence
and strength, combat climate change, reduce the risk of cyber threats,
foster democracy resilience and human rights, support inclusive
economic growth and COVID-19 recovery, and improve natural resource
management.
Question. How much proposed USAID funding will go towards economic
programs in the Indo-Pacific region?
Answer. Of the $4.7 billion in economic growth (EG) in the FY22
budget request, USAID proposes $297.8 million to support EG activities
in the Indo-Pacific region. Funding will help combat the secondary
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through improving private sector
productivity; trade; agriculture; workforce development; and addressing
environmental impacts consistent with the Administration's Indo-Pacific
Framework. In addition, we expect that EG funding requested for the
Democracy, Development, and Innovation Bureau and the Resilience and
Food Security Bureau will also support their activities in the Indo-
Pacific region.
Question. Of the $2.8 billion requested for democracy, rights, and
governance (DRG), how much will go towards the Indo-Pacific region?
Answer. Of the $2.8 billion requested for DRG across State and
USAID, $280.6 million will support DRG activities in the Indo-Pacific
region. To promote just and responsive governance in the Indo-Pacific,
USAID is working to: promote the integrity of electoral processes;
support the independence of media and information integrity; protect
human rights, including civil and political rights; foster
accountability and transparency, including fighting corruption;
strengthen the rule of law; and strengthen civil society.
Question. Will USAID energy programs provide any support to
countries seeking to develop natural gas markets, relevant
infrastructure, and supporting policy and regulations?
Answer. To align with E.O. 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at
Home and Abroad, USAID is creating procedures for evaluating all
assistance that may lead to increased consumption of fossil fuels over
a certain threshold, including natural gas. Per draft energy guidance
being developed by the National Security Council, all new programming
that supports increased consumption of fossil fuels will have to be
justified on national security, development, or energy access grounds.
Ongoing programming supporting the natural gas sector will be
unaffected.
Question. Will you commit that no climate change funding in this
budget request will go to China?
Answer. Yes. USAID is not requesting any climate change funding for
China in the FY 2022 Budget Request, nor does it intend to create or
implement any climate change programs in China.
Question. Afghanistan: In addition to the $266 million in
humanitarian assistance pledged on June 4, Secretary Blinken has also
expressed his intent to work with Congress to obligate an additional
$300 million in civilian assistance for Afghanistan. While the
Department works to inject hundreds of millions in foreign aid into
Afghanistan--a reflection of its purported desire to recalibrate the
bilateral relationship by investing more in development and assistance
lines of effort--USAID OIG plans to scale back its presence in country,
reducing staffing and closing its sub-office in Kabul. All of this is
occurring as the Taliban continues to make rapid advances on the
ground. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. intelligence
community now assesses the government in Kabul may fall in as little as
6 to 12 months after the U.S. and NATO military withdrawal, potentially
triggering a humanitarian and security crisis.
In light of the deteriorating security climate, how does
USAID plan to sustain the gains made over the past 20 years,
particularly as it pertains to the hard earned rights of women
and minorities?
As we look to recalibrate our bilateral relationship with
Afghanistan, what more can be done to support the development
of health, education, female empowerment, and government
transparency?
How does USAID plan to effectively conduct oversight of U.S.
foreign assistance programs in Afghanistan given its diminished
presence on the ground?
Answer. USAID plans to support early recovery, basic needs and
services, including health and education, food security and
livelihoods, and womens' rights. In addition, given the increasing
displacement of Afghans around the country, USAID will continue to
deliver humanitarian assistance using International Disaster Assistance
(IDA) based on need and where access and security allow.
The U.S. Government continues to urge the Taliban to provide access
to schools, employment and freedom of movement for all Afghan women and
girls. Our programs will continue to support those goals. USAID
provides on-going and strategic program oversight despite security
restrictions in Afghanistan. Monitoring and oversight measures taken in
Afghanistan include: vetting of implementing partners (IPs), multi-
tiered monitoring efforts, and financial controls. USAID will continue
to use third-party monitoring to provide programmatic oversight where
our partners and programs operate. These third-party monitors are local
partners to each region and have been capable of accessing USAID
programs across the country. If the security environment affects USAID
partners' and programs' ability to operate, third-party monitoring
efforts will correspondingly adjust to fit within the new operating
status of programs to ensure the safety of on-the-ground staff.
Question. West Bank & Gaza: Since January 2021, the Biden
administration has re-established relations with the Palestinian
Authority (PA) and announced nearly $360 million in planned U.S.
assistance. This move has occurred despite the lack of progress in PA
reforms, including its toxic so-called ``pay to slay program.''
Please detail how USAID plans to address the PA's ongoing
support for terrorism in the region, while also ensuring the
needs of the Palestinian people are met, including by
supporting the PA's ability to deliver basic services.
How does USAID plan to maintain effective oversight of the
nearly $360 million in planned assistance for the West Bank and
Gaza? Does this include ensuring all U.S. assistance is
consistent with applicable U.S. law, including Taylor Force
Act?
Can you commit to working with the Israelis to ensure any
U.S. Government funds that support ``reconstruction'' efforts
in Gaza are allocated in a manner that is consistent with U.S.
and Israeli national security interests, and does not in any
way benefit Hamas, politically or otherwise? Please explain, in
detail, your plans for ensuring appropriate levels of
coordination with the Israeli Government on the disbursement of
such funds.
Answer. The Biden administration is opposed to the prisoner payment
system and has consistently urged the Palestinian Authority to end this
practice. The Department of State leads on this issue. USAID's
assistance in the West Bank and Gaza is implemented in strict
compliance with the Taylor Force Act and other applicable laws.
The Department of State and the USAID Mission in the West Bank and
Gaza (WBG) have a long-standing, 15-year-old, robust partner vetting
process to mitigate the risk that U.S. Government resources could
inadvertently support Hamas or other terrorist groups. Trained
counterintelligence professionals screen the personally identifiable
information of key individuals of organizations and individual
beneficiaries, who meet the vetting requirements outlined in Mission
Order 21, against public and U.S. Government databases at the FBI-
managed Threat Screening Center. Additionally, USAID partners in the
WBG have aggressive risk-mitigation systems in place aimed at ensuring
U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance is reaching those for whom we intend.
As is the case around the world, the United States will provide
assistance in the West Bank and Gaza through experienced and trusted
independent partners that distribute aid directly to people in need.
USAID also closely coordinates with the GOI Coordinator of Government
Activities in the Territories (COGAT) on all USAID activities in the
West Bank and Gaza. All materials entering Gaza for use on a USAID
funded activity are transported through the Kerem Shalom crossing,
which is arranged and approved by COGAT. USAID adheres to all GOI
requirements for approving materials entering Gaza and for end-use
monitoring.
Question. Syria: What does the future of [humanitarian]assistance
to Syria look like? How can we effectively provide relief to millions
in need without a sufficient number of UN border crossing points?
We know that there is no replacement for cross-border mechanisms to
deliver humanitarian assistance in Syria, and that cross-line
assistance is costly, ineffective, and prone to manipulation. How will
you ensure that U.S. assistance is not routed through Damascus and
instead delivered directly to those in need?
Answer. Rising humanitarian needs and an increasingly complex
operating environment continue to pose significant challenges for
humanitarian actors throughout Syria who continue to reach the most
vulnerable at great risk to themselves. The July 9 reauthorization of
cross-border assistance through United Nations Security Council
Resolution 2585 provided crucial relief for the Syrian people, but it
does not completely fill the vast needs on the ground. That is why it
is vital for the United States to continue to advocate for unimpeded
humanitarian access through all possible means--including continued
authorization and expansion of UN cross-border access and unhindered
cross-line assistance. USAID has zero tolerance for fraud, waste, or
abuse by any parties to the conflict, including the Assad regime. All
USAID humanitarian assistance is implemented through independent
humanitarian organizations--UN agencies and NGOs--to reach those most
in need in line with humanitarian principles. No U.S. assistance is
routed through the Syrian Arab Republic Government.
Question. Venezuela: The authoritarian regime in Cuba has
reportedly developed its own COVID-19 vaccine. Can you confirm that
USAID will not provide any direct or indirect support to a COVID-19
vaccination campaign in which the Cuban vaccine is used?
Can you confirm that USAID will not provide direct or
indirect support to a vaccination campaign in Venezuela that is
non-transparent and discriminatory?
Can you confirm that USAID support for the World Food
Program in Venezuela will not strengthen the ability of the
Maduro regime to exert control over the Venezuelan people?
Answer. USAID has not provided and has no plans to provide direct
or indirect support to a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in which any
Cuban vaccine is used. Cuba has not published its trial data for its
vaccines, nor has the vaccine received an emergency use listing or
authorization from the World Health Organization.
