b'Conversations with Leadersa staff of 11,000 people in around a hundred different offices and USAID missions worldwide. As part of the national security infrastructure, we work to craft the vision for foreign assistance around the world.On ChallengesManaging the agencys budget responsibility is a significant challenge. We have to ensure that we are excellent stewards of the taxpayers dollars. Every single day, I make sure that we are using taxpayer dollars in the most effective and efficient way possible. In development, we talk about developing countries. In industry, one talks about emerging markets or growth markets. At USAID, we talk about aid beneficiaries. The private sector calls those same people customers and clients. We are looking at the best way to take U.S. budgeted dollars and the best way to effectively, efficiently use taxpayer dollars to provide people around the world too with an additional margin of dignity in their daily lives. In order to solve these development problems, I want to engage with the private sector, both international corporations and American-based international corporations, but also local private sectors because we want to make sure that programs that USAID funds and runs are sustainable.real-world operational space. In April 2019, we released the The best way for a program or a project to be sustainable isagencys policy framework. It outlines USAIDs approach to by having it run through a private sector lens where there areits mission, vision, and strategic orientation around what we benefits that accrue both to the investors, businesses, donors,refer to as a journey to self-reliance. The policy framework as well as to the beneficiary community. allows us to be a better partner, strengthen our ability to accelerate development progress, while meeting urgent Another big challenge we have centers around humanitarianhumanitarian needs. That framework makes USAID a more assistance. The U.S. is the largest global bilateral donor ofeffective provider of foreign assistance on behalf of the humanitarian assistance. A large component of what we doAmerican people. is working with other international donors to ensure that there is appropriate burden sharing in the costs associatedTo capitalize on development gains and to respond to with humanitarian responses, and that too is a way ofcomplex challengesthe ones that present themselves in ensuring that were good stewards of the taxpayers dollars.the new development landscapewe focus on what we are referring to as a journey to self-reliance. At the same time, We also face the challenge with the rise of alternativewere transforming our organization with a single goal in development models, which are in fact simply debt traps.mindworking to end the need for foreign assistance. Our These models are not about development. The Chinesedevelopment model is rooted in building self-reliance in model of development is about placing countries into debteach of the countries in which we operate. For USAID, this traps that force them to give up national sovereignty. Iis an explicit pivot toward a much more country-centric, would reference the recent experience of Chinas financinglocally led, and data driven approach to development and building of a port in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka defaulted onassistance based on proven development best practices.the debt and lost control of this port. I talk to leaders of developing countries about the importance of consideringOur model of assistance promotes balanced trade, open all aspects of development projects as they are presented,market, democratic norms, and social inclusion. This means particularly large-scale infrastructure projects. enabling locally led problem-solving for enterprise driven growth, inclusive societies, and transparent, accountable, On USAIDs Policy Framework citizen-responsive governance so that our partner countries The USAID policy framework aims to bring the sort ofhave both the commitment and the capacity to solve their ethereal, academic approach to development into theown development challenges.WINTER 2019 / 2020 IBM Center for The Business of Government 15'