Publish What You Fund welcomes the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA) Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA) and his staff on the proposed Global Partnerships Act of 2011.

The Global Partnerships Act of 2011 is a discussion draft of a bill to replace the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which serves as the foundation for U.S. international aid programs. The proposal modernizes the full spectrum of foreign assistance programs, ranging from development to democracy, to self-defense.

The section on Transparency and Accountability in Budgeting proposes that the Secretary, the Administrator, and the MCC CEO are required to:

“…maintain a public, online database of information about foreign assistance programs,” including, “the objectives, indicators, obligations and expenditures for each project and activity, as well as the overhead and administrative costs for each overseas mission.” (Section 9301, Global Partnerships Act of 2011)

As Ranking Member Howard Berman said at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) yesterday: “Our task therefore, is to make sure that we provide this assistance in the most efficient and effective way possible.”

The draft Act proposes engagement with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). The draft Act states “the sense of Congress that the President should fully engage with and participate in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), and requires that the database include and be harmonized with information provided to IATI and the OECD‘s Development Assistance Committee.” (Section 9301, Global Partnerships Act of 2011)

You can read the full discussion paper and find section by section analysis here