In addition, USAID can confirm that there are no plans to provide
direct or indirect support to a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in
Venezuela, where current vaccination efforts are non-transparent and
discriminatory. If at any time in the future USAID does provide COVID-
19 vaccination support, it would only be if there was an equitable and
transparent National Deployment and Vaccination Plan.
USAID support for the UN World Food Program--an independent
humanitarian operation--(WFP) in Venezuela is intended to address the
emergency food needs of vulnerable Venezuelan children impacted by the
crisis. All USAID-funded humanitarian activities in Venezuela are and
will continue to be guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity,
neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. Furthermore,
WFP's clear branding and messaging at the community level about their
association with the UN and international donors prevent the regime
from receiving reputational benefits. WFP has identified geographic
areas for assistance based on the results of its emergency food
security assessment. WFP is currently piloting its food assistance
program in the State of Falcon, eventually expanding to more locations
based on needs outlined in the food security assessment. Falcon is
among the five states in the country with the highest prevalence of
severe food insecurity. WFP is maintaining its own independent supply
chains and food distributions and WFP has indicated no instance of
interference by the Maduro regime during this pilot program.
Question. Central America: The Administration has announced $310
million in foreign assistance to Central America before formally
submitting the Central America Strategy required by law and without
explaining what benchmarks, if any, it has established to meaningfully
reduce illegal migration from the region.
When can we expect to receive this Strategy?
Can you explain how the Strategy more closely ties our U.S.
assistance to deterring illegal migration to the U.S.?
Answer. The Root Causes Strategy that was requested by Congress in
the FY 2021 Appropriation Bill is receiving final review within the
U.S. Government and we anticipate the strategy will be released by the
White House in the near future.
Per President Biden's February 2, 2021 Executive Order, USAID
collaborated with interagency partners on forthcoming strategies that
both address the critical factors pushing Central Americans to migrate
and strengthen multilateral efforts on migration management. I look
forward to working with Congress to implement these strategies and
receive your feedback in the coming weeks and months.
Question. Over the past 30 years, the U.S. Government and USAID
have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help build and reform
Georgia's judicial system. Still, the country's judiciary is moving,
and quite rapidly, in deeply troubling direction. Georgia's judiciary
is increasingly controlled by a clan of judges who see their first goal
as protecting their position, and who will sell their services to the
highest bidder. Still, USAID programs and tenders go ahead, pumping
money into a project that has clearly failed.
Will you commit to re-examining the current program of judicial
reforms that USAID is running in Georgia, and to develop an assessment
as to whether the current projects are truly the best way to help
Georgia move forward?
Answer. USAID continues to implement a broad program of support for
democratic reforms in Georgia, including activities focused on
improving judicial independence, which remains an area where much work
remains to be done. While progress in the judicial sector is fragile
and subject to intermittent setbacks, USAID considers there to have
been substantive improvement in the sector since USAID programs began,
including during recent years. USAID programming in Georgia is also
closely monitored and coordinated with our State Department colleagues
to ensure appropriate stewardship of USG funding, including performance
monitoring and evaluations. I would welcome the opportunity for further
discussion of Georgia's challenges and achievements in this area.
At the same time, Georgia is a steadfast and critical partner of
the United States in the Caucasus region, and this partnership has long
been one of mutual benefit and support, most importantly in countering
the Kremlin's attempts to thwart Georgian independence and expand their
sphere of influence through military aggression, intimidation, and
misinformation. We are committed to continuing to support Georgia in
becoming more democratic, more prosperous, and more able to defend the
rights (including the legal rights) of its citizens throughout its
internationally recognized territory. U.S. foreign assistance programs
are an integral part of furthering U.S. strategic interests in Georgia.
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Benjamin Cardin
Question. America's leadership in both landmine/unexploded ordnance
removal and war victim's assistance are vital tools in the development
tool box. However, coordination between programs run by the State
Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs and USAID remains
limited and inconsistent. While the State Department supports demining
programs that employ thousands of former combatants, war widows, and
other people vulnerable to extremist recruitment from Afghanistan to
Sri Lanka, the potential of these investments to contribute to USAID's
strategy to counter violent extremism remains poorly understood. At the
same time, State Department demining programs have provided millions of
acres of land for safe use in fragile settings, but these efforts are
rarely coordinated with USAID agricultural programs and other
interventions which could maximize their development impact. Similarly,
the Leahy War Victims Fund administered by USAID could achieve greater
impact if it were aligned with priority demining programs in Libya,
Yemen and elsewhere to offer hope to war victims while the State
Department invests in addressing the immediate explosive threat.
Will you commit to work with the State Department to break down the
silos between demining and development and ensure that these programs
and their implementing partners work in close cooperation?
Answer. Yes, USAID is committed to strengthening coordination with
the State Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs (PMA) to
ensure our implementing partners and beneficiaries benefit from these
enhanced efforts on risk education, landmine/unexploded ordnance
removal, victim assistance, and other key development sectors such as
land rights, agriculture, and countering violent extremism. USAID,
through the Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF) and the Senior Advisor for
Rehabilitation (based in the Inclusive Development Hub in the Bureau
for Development, Democracy, and Innovation) will strive to maximize
impact and efficiency in priority countries.
To help breakdown silos between demining and development, USAID
intends to:
Hold coordination and strategy meetings with PMA/Weapons
Removal and Abatement;
Hold discussions with the PMA, USAID/Middle East Bureau, and
representative(s) of the LWVF to identify opportunities for
future programming; and
Work together with the State Department's Bureau of Conflict
and Stabilization Operations to address countering violent
extremism efforts globally. Under USAID's new Senior Advisor
for Conflict Integration, these efforts now include intra- and
interagency coordination across regional and pillar bureaus in
both agencies.
Question. Given the urgent needs for humanitarian and rights-based
support to Burmese civil society operating in Burma and along the
Thailand-Burma border, what is USAID doing to ensure that funds are
going to local organizations and that they can be used with the
flexibility necessary to address the rapidly changing situation on the
ground?
Background: USAID has shifted approximately $42 million from work
that would have gone to the Government of Burma, to ``support and
strengthen'' civil society. There are concerns that much of this money
is going to beltway-based organizations and that there is not a focus
on easing some of the restrictions that keep local civil society in
Thailand and Burma from accessing the funds.
Answer. The $42.4 million funds redirection announced by the White
House on February 11 comprised only the FY 2020 bilateral funding
available to USAID/Burma when the coup began. Additional shifts were
made to central and regional programs as well as adjustments for FY
2021 funding. USAID's long-standing relationships with local civil
society, political actors, ethnic representatives, and media have
allowed us to work closely with local and international counterparts to
facilitate critical work and discussions between the various elements
of the emerging democracy movement.
Since February 1, USAID/Burma has issued more than 50 new subawards
and urgent modifications to existing development awards to enable local
organizations to respond to the coup, augment local partners' roles, or
continue related activities. More than 20 additional subawards to local
organizations are under active development and consideration and
include grants for coup-response work such as legal defense for exiled
journalists.
Humanitarian assistance: In FY 2021, USAID has scaled up its
humanitarian assistance to address the needs of people displaced by
coup-related violence in the southeastern region, including populations
displaced near the border with Thailand, as well as in Chin State. In
addition, with prior year funding, USAID is supporting the OCHA-managed
Myanmar Humanitarian Fund, which is providing assistance through local
and international organizations to provide urgent assistance to newly
displaced people in the southeast.
USAID has provided humanitarian assistance to meet the most urgent
needs of displaced and conflict-affected populations in Burma,
including providing food, water, sanitation, health, nutrition,
essential household items, and cash assistance. Funding also supports
strengthened coordination activities for the humanitarian community to
improve critical response decisions. USAID humanitarian awards include
geographic flexibility, which enables partners to quickly shift target
locations and respond to new needs as they arise. Implementing partners
are led by seasoned international organizations experienced in the
delivery of humanitarian assistance in complex environments and who
work predominantly through experienced local organizations throughout
target areas.
Question. How is USAID addressing the critique of the development
aid model that leads to such small amounts going to local groups and
the correlating critique that local groups have such little say over
how the money gets allocated?
Answer. USAID is addressing the complexities of localization at the
policy, strategic, and operational level--but this also requires that
USAID make smart, context appropriate, choices. USAID continues to work
to improve our collaborative methodologies and to standardize practices
that bring local actors to the table, and when possible, the head of
the table. The Agency is working to build co-creation and co-design
into more procurement vehicles, and to use tools that leave the design
of the activity to a later part of the process where local actors can
lead. The Agency remains committed to working with new, nontraditional,
and local partners directly and indirectly. USAID/Burma has more than
100 local sub-grantees.
Question. Given the COVID-19 outbreak in Myanmar and along the
border, is USAID positioned to provide vaccine support, particularly
through Myanmar ethnic health organizations that are leading the
response in border areas?
