Africa: US Foreign Assistance Issues

The United States provides assistance to 47 African countries, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has 23 missions in Africa. In recent years, U.S. assistance to Africa saw a major increase, especially in health-related programs. Aid to Africa quadrupled from $1.1 billion in FY2006 to nearly $8.2 billion in FY2009. In FY2010, Africa is expected to receive an estimated $7.05 billion. The Obama Administration has requested an estimated $7.6 billion for FY2011. In FY2009, the United States provided more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Africa. Africa is also a major recipient of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) funding, with 15 African countries currently participating in the program.

Ted Dagne, Congressional Research Service

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Security and Stability in Africa: A Development Approach

This paper seeks to overcome this lack of understanding of the significance of African security and stability by discussing the fundamental issues of economic development and political governance through which enduring stability and security might be obtained. This primer is particularly relevant for government and military officials tasked with African responsibilities but who may not possess much African experience.

Clarence J. Bouchat, SSI

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Feed the Future Guide

Feed the Future (FTF), the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, renews our commitment to invest in sustainably reducing hunger and poverty. At L’Aquila, President Obama’s pledge of at least $3.5 billion for agricultural development and food security over three years helped to leverage and align more than $18.5 billion from other donors in support of a common approach. The 2009 G8 and G20 Summits established a framework for coordinated and comprehensive action among host governments, donors, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders. The five principles of a common approach, first articulated at L’Aquila, embrace the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action, and were endorsed unanimously as the Rome Principles for Sustainable Food Security by 193 countries at the 2009 World Summit on Food Security.

US Government Iniciative

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Twenty Years of Collapse and Counting: The Cost of Failure in Somalia

The disastrous famine in Somalia is the worst the world has seen in 20 years, and it again casts a harsh spotlight on the situation in that country. With millions of people now at risk of starvation, and appalling stories of human hardship dominating the evening news, the name “Somalia” once again conjures images of crisis and despair—a famished, suffering country peopled by pirates, terrorists, and warlords.

John Norris and Bronwyn Bruton, Center for American Progress

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Peace, security and the African Peer Review Mechanism: Are the tools up to the task?

The African Peer Review Mechanism is a novel system created by Africans to improve governance, promote compliance with global and continental standards and enhance development. Preventing and managing conflict is one of the many objectives of this process. The article examines the connections made between peace, governance and development, and how conflict-related concepts are described and interrogated in the mechanism’s self-assessment questionnaire. It analyses and contrasts how the country review reports from Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda have described and assessed conflict issues in practice. On this basis, it asks whether the APRM is incisive enough to promote peace and stability on the continent.

Steven Gruzd, African Security Review

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