Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network

📢 MFAN and ONE: Protecting the DFC’s Development Mandate

With the DFC up for reauthorization, MFAN and The ONE Campaign have released a letter urging Congress to maintain a clear focus on low- and lower-middle-income countries.

📝 www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/m...

As Congress works to reauthorize the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), preserving the agency’s development mandate and strengthening impact is key.

MFAN has developed 5️⃣ recommendations to make this possible: cdn.prod.website-files.com/63764cef7a7a...

As aid shrinks, top philanthropies test new ways to spur economic growth As old growth models falter, the Gates Foundation and, more recently, Open Philanthropy are testing new ways to help low- and middle-income countries prosper. They’re able to take risks, test ideas, a...

In a new post, @devex.com considers how some funders including @openphilanthropy.bsky.social, who recently awarded MFAN with a grant to support advocacy efforts around U.S. foreign assistance program, are taking risks and developing new funding models.

Read more here: www.devex.com/news/as-aid-...

🚨 ICYMI 🚨 We’re Expanding Our Bipartisan Mission for Smarter, More Effective U.S. Aid 🎉

MFAN has received new funding from Open Philanthropy, allowing us to expand our bipartisan advocacy and education efforts. Learn more: www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/n...

🎉 MFAN is Strengthening its Bipartisan Advocacy for More Effective U.S. Foreign Assistance 🎉

We’re proud to share that MFAN has received new support from Open Philanthropy, an organization dedicated to maximizing impact through evidence-based giving.

www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/n...

MFAN welcomes the release of the Administration’s first Global Health Strategy as an important step toward a coordinated U.S. approach to #globalhealth, but also notes its risks and limitations.

Read more @ www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/m...

🎉 NOW HIRING! MFAN is looking for our next Policy & Government Relations Manager! 🎉

Do you have a passion for ensuring that U.S. foreign assistance is efficient and effective? Have you worked with Congress for 2-4 years? If so, join us!

Apply today!

workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...

MFAN released a new report today expressing concern that the State Department lacks the staff, skills, and systems to successfully manage the U.S. foreign aid portfolio.

Want to see our TOP TEN concerns and how they can be addressed?

Read the full report here: www.modernizeaid.net/resources/op...

In our newest blog post, written by MFAN Executive Director Tod Preston, MFAN responds to the FY26 House Foreign Assistance Bill.

To learn how the House bill will address key priorities areas, read our full story: www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/f...

On Tuesday, MFAN proudly launched our bipartisan consensus vision for the future of U.S. international assistance. Coauthored by Republican and Democrats, these recommendations ensure that U.S. foreign aid remains effective, accountable, and transparent. Read the report here: bit.ly/4eZNICW

McGovern-Dole Food for Education program still benefits Kansas farmers, and the world | Opinion Former U.S. secretaries of agriculture Tom Vilsack and Mike Johanns urge Congress to continue international hunger-relief program.

The USDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education program "has helped break cycles of poverty by providing more than just food: it has offered hope, education, and a path forward for these children, for whom their McGovern-Dole school meal may be the only meal they eat in a day."
Read the full article ⬇️.

📢 We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the 2025 DFI Transparency Index

Register now to join us & @odi.global on 26 June for this important discussion on the #transparency & #accountability of development & climate finance

👉 Sign up: odi.org/en/events/la...

#2025Index #financingourfuture

The State Dept’s revised re-org proposal contains some encouraging changes from the March 28 version, but more improvements are still needed to avoid the continued degradation of U.S. development and humanitarian assistance capabilities. MFAN’s full statement: www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/s...

Looking forward to this discussion! Thank you @publishwhatyoufund.bsky.social

A bar chart showing the proportion of direct local funding by five OECD DAC donors, based on PWYF’s approach. The graph shows the Netherlands-MFA at the top with the highest proportion at 6.9%, followed by UK-FCDO at 6.3%, Australia-DFAT at 6.2%, Canada-GAC at 5.3%, and USAID at 5.1%. There is a separate bar shows the proportion across all five donors is 5.5%. The chart highlights the low levels of direct funding to local organisations across all donors.

