FORUM 2009
The Future of
Development Assistance
Opening banquet panel highlights the challenges and
opportunities ahead.
BY LUISA CÓRDOBA, SENIOR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE, INTERACTION
R
EPRESENTATIVES OF THE
philanthropic, NGO and pub-
lic sectors discussed the future
of development assistance in a
plenary session at the Forum’s open-
ing banquet moderated by Carol
Lancaster, Interim Dean, Edmund
A. Walsh School of Foreign Service,
Georgetown University.
Bringing a philanthropist’s perspec-
tive to the discussion, Jane Wales,
Founder and CEO, Global Philanthropy
Forum, discussed six broad trends she
believes are shaping the evolution of
development assistance, including the
strategic focus of a new generation of
foundation leaders and “new philan-
thropists” or those who have become
relevant actors during the last seven
years:
• Foundations supported by liv-
ing benefactors are matching the
scope and size of foundations cre-
ated as a result of an estate;
• New philanthropists are boda-
cious and entrepreneurial, take
on exceedingly large problems and
treat them like systems that need
to be analyzed from several van-
tage points;
• New philanthropists place heavy
emphasis on sustainability. Their
partnerships and investments
come naturally, and seek to obtain
maximum leverage to achieve long-
term program effectiveness;
10 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS September 2009
• The rise of new philanthropists
has accelerated the ongoing con-
vergence between the private and
public sectors;
• Despite the convergence between
the public and private sectors, new
philanthropists understand that
while markets serve the rational
distribution of wealth, markets do
not necessarily support an equi-
table distribution and so, policy
matters; and
• New philanthropists largely believe
in the importance of informing
individual decisions that are made
around the world. New philanthro-
pists want to inform millions of
individual choices.
In Mrs. Lancaster’s view, the old and
new philanthropists will never replace
official development assistance (ODA).
Instead, they will play a limited role
with their limited dollars. For high-
impact and entrepreneurial programs,
old and new philanthropists remain
well positioned to provide capital to
generate knowledge and take risks.
Philanthropists will continue to turn
to their governments for scale and sus-
tainability.
Jean-Michel Severino, CEO, Agence
Française de Développement, said
that if the international NGO com-
munity wants to be truly efficient in
its advocacy work, and also convince
the public to support greater national
engagement and enforcement of ODA
commitments, it is our responsibility to
clarify what exactly is considered ODA.
The next step would be to conceptual-
ize a framework that is comprehensive
enough to report back to our constit-
uencies. Mr. Severino listed some of
the challenges of measuring ODA and
emphasized the need to reach common
“measurement” agreements between
nations.
According to Mr. Severino, there has
been a major change in the politics
and policies of foreign aid are designed
and implemented. Private philanthropy
has changed drastically the aid land-
scape, and new governments actively
intervening in the development and
humanitarian effort make the system
more costly and difficult to organize.
Mr. Severino believes the new era of
development assistance will include
participatory processes to better
describe the costs and, more impor-
tantly, the impact of the programs
each of our organizations has managed
over the years. Future cooperation
will not be achieved by creating more
institutions and organizations to man-
age ODA, but through new behaviors
and taking new angles on old, chronic
problems. For example, a project com-
bining data from the World Bank, the
OECD, large foundations and NGOs
could improve widespread access to
key information.
Charlie MacCormack, President and
CEO, Save the Children Federation
USA, invited the audience to think of
ways the InterAction community could
contribute to organize the interdepen-
dent and increasingly diverse system of
development assistance, to include all
funding sources from the private and
public sectors in a more efficient and
effective way. While challenging, “it’s a
very optimistic time,” he said and noted
that the potential for public engagement
on these issues has never been greater.
“There has never been a new generation
as engaged in philanthropy.”

For Mr. MacCormack, development
has always been about human inge-
nuity, creativity and mutual support,
pointing out that the real, proven suc-
cesses of development have always
brought together multiple stakeholders
and creative and complementary pub-
lic and private partnerships. He also
underscored that the new trends in
Shaping Public
Opinion on
Development and
Humanitarian Aid
Luncheon plenary tackles the challenges of turning
good will into action.
BY TAWANA JACOBS, SENIOR PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, INTERACTION
D
ISCUSSIONS ABOUT SHAP-
ing public opinion on inter-
national development and
humanitarian action were
big on the first full day of the Forum.
A group of InterAction member CEOs
and senior policy and communications
staff met with (RED) campaign CEO
Susan Smith Ellis and actor and Chair
of Shoe4Africa Anthony Edwards just
before Tuesday’s luncheon plenary
and engaged in an intimate discus-
sion about the expectations of celebrity
advocates, potential future collabora-
tions, and a number of other topics.
Ms. Smith Ellis and Mr. Edwards were
then joined by Ambassador Tony Hall,
John Dau (President of the John Dau
Sudan Foundation) and Susan McCue
(President & CEO of Message Global) at
the luncheon plenary. Right off the top,
all the discussants agreed that Ameri-
cans support, in concept, the work of
U.S.-based international nongovern-
mental organizations (NGOs), including
the InterAction alliance. However, one
big one question remains unanswered:
How can we get the public to actively
engage in global development?
According to Mr. Dau, we must con-
development and humanitarian affairs
demand new, rationalized rules of
engagement for our community across
sectors and actors, in international
fora and with domestic constituents
as well. He believes we must focus on
identifying and making better use of
synergies in this complicated system of
actors, instruments and benefactors.
tinue to create awareness at the local
community level. “It only takes one to
begin and others will follow.” He went
on to say, “America has shown improve-
ment in its ability to be open to societal
change with the election of President
Barack Obama, but much room for
improvement still exists.” He believes
that before we can totally turn the corner
and have a positive impact on the world,
“all Americans must feel as if they are
being represented by their government.”
Many NGOs have turned to celebri-
ties to help them promote their organi-
zation’s work and to attract donors, but
FORUM 2009
While private philanthropy mobilizes
an estimated $36 billion per year for
development assistance, and the ques-
tions remains whether those funds are
being invested in the most effective
way. We must work together to better
understand and tell the story of the
effect of this aid and our work in allevi-
ating poverty. MD
Mr. Edwards suggested that celebrity
engagement can be risky. It is imperative,
he said, that NGOs identify celebrities
who are authentic in their interest and
are willing to “truly embrace the organi-
zation’s mission and live the type of life
necessary to be an effective advocate.”
He put forth Bono and George Clooney
as exemplary celebrity advocates.
According to Ms. Smith Ellis, corpo-
rations aren’t much better than celeb-
rities. “A corporate partner must also
be willing to embrace an NGO’s mis-
sion before they should be seen as an
effective advocate. Some are looking for
a way to improve a tarnished image.”
Ambassador Hall brought the faith
component to the session, referring to
his success in engaging 4,000 people to
participate in a fast to highlight global
hunger. He said that, “with a church
on every corner, we can do better. All of
them operate clothing and food banks in
their communities. If the faith commu-
nity did a better job of working together,
it would be close to unstoppable.”
The discussion was a fruitful one that
many in the audience hope will help
NGOs change how they connect with
the American public. Concerns remain,
however, about how NGOs should
engage Americans while they are endur-
ing a severe economic recession. MD
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS September 2009 11