Answer. USAID is providing substantial assistance to IDPs and other
vulnerable communities in the southeastern areas of Burma bordering
Thailand. USAID has development and humanitarian assistance programs in
those border areas, which includes work responding to COVID-19 and
laying the groundwork for subsequent vaccine deployment.
USAID/Burma is supporting the U.S. Embassy to lead discussions with
other diplomatic missions on the UN's proposed plan for COVID-19
testing, care, and vaccinations, which would require limited regime
contact to be able to import, store, and distribute commodities, as
well as allow ethnic health and non-governmental organizations and
local private sector to support implementation.
While USAID is looking at cross-border options to increase the
provision of assistance in southeastern Burma, there are complex
political and operational challenges, including complicated technical
requirements for transporting COVID-19 vaccines, that inhibit the use
of cross-border operations for assistance at scale. Currently, USAID is
able to reach IDPs and other affected populations with development and
humanitarian assistance working from within Burma by leveraging
partnerships with local civil society networks and local ethnic health
organizations.
Question. More than 90 percent of the world's learners have been
impacted by COVID-19-related school closures, and history has taught us
that the longer students are out of school, the less likely they are to
return. This is even more relevant for vulnerable groups, such as girls
and children with disabilities. You have stated that USAID is committed
to making education systems more resilient and equitable, including by
leveraging partnerships like the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)
and Education Cannot Wait (ECW). However, the President's Budget
Request proposed funding Basic Education at below FY 2021 enacted
levels. Specifically, how will USAID support global education and
leverage these complementary partnerships?
Answer. USAID is committed supporting basic education, which has
gained urgency in light of COVID-19 impacts. In response to the COVID-
19 pandemic, the United States implemented a combination of immediate
response efforts to mitigate learning loss and psychosocial impact, as
well as medium- to long-term investments to build more resilient and
equitable education systems and societies with the capacity to better
manage future shocks and prevent learning loss. Despite widespread
school closures, USAID collectively reached more than 25.4 million
learners in 57 countries through international basic education
programs--and expanded access to high-quality education for all in FY
2020. For more information on USG response to impacts of COVID-19 on
the education sector, please see the newly released report, U.S.
Government COVID-19 International Basic Education Response.
Complementing our bilateral education work are USAID's critical
partnerships with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Education
Cannot Wait (ECW), and other key education stakeholders. USAID provided
technical and leadership support to GPE and ECW's COVID-19 response.
USAID Missions continue to work with GPE, ECW, and all stakeholders in
supporting our country partners in responding to COVID-19 to mitigate
learning losses, return to learning, and equip education actors and
institutions to be increasingly resilient.
Question. 128 million conflict-affected children lack education
services, denying them the right to an education and making them more
vulnerable to violence, trafficking, child labor, child marriage, and
recruitment by armed groups. Education Cannot Wait (ECW) delivers
rapid, collaborative responses to the educational needs of children and
youth affected by crises and is the first global movement and fund
dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises. In 2020,
ECW activated its First Emergency Response funding window to re-program
current grants and deliver nearly $100 million in new funding to 26
countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ECW relies on support
from donors like the U.S. Can you talk about USAID's education work in
conflict and crisis settings and how ECW complements this work?
Answer. Working to ensure that children and youth, particularly the
most marginalized and vulnerable, have increased access to quality
education is one of four priorities in USAID's Education Policy. This
priority includes reaching children and youth in conflict and crisis
settings. For example, in Northeast Nigeria, where access to
educational opportunities due to the Boko Haram insurgency and the
resulting displacement of families and communities have been disrupted,
USAID activities provide continuity of education, improve the quality
of teaching and learning, increase equitable access to education,
stabilize institutional capacity to deliver education, and integrate
peacebuilding and safety into school communities.
Building on USAID's bilateral work, the Agency's contributions to
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) furthers our ability to help provide safe,
relevant, and quality education in conflict and crisis-affected
settings. ECW has a reach and a response time that leverages and
complements USAID's bilateral development investments by pooling the
financial resources of traditional and non-traditional partners to
respond to the dynamic needs of crisis and conflict-affected contexts.
ECW also tests interventions and aggregates learning to improve the
global knowledge base of what works in education in emergencies
benefitting all actors in the sector, including USAID.
USAID Missions understand this unique role ECW plays. For example,
USAID's Mission in Burkina Faso recognized the value add of ECW and
will use its funding to contribute to ECW's Burkina Faso Multi-Year
Resilience Programme. USAID supports ECW at both the technical and
political levels through roles on the High-Level Steering Group,
Executive Committee, and at the country-level through the Local
Education Group or the Education Cluster, a donor coordination group.
Question. As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee
on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and
Bilateral Development, my Subcommittee has responsibility for reviewing
the budget and operations of the State Department and USAID. The
absence of U.S. Government leadership in the UN Joint SDG Fund, the
sole funding vehicle for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,
has undermined its ability to raise the financing needed to accelerate
their implementation globally. Unfortunately, the President's budget
omitted specific support for the UN Joint SDG Fund which is why I
requested that the Subcommittee include a line item of $50 million in
funding for the UN Joint SDG Fund. American leadership of the Joint SDG
Fund would also enable the U.S. to prioritize initiatives relating to
SDG 16, which in my view is the key to achieving all the other
sustainable development goals, as it seeks to develop ``peaceful and
inclusive societies . . . provide access to justice for all and build
effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.''
a. How can USAID play a role in ensuring that SDGs are achieved by
2030, especially SDG16?
b. How does USAID aim to promote SDG16 in its 2022 budget proposal?
Answer. USAID is committed to robust engagement and leadership on
the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While USAID has not made a
commitment to the UN Joint SDG Fund, USAID programs contribute to the
implementation of the SDGs as the Agency's programming guidance calls
for our assistance programs to take into account host country
sustainable development strategies, most of which are framed around the
SDGs. As such, in key technical areas such as food security, health,
water and sanitation, inclusive economic growth and education, as well
as in gender, rule of law, and tackling inequality, USAID's programs
align well with--and directly contribute to--specific SDGs.
USAID strongly supports SDG16, including through our extensive
support for programs to strengthen democracy, human rights, and
governance; address democratic backsliding; and strengthen justice
systems that uphold the rule of law. USAID also works to strengthen
country capacities to combat corruption, including through prevention,
detection, investigation, prosecution, and international cooperation.
With Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 resources, USAID intends to increase the
Agency's support for implementation of SDG16 by:
Reinvigorating democracy, human rights, and governance to
address democratic backsliding and broadening support for human
rights and rule of law, while increasing engagement with
multilateral partners. USAID's FY 2022 budget request includes
$2.8 billion across USAID and the Department of State for
democracy, human rights, and governance programming.
Escalating our fight against corruption, including through
prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, and
international cooperation. The FY 2022 request includes $50
million for a major new anti-corruption initiative, which will
allow the Agency to ensure targeted and new responses to
address illicit finance, transnational organized crime, and
strategic corruption, in line with specific SGD16 targets. In
addition, I have established the Anti-Corruption Task Force to
develop a fuller agenda in this area.
Bolstering our ``rapid response'' capability to quickly
seize opportunities to strengthen democracy throughout the
world when there is an unexpected political opening or an
attempt to roll back democratic progress. The FY22 request
includes $60 million for the Complex Crises Fund to respond to
such scenarios, as well as others that present a high risk of
instability, in addition to a $100 million request for the
Democracy Fund.
Advancing our fight against digital repression and
disinformation, and supporting independent journalists and
media outlets facing closing space. The FY22 request includes
$30 million to counter disinformation, encourage information
integrity and effective investigative journalism, and protect
at-risk journalists.
Countering Foreign Malign Authoritarian Influence by
increasing the resilience of partner countries specifically
targeted by disinformation, weaponized corruption, election
interference, and the suppression of independent media, often
with support from other anti-democratic global powers. This
would be a likely focus of the $135 million request to cover
major deliverables of the Summit for Democracy that President
Biden has called for.
Strengthening Policy and Programming by emphasizing
compliance with SDG16 and supporting more peaceful, just, and
inclusive societies in the forthcoming USAID Rule of Law
Policy, integrating SDG16 targets and indicators in assistance
activities, and integrating SDG16 in USAID's rule of law
trainings and technical tools.
