The Power of Ownership: Transforming US foreign assistance

US foreign assistance is a valuable tool for achieving a more stable and prosperous world. The US government spends less than 1 percent of its budget on foreign assistance. Despite this small investment, it’s one of the best value-for-money investments in support of strengthening US national security, providing new economic opportunities, and fighting extreme poverty. As lawmakers, however, we rarely have the opportunity to raise an important caveat to this claim: US foreign assistance is most effective when provided in a manner that ensures local participation and ownership

Ownership reflects the simple truth that aid does not create development. Aid is a tool that enables people and countries to develop themselves. Oxfam and Save the Children’s invaluable study, “The Power of Ownership,” offers a glimpse into how two leading US aid agencies – the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) — are increasing local ownership of development. Seven case studies showcase how local people worked to shape US foreign assistance programs for the benefit of their countries and communities, and how US aid agencies supported this in practice.