When You CARE Enough to Send the Very Best -- U.S. Policy That Is

Washington, DC - September 10, 2007

It’s extremely rare for an organization to refuse funding, let alone $45 million. But that is exactly what CARE, a leading international relief organization, did last month when they refused U.S. government funding for food aid. According to a recent General Accountability Office report, the U.S. food aid program is seriously flawed. CARE agreed, finding that it hindered the development work they were trying to accomplish in the developing world. By challenging a policy they viewed as detrimental to their mission, CARE has put a spotlight on potential flaws in this U.S. policy – a spotlight that may even generate a change in policy.

The United States gives a tremendous amount of funding to U.S.-based organizations best equipped to provide aid – including food, health care and education – to people in developing countries. Like CARE, these organizations often have the best understanding of the situation on the ground and the infrastructure in place to help the most people.

But federal funding comes with a price: a laundry list of rules and regulations outlining how organizations must spend that money. While these rules and regulations are often an effective way to monitor U.S. spending, the need for U.S. funding often trumps an organization’s desire to challenge – let alone reject – funding because of flawed policies. When NGOs find that U.S. policies don’t support the work they are trying to accomplish – in this case, alleviating chronic hunger in the developing world – it’s time to speak up. In turn, the U.S. government must support an environment in which challenge is supported, rather than stifling dissent.

Sometimes the most powerful decision an organization can make is the courageous decision to say no to U.S. funding. Many family planning and reproductive health providers in the developing world have made similar decisions in recent years, declining much-needed U.S. family planning funding because of destructive restrictions such as the Global Gag Rule (Mexico City Policy). In so doing, organizations like these and CARE help draw attention to flawed and ineffective U.S. policies and lay the groundwork for urgently needed reforms. 

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.