Question. Middle East Partnership for Peace Act: Last year,
Congress appropriated $250 million over 5 years for the Nita M. Lowey
Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, or MEPPA. I was pleased to see
the Administration include MEPPA in its FY22 Budget Request. MEPPA
funds critically needed people-to-people programming and joint economic
partnerships between Israelis and Palestinians.
a. What is the status of MEPPA's implementation? When do you
anticipate the first tranche of obligated funds to be
disbursed?
b. What can Congress do to assist USAID in expediting
implementation, given the recent violence?
c. What do you believe are appropriate and productive uses of these
funds to help build the circumstances where a two-state
solution can be reached?
d. I understand that there are numerous nations who are interested
in partnering with the United States in this endeavor. Can you
elaborate on your conversations with foreign governments and if
the Biden administration intends to explore this multilateral
interest?
Answer. MEPPA opens up incredible possibilities for positive change
at an urgent moment for Israelis and Palestinians. Engagement between
the two sides is sorely needed and I am hopeful that this law will help
contribute to an expansion of a constituency for peace and a future
where communities with deep historical divides work together. USAID is
working diligently, alongside colleagues at the Development Finance
Corporation (DFC) and the Department of State, to prepare for the
launch of MEPPA by the end of the year. We are currently focused on
standing up the Advisory Board and readying programming under the
Partnership for Peace Fund (PPF) to launch immediately after the
Congressionally-authorized date of December 27, 2021.
For the Advisory Board, I have appointed a Designated Federal
Official--who will support the functions and operations of the Advisory
Board--and we are finalizing drafts of both the Charter for the
Advisory Board and the Membership Balance Plan, documents required per
the Federal Advisory Committee Act to legally establish the Board.
Under the PPF, USAID will be able to facilitate assistance awards
to local and non-traditional peacebuilding partners (i.e. private
sector and/or local faith-based groups) for innovative, adaptive, and
locally led development approaches in support of building, expanding,
and transforming popular support for peaceful coexistence between
Israelis and Palestinians. The PPF will target a diversity of sectors,
including peacebuilding, renewable energy, water productivity, climate
resilience, health care, positive youth development, and those that
complement the DFC's Joint Investment for Peace Initiative.
Finally, USAID is actively discussing MEPPA with other
international donors and exploring opportunities for collaboration and
partnership once the Fund is launched.
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Tim Kaine
Question. Per Senator Kaine's exchange with Administrator Power at
the SFRC hearing on the President's FY22 budget for USAID, the Senator
requests that USAID produce a chart comparing vaccine donations around
the world, including what the U.S. is doing to demonstrate U.S.
generosity, versus what Russia, China and other countries (Canada,
Europe, Australia, India, etc.) have contributed.
This chart should reflect total U.S. bilateral donations to each
country globally, the mechanisms (bilaterally or through COVAX), cost
and source of funding (to include if a loan), the brand or vaccine
manufacturer, and support equipment (for example cold storage units or
injectors). It should also note what Russia and China and others have
provided to that same country and if theses vaccines were donated or
provided at cost or profit (to the extent that USAID is able to gather
this information understanding that Russia and China are not
transparent about their distribution).
This chart should be updated and shared with Congress every 60
days.
Do you agree to provide such a chart to Congress?
Answer. Below please find a chart outlining U.S. donations, by
country, as of July 13, 2021. Due to the lack of verifiable, publicly
accessible data on China and Russia global vaccine donations and sales,
we are unable to provide a chart that directly compares them to U.S.
donations.
U.S. Donations as of July 13, 2021, By Country
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Vaccines Delivery Date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afghanistan 3,000,000 7/7/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladesh 2,500,000 6/29/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bhutan 500,000 7/9/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bolivia 1,008,000 7/7/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brazil 3,000,000 6/23/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colombia 2,500,000 6/30/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Costa Rica 500,000 7/12/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ecuador 2,000,000 6/30/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
El Salvador 1,500,000 7/6/2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiji 150,000 7/12/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guatemala 1,500,000 7/7/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haiti 500,000 7/13/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honduras 1,500,000 6/25/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laos 1,000,000 7/12/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia 1,000,000 7/2/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico 1,350,000 6/14/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moldova 150,000 7/9/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nepal 1,534,000 7/9/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan 2,500,000 6/28/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paraguay 1,000,000 7/8/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peru 2,000,000 6/28/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Republic of Korea 1,012,000 6/14/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sri Lanka 1,500,000 7/13/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taiwan 2,500,000 6/18/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uruguay 500,000 7/7/21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vietnam 2,000,000 7/6/2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 38,204,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Edward J. Markey
Question. The recent warnings of famine and continued lack of
humanitarian access to Tigray are extremely concerning. What specific
obstacles are USAID partners still facing to reach civilians, and what
is urgently needed to fight famine?
Answer. USAID believes that famine may already be happening in
Tigray. If the conflict doesn't end and humanitarian access does not
improve, the already devastating situation will get even worse. The
ongoing conflict has left 5.2 million people out of a total of 6
million, approximately 90 percent of the population, in need of
assistance.
In response to the acute food needs across Tigray, USAID/BHA is
supporting the Catholic Relief Services (CRS)-led Joint Emergency
Operation (JEOP), as well as the UN World Food Program (WFP) and other
humanitarian partners, to provide emergency food assistance--including
commodities such as U.S.-sourced cereals, pulses, and vegetable oil--to
vulnerable people in the region. As of July 2021, USAID/BHA has
provided CRS-led JEOP and WFP with $179 million and $100 million
respectively. Combined, the JEOP and WFP had reached nearly 3.6 million
people across Mekele and five of Tigray's six zones with food rations
from late 2020 to early June 2021.
On June 9, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced $181
million in additional funding to respond to the crisis, totaling more
than $360 million in USG funding for the Tigray response in 2021 so
far. The USG continues to lead advocacy efforts to increase
humanitarian access and scale up the response. This assistance will
address food insecurity by providing nearly 100,000 metric tons (MT) of
food, sufficient to feed 3 million people for nearly 2 months, as well
as fertilizers, seeds, and tools for farmers to replant crops
intentionally destroyed by armed actors. The new funding also includes
support for protection services, case management for survivors of
gender-based violence (GBV), safe spaces, programs to reunite separated
households, psychosocial support services for women and girls, and
training for social workers and community caseworkers. Finally, the
assistance will enable additional health and water, sanitation, and
hygiene (WASH) support, critically needed to repair damaged or
destroyed facilities and infrastructure and restore critical services.
However, we are growing increasingly concerned that the unilateral
ceasefire declared by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) on June 28 is
resulting in a de facto blockade of Tigray. We are calling on the GoE
to restore electricity, telecommunications, and banking activity and to
allow the entry of fuel into Tigray. The Semera (Afar) to Mekele route
for access into Tigray is our best hope of getting humanitarian
assistance to those in need inside Tigray. To deliver urgently needed
lifesaving assistance, all parties to the conflict must permit
unhindered movement of humanitarian supplies, commodities, and
personnel into Tigray by road and air.
Question. On June 30, OpenDemocracy released an investigative
report highlighting that aid donor funds in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania
may have been used for anti-gay ``conversion therapy'' at several
USAID-funded health clinics. This is a discredited and dangerous
practice that targets LGBTQI+ people and perpetuates stigma and
discrimination. What is USAID doing to determine the extent to which
global health dollars were used to undermine LGBTQI+ rights in light of
this reporting, and how do you plan to strengthen non-discrimination
policies to hold implementers accountable to true LGBTQI+ inclusion?
Answer. So-called ``conversion therapy'' and all practices
attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender
identity, and/or gender expression are a violation of human rights that
is inherently degrading and discriminatory. The U.S. Government opposes
these practices. Conversion therapy is a violation of the USG's
commitments to ``do no harm'' and to follow evidence-based practices.
Immediately upon learning of the allegations, the U.S. Government
reached out to the implementing partners named in the articles to
verify the allegations and conduct an investigation. Individuals and
organizations within the LGBTQI+ civil society communities were also
consulted. In an interagency process, relevant U.S. Government agencies
and each country's USAID mission investigated and assessed the
identified implementing partners. The process found no evidence of
systematic ``conversion therapy'' programs or practices at the clinics,
and all implementing partners are categorically opposed to the
practice. However, the unacceptable actions of some individuals merited
changes to prevent further incidents and strengthen protection and
support for key populations. The findings of the investigations have
informed several efforts to ensure that our programs do no harm and do
not enable discriminatory activities.
The U.S. Government is implementing concrete changes, both with the
implementing partners as well as in related programming worldwide, in
response to these incidents. These changes include working with local
LGBTQI+ civil society to strengthen the LGBTQI+ competency of
implementing partners services as well as affirming non-discrimination
policies by all implementing partners. In addition, community-led
monitoring of health services will help the U.S. Government recognize
and address similar challenges in the future. Additionally, USAID is
currently working to establish an Accountability Mechanism that
individuals, communities, civil society, and other stakeholders can use
to report concerns about the economic, social, and environmental impact
of USAID activities.
