SEATTLE — Unlike most U.S. legislation, three anti-poverty measures have avoided falling victim to the partisanship and divisions that currently characterize Congress.
Over the past six months, the Global Food Security Act, the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act and the Electrify Africa Act was passed by Congress with bipartisan support. The bills will increase the U.S.’s involvement in improving access to food and energy in developing countries and help make American assistance efforts more efficient.
The Global Food Security Act
Passed by Congress on July 8, the bill authorizes a comprehensive strategic approach for global hunger relief efforts — with a focus on improving the nutrition of women and children. In addition to providing immediate remedies to hunger, the Global Food Security Act aims to reduce the impact of food shocks and the need for direct food aid.
The passage of the bill comes as 795 million people — half of whom are farmers — suffer from hunger, according to the World Food Program. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of hunger as nearly 25 percent of its population is undernourished. In South Asia, 281 million people do not have enough food.
The Global Food Security Act guarantees that the Feed the Future initiative, which U.S. President Barack Obama launched in 2010, will continue into the next presidency. By introducing rural farmers and women to modern farming technology and practices, Feed the Future tries to increase small-scale farmers’ agricultural productivity and resilience.
According to USAID, Feed the Future’s assistance has reached nearly 19 million households and helped reduce stunting in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Foreign Aid and Transparency and Accountability Act
After five years of stalling in Congress, the Foreign Aid and Transparency and Accountability Act was sent to President Obama’s desk on July 6.
The act requires government agencies to monitor and publicly share information about the performance of foreign aid projects on the foreignassistance.gov portal.
The bill is intended to ensure that the government better coordinates and avoids unnecessarily duplicating of its foreign assistance efforts. Lawmakers hope that the evaluations of aid projects will help agencies become more aware of the types of programs that are most effective.
Among the information about foreign aid programs that must be made public are budgets, strategies and outcomes.
The legislation was originally proposed in 2011, but did not pass because of several initial concerns and challenges, such as writing a bill that would be cost neutral, according to Devex. Recent changes to the measure require more accountability of government agencies and stricter adherence to foreign aid benchmarks.
Electrify Africa Act
Passed by Congress in February, the Electrify Africa Act is intended to increase energy access in sub-Saharan Africa — the most electricity-poor region in the world, according to the World Energy Outlook.
The bill directs the U.S. to establish a comprehensive approach to assist sub-Saharan African countries in implementing national power strategies. The measure will also promote policies to facilitate the growth of public-private partnerships, which will encourage independent power producers to help develop energy solutions.
The passage of the Electrify Africa Act ensures that the Power Africa initiative — which aims to double power availability across sub-Saharan Africa — continues after President Obama leaves office. Power Africa relies on the U.S. government, international organizations and private companies to invest in the region’s energy sector.
According to the International Energy Agency, more than 620 million sub-Saharan Africans lack access to reliable and affordable electricity. In several countries — including South Sudan, Chad and Burundi — electricity is unavailable for over 90 percent of the population, according to CNN.
Power Africa has been successful, helping to raise $50 billion in commitments for African power projects. The initiative also recently released a roadmap to connect 60 million new households to electricity by 2030.
– Sam Turken
Photo: Flickr