Activities

Arraying the Disarray in Development — Lant Pritchett of Harvard University Kennedy School of Government discussed his working paper "Solutions When the Solution is the Problem: Arraying the Disarray in Development." He addressed some of the problems involved in improving and assessing the level of services provided in developing countries with Patrick Meagher of the IRIS Center.

Conflict Frameworks — Drs. Paul Collier, Monty Marshall and Mohammed Abu-Nimer were brought together with several USAID staff for a round-table discussion of factors which determine civil conflict and potential areas for intervention.

Democracy Governance Research Design — IRIS contracted the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to develop a methodological and analytical strategy for a multiyear research effort aimed at evaluating the impact of USAID Democratic Governance programs.

Education Reform — IRIS consolidated prior research, discussion, and deliberation on USAID's education policy and integrated that policy with USAID's recent White Paper, US Foreign Aid: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century , and the US Government's 2002 National Security Strategy to create a final USAID education strategy.

Fragile States Assessment Tool — A team of IRIS experts is developing a methodology for conducting rigorous, generally field-based, investigations into the dynamics of fragility and translating that analysis into effective and actionable program options. The resulting fragile states assessment tool will be used by USAID teams in upcoming field tests.

Fragile States Strategy Research — IRIS helped USAID develop a strategy for assisting fragile states by establishing a group of outside experts as a core working group to collaborate with a senior group of USAID personnel.

HIV/AIDS and Development — IRIS organized two workshops to address the impact of the AIDS epidemic on agriculture, food, security and nutrition. The first focused on the linkages between the AIDS epidemic and its impact on the agriculture sector in the AIDS crisis regions of Africa. The second discussed the non-health effect of the AIDS epidemic and strategies to effectively combat those effects.

Iraq Assessment — IRIS provided an expert, Dr. Phebe Marr, to USAID to offer analysis, technical advice and operational recommendations for USAID’s review of selected aspects of Iraqi policy.

Iraq Reconstruction Options — IRIS provided experts for a two hour meeting with USAID to explore options for Iraq’s reconstruction.

Millennium Challenge Account — IRIS organized an interagency workshop for USAID, which it co-hosted along with the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury, to consider how country competitiveness might be supported through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

Muslim World Initiative — IRIS reexamined USAID engagement in predominantly Muslim countries—to identify unattended areas important to successful development as well as activities that may inadvertently exacerbate tensions.

Peer Review of USAID — IRIS partnered with the Center for Global Development in organizing a peer review of US development procedures and policies. The review allowed members of the DAC to present their assessment of US development policies to members of the development community in the US.

Public-Private Partnerships for Development — IRIS contracted with the European Institute (EI) to facilitate a one-year forum between the European Institute, USAID and the European Commission. The aim of the Forum was to help alleviate transatlantic tensions, inform the debate on development, and encourage new avenues for cooperation between governments and the private sector.

Revolutionizing AID — IRIS supported the formulation of a new USAID core policy via five activities designed to further analyze, research and formulate a new strategy for USAID. The activities included a country typology, stakeholder survey and analysis, expert discussion series, and policy and strategy graphic presentations.

Revolutionizing AID (support) — To deepen USAID's understanding of selected new ideas and development concepts and their implications for USAID programming, PPC IDEAS planned a series of brown bag events. In these discussions, outside experts present cutting-edge research and analysis for consideration by those in attendance.

U.S. Relations with the Islamic World — IRIS and the University of Maryland held an event focusing on identifying specific ways that US interests and support for more stable and prosperous societies can be matched with those of groups in countries in the Islamic World.

USAID Strategic Thinking — IRIS conducted a two-day USAID symposium to discuss important new concepts, documents and international agreements on foreign assistance. Discussion topics included the Natsios Report, “Foreign Assistance in the National Interest,” the National Security Strategy, the Monterrey consensus and the MCA, several other policy-oriented studies.