Thomson Reuters Foundation: Why Trump has it wrong on foreign aid
Jodi Nelson, senior vice president of policy and practice at the International Rescue Committee (IRC)

“…Instead of making drastic cuts to the [foreign] aid budget, the [Trump] administration would be wiser to focus on how that budget is spent. Not all aid is well spent. Ensuring that it is, is a bipartisan concern, and one in which President Trump’s private sector experience might prove useful. … The rigorous evaluation of aid programs is … essential. Thorough evaluations provide crucial data that, much like market signals, tell aid agencies where they should spend their money. … There is political history here. Conservatives arguably created the incentives that motivated efforts to strengthen the evidence base for aid. … The upcoming budget will be a test for an administration desperately looking for wins. Focusing on the effectiveness and efficiency of aid, rather than just slashing the overall budget, would be a bipartisan win-win. It’s an opportunity the administration, and the country, cannot afford to miss” (6/5).