Question. The continued plight of those displaced by the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict in 2020 is troubling. This year, the United Nations
launched a 2021 Interagency Response Plan for Armenia highlighting the
need for $62 million to support populations affected by the fighting.
What plans does USAID have to thoroughly review the needs in Nagorno-
Karabakh and Armenia in order to provide appropriate assistance in line
with those needs?
Answer. Since September 2020, USAID has provided more than $4.5
million in total assistance to respond to the complex humanitarian
crisis resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and associated
COVID-19 resurgence. USAID provided food, shelter, emergency health
assistance, and social services to communities displaced from Nagorno-
Karabakh in Armenia. This includes $2.5 million in emergency
humanitarian assistance, to provide cash assistance to food-insecure
displaced persons and in-kind assistance to host-family households,
addressing health, shelter and WASH sectors to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19 for displaced individuals and collective shelters.
While the displacement situation is dynamic and continues to
evolve, USAID continues to work closely with the Department of State to
assess urgent post-conflict humanitarian needs and possible future U.S.
Government engagement on an ongoing basis. The agency also continues to
seek opportunities to help build constructive cross-border interaction
and cooperation as the basis for peace and stability across the South
Caucasus.
More broadly, USAID continues to support Armenia's goals to promote
a resilient and democratic society, enhance economic growth, and
strengthen its energy security.
Question. There have been several recent reports of human rights
violations against peaceful protesters in Colombia. USAID must support
those who seek to have their grievances heard by their government
representatives. What activities is USAID supporting to bolster human
rights and civil society programs in Colombia?
Answer. Across sectors--whether in human rights, justice,
governance, environmental protection, ethnic inclusion, or economic
development--USAID engages civil society and increases their capacity
to represent their communities and advance positive change. In
Colombia, USAID currently has 17 awards to local organizations, valued
at nearly $70 million. Those local partners are diverse--local
organizations, human rights organizations, victim-led organizations,
cooperatives, family and corporate foundations, and academia. Since
2016, USAID provided sub-grants to 655 local organizations, each with a
capacity development component, which demonstrates efforts to engage
with local partners to advance local solutions.
USAID often serves as a bridge between civil society and the
Colombian Government. For example, at the height of the 2021 protests,
USAID supported the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) to
convene dialogues with 16,000 youth across 157 municipalities. Those
dialogues informed the Colombian Government's Youth Pact and inter-
agency policy that will invest $8.7 billion in education, employment,
mental health, security, environment, and culture for youth over the
next 10 years. USAID is currently helping the Colombian Government to
implement those commitments to increase investments in at-risk youth.
The protests also opened new political space for young people in
the form of youth councils, which President Duque announced amid the
protests. USAID-trained youth leaders were elected to office for the
first time and are now leading policymaking in their communities. USAID
is supporting the elected councils and other authorities to ensure that
they participate effectively in public policy making, continuing to
connect them with civil society and the constituents they represent.
In human rights, USAID focuses on the protection of vulnerable
populations and the prevention and investigation of human rights
abuses. USAID works with the Colombian State and sub-national
authorities to strengthen human rights systems, such as the National
Protection Unit protection for human rights defenders and Ombudsman
Office's Early Warning System. USAID also works closely with civil
society to elevate their issues to policymakers and adopt ``self-
protection'' methods to analyze and mitigate security risks. USAID
specifically worked to improve human rights accountability within the
police. Finally, announced after the protests, but the result of long-
term technical assistance, USAID helped the Colombian National Police
create a human rights monitoring system to monitor internal human
rights trends and shape policy to improve accountability. Over 6 years,
USAID's Human Rights Activity provided nearly 90 sub-grants to civil
society organizations, universities, and other local partners.
Question. Diversity, equity, and inclusion have been cited by
President Biden as a top priority for this administration in E.O.
14035. To address this issue requires an honest assessment of the
dignity and equality offered by the various hiring mechanisms used to
employ staff who often work in war zones and complex emergencies. Is
USAID analyzing the disparities across hiring mechanisms within its
workforce, and what steps are you taking to improve staff equity? What
can Congress do to help in this regard?
Answer. USAID is committed to increasing diversity, ensuring
equity, improving inclusion, and expanding accessibility (DEIA) across
our workplace and operations, in line with major commitments from the
Biden-Harris administration. I have prioritized DEIA since my first day
in the office, when I signed and approved USAID's DEIA Strategic Plan.
Since that day, I have continued to emphasize the importance of DEIA,
while also working to create a workplace free from discrimination,
harassment, and retaliation.
USAID's DEIA Strategic Plan includes two objectives related to
equity, which emphasize promoting equitable policies and practices
across the employment lifecycle (e.g., recruitment, hiring, promotions,
compensation, and professional development) that contribute to a more
equitable workplace. In response to Executive Order (EO) 14035, USAID,
similar to other Federal agencies, is conducting an internal equity
assessment that will also support these objectives. Phase 1 of the
assessment will be completed by October 2021, and focuses on USAID's
direct hire workforce (i.e., federal employees) as directed by the EO.
Given that Personal Services Contractors (PSCs) and Institutional
Support Contractors (ISCs) make up the majority of USAID's workforce,
the Agency has also committed to additional assessment phases that will
focus on USAID's non-direct-hire workforce, including individual PSCs
both in the United States and at Missions abroad, ISCs, and other
hiring and contracting mechanisms. These mechanisms are governed by
distinct legal and procurement frameworks. Our priority is to identify
ways to achieve equity within each mechanism, while advancing broader
DEIA initiatives to ensure that all members of our workforce feel
respected, safe, included, and empowered to achieve our important
mission and can thrive in a workplace free from discrimination,
harassment and retaliation. Findings and recommendations from Phase 1
of the assessment will be integrated into USAID's updated DEIA
Strategic Plan, as well as the U.S. Government-wide DEIA Strategic
Plan.
Internal equity assessment notwithstanding, we have already taken
action to advance its DEIA goals, including those centered on workplace
equity. I meet regularly with USAID's various employee resource groups.
Last year, the Bureau for Management identified potential options for
enhancing equity for contractor mechanisms at the Agency, including
increasing the number of Mission cooperating country national PSCs with
warrants, providing paid parental leave for U.S. PSCs, and providing
all contractors with access to developmental opportunities, such as the
Agency's formal Mentoring Program. USAID is planning an in-depth
barrier analysis that will look across the employment lifecycle to
identify and address potential roadblocks to workplace equity in
policies, programs, processes, and practices and will use the analysis
to identify additional actions.
We expanded our support for the Donald M. Payne International
Development Fellowship Program, which recruits highly competitive
candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to join USAID's Foreign
Service. We are developing several groundbreaking memorandums of
understanding with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving
Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities as part of a broader
push to both recruit from and more closely partner with these important
institutions. These are just some of the many actions USAID is taking
to advance equity and inclusion within our workplace.
We openly recognize that achieving this ambitious agenda will
require dedicated time, resources, and support. I would appreciate
continued Congressional support in providing resources to help
diversify our workforce and continue expanding support for programs,
such as the Payne Fellowship Program. In addition, we would appreciate
continued Congressional support to facilitate more robust data
collection by removing legal and administrative hurdles.
Congressional support for an exemption to Paperwork Reduction Act
requirements related to demographic data collection, particularly
related to ISCs and sexual orientation and gender identity, would
assist in this regard. I would also appreciate your support for
potential authorization language expressing support for our ongoing MSI
partnerships. This will help to ensure that we are on track with our
goals and commitments.
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Marco Rubio
Question. Since this past Sunday, we have seen unprecedented and
historic protests across Cuba. Unlike previous protests, Cubans are
courageously marching in the streets--not just in Havana, but in more
than 31 cities across the island.
It pleases me to see that USAID has, under the direction of
Congress, done much to create conditions which empower Cubans to speak
out for their rights. I understand that USAID programs have provided
humanitarian assistance to the families of political prisoners,
educated Cubans on how to circumvent the regime's controls on internet
access and raise awareness in the region that the Marxist regime does
not, in fact, provide for Cuban's human and social rights.
But, as I stated in my letter to President Biden on Monday, more
needs to be done to assist the Cuban people in this historic moment.
What can you tell me of the Agency's plans to further support the
Cuban people?
Answer. Consistent with U.S. law, USAID's Cuba democracy
assistance: 1) provides basic needs assistance (largely food and
medicine) to activists, political prisoners, dissidents, and their
families; 2) supports and strengthens Cuban civil society; and 3)
facilitates the free flow of information.
USAID currently provides basic needs assistance (food, medicine,
and hygiene products) to more than 2,400 people on the island,
including activists, religious leaders, marginalized communities,
political prisoners, former political prisoners and their family
members. Given the significant increase in arbitrary arrests and
detentions in recent days, USAID anticipates demand for basic needs
assistance to political prisoners and dissidents to increase
substantially. USAID is in daily contact with partners to assess needs
and is prepared to fully fund its three instruments (valued at $5
million over 3 years) to respond to this population to the largest
possible extent.