Henry Lewis has dug into the funding provided directly to local actors by 5 major donors. He wanted to know if donors are delivering on their promises to increase local funding. The short answer: not yet.
Read the highlights:
www.publishwhatyoufund.org/2025/05/are-...
#Localisation #LocallyLed

Tackling food insecurity and malnutrition while building resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa: what works? An upcoming rapid evidence assessment of the effects of information,

#Food insecurity isn’t just about scarcity—it’s about resilience. Discover what #evidence tells us about effective approaches to tackling #foodinsecurity and #malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa.
📖3ie-@deval-institute.bsky.social‬ blog: www.3ieimpact.org/blogs/tackli...

How Donors Can Maximize Impact Following USAID Cuts: The PRO Initiative What if donors had a list of vetted, ready-to-go intervention points to save lives as USAID is gutted? That's what this urgent initiative seeks to provide.

The dismantling of USAID shuttered crucial programs. The PRO initiative, hosted at @cgdev.org is stepping in—helping preserve USAID's cost-effective projects by matching donors w/ urgent opportunities.

More from Robert Rosenbaum in @insidephilanthropy.com:
www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/how-don...

Read the full blog post here: www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/g...

MFAN member @results4dev.bsky.social encourages the global development community to reimagine a more resilient and equitable system — one that centers local leadership, strengthens country systems, and better aligns donor efforts with national priorities.

Read the full report here: cdn.prod.website-files.com/63764cef7a7a...

MFAN’s new Situation Report, “Local Actors: Critical for the Future of Effective International Aid, Hardest Hit by the Crisis,” highlights the grave impacts of U.S. funding terminations on local organizations and offers recommendations to avoid further damage.

In advance of Secretary of State Rubio’s testimony before Congress next week, MFAN is highlighting 10 key questions lawmakers should raise about the Administration’s sweeping foreign assistance reorganization.

Read the questions here: www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/m...

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📢 Localisation is at a crossroads
Despite record #ODA levels, local actors still only receive a fraction of #GlobalDev funding
Join us on 28 May to ask: Where do we go from here?
🗓️ 11am EST / 4pm BST
💻 Online
🔗 Register now: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
#Localisation #FundingLocal

News roundup - The transparency of climate funds, the additionality of DFIs and a local funding event Our regular roundup of news on aid and development transparency – featuring News on our upcoming event discussing the local funding provided by major donors, our research papers on the transparency of...

🗞️ Check out our latest newsletter, featuring news on #AidTransparency and #GlobalDev
Including:
🔍 The transparency of climate funds
➕ The additionality of DFIs
🗓️ The future for local funding

www.publishwhatyoufund.org/2025/05/news...

Partnership Tested: Shuttering MCC Would Send the Wrong Signal to Nepal and Hand a Win to China It was disheartening to learn last week that DOGE was moving to shut down the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). I’ve found myself struggling to make sense of this move in light of a particular c...

As the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) faces closure, @ecollinson.bsky.social highlights what's at stake.

The US faces reputational damage, a weakened partnership with Nepal—and risks handing China a strategic win. More:
www.cgdev.org/blog/partner...

Read the full statement here: www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/m...

MFAN is alarmed by the Admin’s FY26 budget, which slashes State & USAID by 84%, risking global health, stability & U.S. interests. These cuts undo years of achievements and decimate effectiveness measures. Congress must protect effective, lifesaving foreign aid.

DOGE is shutting down foreign aid agency Millennium Challenge Corporation The agency is offering voluntary early retirement or deferred resignations to its 320 employees and planning to terminate grants to developing countries around the world.

Cutting funds and staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which is consistently rated the most transparent US foreign aid agency, will only further kneecap our ability to advance priorities at home and abroad.

These actions aren’t just reforms or bureaucratic reshuffling—they represent the unraveling of decades of achievements in global health and development and America’s global leadership.

Read the full article here: plus.cq.com/alertmatch/6...

“The gravity of what is being done… I don’t think you can overstate it,” said MFAN’s Executive Director, Tod Preston, speaking recently with CQ Roll Call on efforts to dismantle U.S. foreign aid in just the first 100 days of the Trump administration.