Calling development work “vital to U.S. national security,” President Barack Obama introduced his administration’s global development strategy on Sept. 22, 2010. The Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development (PPD) elevates aid and development work, alongside diplomacy and defense, as “a core pillar” of American foreign policy. The strategy drew praise from prominent aid and development groups, including InterAction and Oxfam. 

Speaking at the United Nations millennium development goals summit, the President said devoting money and resources to overseas diplomacy and development is a “strategic and economic imperative” that cannot be overlooked. Making “progress in even the poorest countries can advance the prosperity and security of people far beyond their borders, including my fellow Americans,” Obama said. 

Unlike a specific aid program or commitment, the PPD is an overarching strategy that will guide interagency efforts in allocating resources and creating sustainable programs of economic growth. It encourages reengagement with multilateral institutions and civil society to take advantage of what they do best.
 

The PPD has not been made public, but a fact sheet released by the White House says the focus of the directive is on:

  • Developing “broad-based economic growth, democratic governance, game-changing innovations, and sustainable systems for meeting basic human needs,”
  • Providing a model for the U.S. “to be a more effective partner and to leverage our leadership” on aid and development campaigns
  • Utilizing “development capabilities” from all government agencies in support of the policy.

Other highlights from the White House Fact Sheet include:

  • Creating a U.S. Global Development Council featuring experts from civil society who will help shape and comment on U.S. development policies

  • Rebuilding USAID as “as the world’s premier development agency,” including the development of “robust policy, budget, planning and evaluation capabilities” and “streamlined operating methods and greater transparency.”

  • Establishing a multi-agency Development Strategy: to be submitted to the President every four years

Successful implementation of the PPD, which is scheduled for FY 2012, looks promising due to the breadth of support it has already received.  InterAction, the largest coalition of aid and development groups in the U.S., released an analysis of the PPD and praised it as a step in the right direction. The Director for Aid Effectiveness of Oxfam America, Greg Adams, said, it “contains some incredibly profound changes to the way the U.S. pursues global development policy.” 
 

Speaking at a roundtable discussion on Sept. 28, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton both applauded the PPD for its focus on using strategic development as part of the overall national security plan. The way to prevent conflict, Gates said, “is through development. Development creates stability, it contributes to better governance.”
 

Clinton called the PPD “an integral part of America’s national security policy.”
 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the head of the United States Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah, also spoke at the roundtable event, welcomed the directive.