USAID supports human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democratic
values by strengthening civil society through training on leadership
skills, advocacy, community organizing, and documenting human rights
violations. These efforts empower civil society activists to engage an
increased number of Cuban citizens to advocate for greater rights and
freedoms. Similarly, documentation of human rights violations will
prove instrumental to assemble evidence of human rights abuses in
international legal fora.
Additionally, USAID works to increase the free flow of information
to, from, and within the island. USAID's support for independent
journalists and networks on the island are key to keep the citizenry
informed of their rights and of citizen-led actions, as well as the
human rights abuses of the Government of Cuba. USAID has helped train
hundreds of journalists over the last decade whose work has appeared in
major international news outlets.
This programming is particularly relevant at this moment as local
advocacy and access to information have proven instrumental in
prompting Cubans to resist the regime. Similarly, needs-based
assistance provides a lifeline to political prisoners, their families
and other dissidents. Once an individual in Cuba has been identified as
a dissident, they face harassment, arbitrary detention, and in some
cases, are disappeared. These individuals, as well as members of their
direct family, are deprived of all state services, food and medicine,
and the right to earn an income.
Question. I sincerely hope that the Administration acts on my
recommendations to provide food and medicine to the people of Cuba.
However, any aid that is provided to the people cannot be given through
the regime, which will just use these assistance as leverage to control
the people.
What controls are--or will be--in place to ensure that humanitarian
assistance provided to Cuba will not benefit the Castro-Diaz-Canel
regime?
Answer. USAID currently has three instruments with U.S.-based
organizations to provide needs-based assistance (food, medicine, and
hygiene products) to victims of repression, including political
prisoners, their family members, and other individuals who are
persecuted because of their political or religious beliefs. Despite the
COVID-19 pandemic and the regime's repressive restrictions, USAID
partners distributed more than 14,520 pounds of food, medicines, and
hygiene products to persecuted activists, political prisoners and
family members during the January-March period alone, helping counter
the regime's repression tactics. This assistance reached more than
2,400 people on the island including around 500 political prisoners
detained in over 40 prisons.
Each organization has protocols in place to individually vet all
beneficiaries to ensure that they are imprisoned or persecuted due to
political or religious activism. It should also be noted that none of
the assistance is channeled through government-affiliated institutions.
Rather, assistance is distributed through trustworthy and independent
coordinators or religious organizations to ensure it reaches the
targeted population.
Given the significant increase in arbitrary arrests and detentions
in recent days, USAID anticipates the need for basic needs assistance
to political prisoners and dissidents to increase substantially. USAID
is in daily contact with partners to assess needs and is prepared to
fully fund its three instruments (valued at $5 million over 3 years) to
respond to this population to the largest possible extent.
Question. Since these protests started in Cuba, I have been
critical of this Administration's delays in voicing its support for the
Cuban people. To be honest, most of the initial statements by the
Administration severely missed the mark. These protests are not just
about severe food and medical shortages--these have been constant facts
of everyday life in Cuba for decades. These protests are about the
longstanding and deliberate decisions taken by a Marxist-Leninist
regime that denies the Cuban people their liberty and life.
Do you agree with the fact that these protests are rooted in the
longstanding denial of Cubans' basic rights?
Answer. As I stated during my testimony, you have only to hear the
cries on the street for freedom; the complaints about the inability to
access basic health services at a time of a raging pandemic; the
reality that you cannot associate, speak, or do anything freely, to
understand the frustrations of the Cuban people. This is a regime that
has not ever met its citizens' aspirations for freedom and human
rights. Instead, it abuses and represses the rights of its people day
in and day out. The Cuban people want to enjoy individual dignity, and
the Cuban regime denies them that.
Question. As we all saw last week with the tragic assassination of
President Jovenel Moise, the situation in Haiti continues to
deteriorate. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars in foreign
assistance to Haiti towards these goals, but the results created by
this assistance is now under threat.
What is USAID doing to step up assistance to Haiti, especially
assistance to local government authorities there?
How is USAID ensuring the safety of its contractors and grantees
operating in Haiti?
Answer. USAID's Strategic Framework for Haiti, which was informed
by extensive consultations with civil society, faith-based
organizations, the private sector, government officials, and donors,
prioritizes the localization of our aid and the engagement of new
partners--particularly, civil society and faith-based organizations
with a track record of delivering for their communities. As a starting
point, the Agency is making available $15 million to new and
experienced local civil society organization (CSO) partners to drive
local, inclusive solutions to Haiti's development challenges, including
from those demanding democratic and citizen-responsive governance from
the Government of Haiti (GOH). USAID/Haiti has also stood up a new
Resilience and New Partnerships Engagement Unit (RNPE) to serve as the
Mission's coordinating vehicle to engage with those stakeholders in
Haitian society that can complement and multiply the impact of
development assistance. Our partnership with the government, at both
the local and central levels, will continue to be targeted to areas of
demonstrated political will.
In 2019, USAID established the Partner Liaison Security Operation
(PLSO/Haiti) as a tool to enhance communication between USAID and its
over 50 implementing partners (IPs) country-wide regarding security
information to help better manage and mitigate their respective
security concerns. The PLSO/Haiti team provides current real-time
information, guidance and updates on security-related safety and
disaster preparedness factors throughout Haiti for IPs to help
safeguard their staff and operations. PLSO/Haiti provides security
related briefings to IPs, conducts virtual and in-person training,
travels to IP sites for comprehensive security assessments, and assists
IPs in responding to security incidents. The mechanism also has a 24-
hour hotline and real-time text messaging security alert system in
English/Haitian-Creole. All IPs are provided with weekly reports that
include security tips and current security related news events. The
PLSO/Haiti team also conducts regular check-ins with the IPs Chief of
Party (COP) staff, is in regular communication with the U.S. Embassy
Regional Security Office, and has developed extensive networks of
contacts with the Haitian National Police in Port-au-Prince and
regional areas.
Question. The Duque Government has found that remnants of terrorist
organizations (the FARC and ELN) have been using the current, and
largely legitimate, protests to stoke violence in places such as Cali.
USAID is tasked with promoting stability in this region, particularly
with the destabilization from the Maduro regime in Venezuela and these
terrorist groups.
How are you supporting the Duque administration in coca
eradication, combating narco-terrorism, and preserving all of the
progress made after two decades and billions of dollars spent through
the immensely successful U.S.-Colombia partnership?
Answer. Since the Venezuela Regional crisis began in 2018, USAID
has provided humanitarian assistance including emergency food, health,
and other direct assistance for Venezuelan migrants, refugees and host
communities. USAID also prioritizes multi-sectoral humanitarian
assistance for Colombian internally displaced individuals, as well as
food assistance for COVID- affected Colombians.
In Colombia, USAID funding continues to address the regional
Venezuelan migration crisis, supports efforts to expand the state
presence and creates the right conditions for economic opportunities to
flourish, including by promoting alternative livelihoods in areas of
high coca production. The USAID priorities in Colombia also include
land titling, ethnic community support, human rights and rule of law
activities.
United States' COVID-19 support to Colombia has expanded testing to
vulnerable communities and helps increase vulnerable citizens' access
to high-quality care. USAID has established biosafety and infection
prevention protocols and strengthened the Colombian health systems'
resiliency to withstand future shocks. Testing, tracing and isolation
plans and strategic communication were also devised to assist
individuals outside of the Colombian health system.
In Colombia, USAID continues to assist in mitigating on-going
social unrest. In Cali, Medellin and Bogota, we continue to facilitate
ongoing dialogue between various strike organizers' leadership and
Colombian officials.
Question. In early April, the Biden administration announced that
it planned to restart economic, development, and humanitarian
assistance to the Palestinians. This includes $75 million in economic
and development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, $10 million for
peacebuilding programs through the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), and $150 million in humanitarian assistance for
the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
What are your plans to ensure that no American dollars get
into the hands of terrorist organizations or are diverted to
pay terrorists?
Is the Biden administration intending to adhere to U.S. law,
including the Taylor Force Act, to ensure that any U.S. dollars
you send over are tightly targeted to benefit the Palestinian
people and not the Palestinian Authority or Hamas?
If so, please share how you intend to do so.
Answer. USAID provides assistance in a manner consistent with U.S.
law, including the Taylor Force Act, ensuring that no assistance is
provided to or through terrorist organizations or to the Palestinian
Authority. The Department of State and the USAID Mission in the West
Bank and Gaza (WBG) have a long-standing, 15-year-old, robust partner
vetting process to mitigate the risk that U.S. Government resources
could inadvertently support Hamas or other terrorist groups. Trained
counterintelligence professionals screen the personally identifiable
information of key individuals of organizations and individual
beneficiaries, who meet the vetting requirements outlined in Mission
Order 21, against both public and U.S. Government databases at the FBI-
managed Threat Screening Center. Additionally, USAID partners in the
WBG have aggressive risk-mitigation systems in place aimed at ensuring
U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance is reaching those for whom it is
intended. As is the case around the world, the United States will
provide assistance in the West Bank and Gaza through experienced and
trusted partners that distribute aid directly to people in need.
Question. Training journalists on investigative techniques is
necessary to ensure public accountability related to the PRC's export
of digital surveillance technology, which is often used to prop up
repressive regimes, as well as combat the Chinese Communist Party's
other influence operations abroad. Your role--along and in coordination
with the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights--is
critical on this issue.
Is USAID's going to support training journalists to counter China's
export of repressive digital surveillance technology and other CCP
influence operations?
Answer. USAID's programming in media assistance began over 30 years
ago and we currently have programs in over 40 countries worldwide
totaling approximately $150 million. As part of our media strengthening
efforts, we focus on improving the skills of journalists, including
building local capacity and resilience to coercive influence. USAID
training on investigative journalism requires significant mentoring and
entails great personal risk to journalists and is not conducted to
promote specific agendas.
Question. It has been well documented that COVID-19 compounds the
effects of other infectious and non-infectious diseases, like HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis, and malaria. Since 2017, the U.S. Government has invested
more than $44 billion in addressing these global health challenges. I
have always believed that these are worthy causes of U.S. Government
spending, but these gains may be at risk.
What actions is the Administration taking to support
countries severely affected by COVID-19 to address the
complications COVID-19 causes on populations severely affected
by other diseases?
Particularly, how are we ensuring that our partners and
allies in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Africa are
able to access what they need to help their citizens and
address the toll of the pandemic?
Answer. We must prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19. At
the same time, we must address its second-order effects, including by
supporting overburdened health systems, mitigating negative shocks to
households, building community resilience, and bolstering country
systems to avert development backsliding in a range of areas. USAID is
working closely with partner countries across the world, including in
sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, to address the
range of COVID-19 impacts and the second-order effects. Examples follow
from the Agency's work to implement the President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), our work on tuberculosis (TB) control, and the
President's Malaria Initiative (PMI).
PEPFAR and TB in sub-Saharan Africa: USAID has built on existing
HIV/AIDS programming, using PEPFAR partners, to support U.S. Government
efforts with African Ministries of Health and partners to rapidly
implement COVID-19 case management, monitoring and evaluation, oxygen
infrastructure, diagnostics and laboratory, supply chain strengthening
and vaccine readiness technical assistance. In South Africa, for
example, the U.S. Government, including USAID, leveraged the PEPFAR
platform and over 5,000 community health workers to support efforts to
control infections and provide clinical care to protect those most
vulnerable to COVID-19, including people living with HIV.
USAID's tuberculosis (TB) investments in Africa have strengthened
countries' capacities to detect and prevent the spread of other
airborne infections, such as COVID-19, including bi-directional
screening and testing for TB and COVID-19, identifying cases through
joint contact investigations, and supporting the expansion of digital
X-ray screening tools and introduction of genotyping technology. In
many countries, TB staff have been diverted to work on COVID-19 because
they had the necessary skills. In South Africa, to mitigate COVID-19's
devastating impact on TB services, USAID urgently developed TB recovery
efforts, as South Africa is one of seven high TB burden countries most
affected. USAID is also providing technical assistance and support to
African countries to restart and adapt immunization service delivery
strategies.
PMI in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean: Led by USAID,
PMI is adapting malaria programs to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19
and reduce backsliding of progress against malaria across PMI priority
countries and those in the Americas. Within weeks of the World Health
Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency
of International Concern, PMI developed guidance for PMI staff on
adapting malaria programs to COVID-19. For example, PMI and USAID's
regional malaria program's investments have strengthened country-led
community health worker platforms in more than 23 countries to deliver
malaria interventions and expand surveillance of fever to both mitigate
the impact of COVID-19 and accelerate progress in malaria. PMI
successfully supported countries to adapt programs to enable them to
safely continue and implement large-scale campaigns of preventive
interventions, including distribution of insecticide treated mosquito
nets and seasonal chemoprevention for children, protecting over 160
million people from malaria in 2020. PMI also worked with global
stakeholders and manufacturers to minimize supply chain disruptions and
increased costs due to COVID-19 for critical malaria commodities
including mosquito nets and treatments.
PEPFAR in Latin America and the Caribbean: In the region, five
countries used $223,000 in PEPFAR HIV funds to adapt their current
programming to respond to COVID-19 through September 2020. Several
PEPFAR mechanisms received COVID-19 supplemental funding for 13
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This support has included
donations of medical equipment, technical assistance to train providers
on clinical case management, the provision of COVID-19 polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests, reagents, and sample collection
materials, and the creation of communities of practice to share
resources and information regarding COVID-19 management.
Question. COVID-19 disrupted the education of countless children
throughout the world. For children without access to school or distance
learning services during the pandemic, learning loss and other harms
pose a generational threat. The situation is even worse for children of
families that must also contend with the loss of their jobs, or the
death of a close family member. This disruption in education threatens
to hold back these countries by years, if not decades, in their
development.
How should we respond to disruptions to education in
developing countries due to COVID-19?
How are we working with partner countries to build
resilience and prepare for future shocks like COVID-19 that
could further disrupt education systems in the future?
Answer. Despite numerous challenges in the education sector, the
USAID reached more than 25.5 million learners in FY 2020 through
international basic education programs designed to improve measurable
learning outcomes and expand access to high-quality education for all.
In response to the pandemic, USAID is working with partner countries to
mitigate the loss of instructional time, prepare for heightened
uncertainty, and equip education actors and institutions to be
increasingly resilient. For more information on the response to impacts
of COVID-19 on the education sector, please see the newly released
report, U.S. Government COVID-19 International Basic Education Response
(https://www.edu-links.org/resources/us-government-covid-19-
international-basic-education-response).
Question. USAID has a long history of working with faith
communities and faith leaders. These are organizations that can often
address cultural and religious barriers, as well as gain access in
delivering services at the community and household level. In most of
the places where USAID works, faith is an integral part of the lives of
those we partner with.
Does USAID intend to change any requirements for faith-based
organizations who seek to partner with the U.S. Government
through grants and cooperative agreements, particularly with
respect to maintaining their religious identity?
What role does USAID see local faith leaders have in
addressing many of these development challenges and how will
USAID support that work?
Answer. USAID highly values its faith-based partnerships.
Consistent with USAID's Rule on Participation by Religious
Organizations in USAID Programs at 22 CFR 205.1, religious
organizations that apply for and/or receive funding from USAID are free
to maintain their religious identity and to carry out their mission so
long as USAID funding is not used for explicitly religious activities
or in any other manner prohibited by law, and provided that USAID-
funded programs are offered separately in time or place from any
religious activities.
In humanitarian disasters, local religious leaders and
organizations are often first responders to crises and the last line of
defense for communities in need. In development contexts, local
religious leaders wield their influence across USAID sectors and can be
effective partners towards achieving development goals. USAID is
committed to maximizing positive development outcomes by ensuring that
key community stakeholders and influencers are engaged at all levels.
This will be achieved through ongoing efforts aimed at increasing
awareness and capacities of USAID staff and implementing partners to
engage local faith-based and other community actors.
Question. Christians, Yazidis, and other Iraqi communities are
still struggling to recover from the genocide committed by the Islamic
State. USAID has provided much needed assistance ($400 million), and
the Iraq and Syrian Genocide Relief and Accountability Act passed
Congress and was signed into law in 2018.
What is USAID's long term vision for genocide response in Iraq?
Answer. The effectiveness of USAID's response in Iraq is
underpinned by numerous social and political factors, including the
Iraqi Government's willingness and ability to sustain projects
initiated by USAID and international partners. It is important to note
that challenges remain including political, security, and economic
disincentives for the return of all religious and ethnic minorities to
their homes. Despite these challenges, USAID remains committed to
supporting the return of these individuals to the communities from
which they were ripped away. USAID will continue to advocate that
access to justice for survivors and stable and inclusive local
governance is critical to build on and extend the gains made so far to
ensure future generations can thrive despite Iraq's long-standing
struggles.
To that end, USAID is committed to sustained support to all
displaced Iraqis--especially persecuted religious and ethnic minorities
who were displaced and targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS)--to ensure their recovery. USAID's work with interventions with
at-risk communities and areas have focused on providing rapid response,
repatriation, rehabilitation, humanitarian assistance as well as
increasing access to basic services and building resilient communities.
This assistance includes rehabilitating essential services, providing
psychosocial support, supporting livelihoods, and enabling private
sector investment to promote sustainable economic development and
dignified employment.
Question. What are USAID's plans to provide assistance to other
groups that have been recognized by the United States as victims of
genocide--like the Armenians, Uyghurs and others?
Answer. Guided by the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Prevention Act,
USAID seeks to prevent genocide by taking the following measures:
result-focused multilateral and diplomatic engagements, early and
frequent consultations with civil society and local actors, and
improved data analytics and qualitative assessments.
Genocide or mass atrocities can often be predicted ahead of time--
malign actors do not generally appear suddenly. Incidents often begin
at a much smaller scale but go unnoticed and unaddressed until it's too
late. That is why USAID is actively engaging in conducting assessments
and pilot interventions to identify at-risk communities and areas where
access to basic services are limited or unequal for religious and
ethnic minorities. The results will help us understand how to better
target USAID programs and establish early warning systems in these
communities.
USAID also engages local organizations and civil society
organizations (CSOs) on these issues. These partnerships ensure local
organizations and CSOs have the tools necessary to understand and
report drivers of genocide and other atrocities, which in turn, informs
USAID and broader USG programming. A strong network of self-reliant
partners will then help us to respond quickly to strengthen communities
and prevent violence.
Examples of our current efforts to engage local organizations and
civil society groups include USAID's programs in Niger that focus on
increasing access to justice and addressing societal cleavages. USAID
programs in Burkina Faso build government capacity to prevent and
prosecute human rights violations, increase access to justice, and
reduce the appeal of violent extremism. USAID also promotes women's
participation in peacebuilding by delivering training on conflict
mitigation for women in four Democratic Republic of Congo territories.
In the wake of the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, USAID is
supporting local communities in Armenia to meet the acute and ongoing
humanitarian needs of displaced populations and ensure access to
critical health and social services. We anticipate that the focus of
USAID assistance will transition from emergency humanitarian assistance
to longer-term recovery and integration of displaced persons who remain
in Armenia. USAID will continue to track conflict-related displacement
and humanitarian needs and opportunities to support the safe,
voluntary, and dignified return of displaced populations to their home
communities as conditions allow. USAID is also supporting persecuted
populations that have fled the People's Republic of China, now residing
in third countries--for instance Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other religious
and ethnic minorities--and has plans to expand this assistance.
Question. In the past few weeks, we have seen an alarming
deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan.
What is USAID's plan to address the critical humanitarian
and development needs of the people of Afghanistan following
the withdrawal of the U.S. military?
How will USAID adapt to the changing security environment to
ensure the continuation of support for the Afghan people?
What is the plan for USAID implementing partners currently
operating in Afghanistan?
In Afghanistan, we've invested significant resources to
expand access to quality education, especially for girls. With
the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces by August 31 how
will USAID step up efforts to protect the rights of women and
girls in Afghanistan to an education going forward and build on
the important gains we've made for women and girls?
Answer. USAID will continue to implement programs under its active
strategy where conditions permit while anticipating pivoting over the
short- to medium-term toward basic needs and services, food security
and livelihoods, and womens' rights. In addition, given the increasing
displacement of Afghans around the country, USAID will continue to
deliver humanitarian assistance based on need and where access and
security allow.
The U.S. Government continues to provide funding to support women
and girls and unequivocally to message the importance of women and
girl's empowerment participation in all aspects including education,
workplace, and political inclusion.
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Question. In the past 2 years, Lebanon has experienced an
unimaginable number of crises all at the same time. In addition to the
global pandemic and being host to the largest number of refugees per
capita, last year Lebanon experienced a massive explosion at the port
of Beirut which killed hundreds, injured thousands and left hundreds of
thousands of people homeless due to the blast's destruction of their
homes. Lebanon has also seen an economic crisis which has resulted in
over 90 percent devaluation in its currency, widespread unemployment
and poverty. The people are now experiencing shortages of food, fuel,
medicine and hope. The economic crisis in Lebanon is truly staggering
and has been ranked by the World Bank as one of the top three ``most
severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century.''
That is why Congress passed a new $50 million fund in the FY21 bill
that would help fund the future leaders of countries in economic
crisis--and why we specifically name Lebanon in the report (see below).
These funds are designated for trusted American universities, which are
essential for not only providing current employment and economic
lifelines to tens of thousands of people in Lebanon but also for
rebuilding the countries' civil society, building up institutional
capacity within the country, preventing ``brain drain,'' and promoting
American public diplomacy in a region increasingly being influenced by
Iran and China. So far, these funds have not been distributed by USAID.
``REPORT LANGUAGE:
Higher Education.--For purposes of implementing subsection
(a)(3), the term `countries impacted by economic crises' means
countries whose economies are adversely affected by political
instability, conflict (including in neighboring countries), or
catastrophic manmade disasters, such as the port explosion in
Lebanon on August 4, 2020. Funds made available under this
subsection are in addition to assistance provided by paragraph
(2).''
Can you provide a timeline for the delivery of these funds?
How much of this funding will go to universities in Lebanon?
In what form will this funding take?
What else is USAID doing to support these universities
during this difficult time?
Answer. The crises faced by the people of Lebanon go beyond just
the August 2020 port explosion and COVID-19. Lebanese people continue
to pay the price of the decades of mismanagement, corruption, and bad
government, and across the board. USAID's programs seek to support the
Lebanese people through programs that help businesses retain staff and
assets to build a foundation for economic recovery; empower municipal
governments and civil society to deliver vital services; and keep
students in school.
USAID has a long history of supporting higher education in Lebanon.
While the Agency continues to work on the appropriate allocation and
purposes of the funds directed by Sec. 7060(a)(3) of the FY 2021
appropriations bill, it anticipates the majority would be provided for
Lebanon, due to these needs.
In addition to this FY21 funding, USAID continues to support higher
education in Lebanon through ongoing programming, including the
University Scholars Program, which provides merit-and-needs based
scholarships for students to attend AUB and LAU, and the Higher
Education Capacity Development Program, which supports Lebanese higher
education institutions in improving their administrative, academic, and
job-readiness capacity to better prepare graduates for employment and
success in the labor market. In response to the pandemic, USAID has
supported partner countries, including Lebanon, to mitigate the loss of
instructional time through transitions to hybrid and distance learning,
prepare for heightened uncertainty, and equip education actors and
institutions to be increasingly resilient.
______
Responses of Samantha Power to Questions
Submitted by Senator Todd Young
Question. USAID's Higher Education Solutions Network, which is
overseen by the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation
(DDI), is focused on connecting academics and development practitioners
to enable research to support international development programming.
Several Indiana universities, including Purdue University, Indiana
University, University of Notre Dame, and others are working with
global partners to advance research under the Network. Despite the
success of this higher ed network, the FY 2022 Budget Request does not
specify a funding level for it. Were there to be a cut relative to FY
2020 levels, it would work against the success that USAID has had in
supporting development-focused research over the past several years.
a. What is USAID's planned commitment to enhance its support of
initiatives in partnership with U.S. universities to develop
innovative solutions to global development problems in FY 2022,
including through the Higher Education Solutions Network?
b. How do you intend to leverage USAID's investments in monitoring,
evaluation, and research translation, such as those created
through the Long-term Assistance and Services for Research
Partners for University-Led Solutions Engine (LASER PULSE)
under the HESN 2.0, to support and strengthen USAID programming
moving forward?
Answer. USAID is programming $25 million in FY 2020 funding for
HESN to engage higher education institutions in researching, testing,
and scaling high-impact development approaches and solutions; building
human and institutional capacity between higher education institutions
in the U.S. and partner countries; and bringing cutting-edge research
and evidence to development programming across Missions and Bureaus.
The LASER program--along with other HESN 2.0 flagship programs such
as the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC)--has been used
widely by USAID Missions, Bureaus, and Operating Units to monitor,
evaluate, and plan improvements into their programming. By offering a
network of international researchers that can partner with U.S.
research institutions, LASER and RTAC have opened doors with regards to
on-the-ground evaluations; stakeholder groups involvement, removing
language and local dialect barriers, and navigating local custom/
tradition considerations. Activities have included:
Evaluating early grade reading programs for potential
replication;
Studying private sector partnerships for long-term
alignment;
Evaluating the impacts of cultural genocide on ethnic
minorities; and
Examining efforts to determine how to best support learning
outcomes for children with disabilities.
Leveraging a decade of experience forging and managing HEI-
development partnerships, USAID will continue supporting existing
higher education partnerships and catalyzing Mission programming in the
field, and to create new and meaningful global HEI partnerships in the
coming years through the ongoing expansion and evolution of the HESN
portfolio.
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