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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 2151-1. Development assistance policy
(a) Principal purpose of bilateral development assistance
The Congress finds that the efforts of developing countries to
build and maintain the social and economic institutions necessary
to achieve self-sustaining growth and to provide opportunities to
improve the quality of life for their people depend primarily upon
successfully marshalling their own economic and human resources.
The Congress recognizes that the magnitude of these efforts exceeds
the resources of developing countries and therefore accepts that
there will be a long-term need for wealthy countries to contribute
additional resources for development purposes. The United States
should take the lead in concert with other nations to mobilize such
resources from public and private sources.
Provision of development resources must be adapted to the needs
and capabilities of specific developing countries. United States
assistance to countries with low per capita incomes which have
limited access to private external resources should primarily be
provided on concessional terms. Assistance to other developing
countries should generally consist of programs which facilitate
their access to private capital markets, investment, and technical
skills, whether directly through guarantee or reimbursable programs
by the United States Government or indirectly through callable
capital provided to the international financial institutions.
Bilateral assistance and United States participation in
multilateral institutions shall emphasize programs in support of
countries which pursue development strategies designed to meet
basic human needs and achieve self-sustaining growth with equity.
The Congress declares that the principal purpose of United States
bilateral development assistance is to help the poor majority of
people in developing countries to participate in a process of
equitable growth through productive work and to influence decisions
that shape their lives, with the goal of increasing their incomes
and their access to public services which will enable them to
satisfy their basic needs and lead lives of decency, dignity, and
hope. Activities shall be emphasized that effectively involve the
poor in development by expanding their access to the economy
through services and institutions at the local level, increasing
their participation in the making of decisions that affect their
lives, increasing labor-intensive production and the use of
appropriate technology, expanding productive investment and
services out from major cities to small towns and rural areas, and
otherwise providing opportunities for the poor to improve their
lives through their own efforts. Participation of the United States
in multilateral institutions shall also place appropriate emphasis
on these principles.
(b) Form of assistance; principles governing assistance
Assistance under this part should be used not only for the
purpose of transferring financial resources to developing
countries, but also to help countries solve development problems in
accordance with a strategy that aims to insure wide participation
of the poor in the benefits of development on a sustained basis.
Moreover, assistance shall be provided in a prompt and effective
manner, using appropriate United States institutions for carrying
out this strategy. In order to achieve these objectives and the
broad objectives set forth in section 2151 of this title and in
subsection (a) of this section, bilateral development assistance
authorized by this chapter shall be carried out in accordance with
the following principles:
(1) Development is primarily the responsibility of the people
of the developing countries themselves. Assistance from the
United States shall be used in support of, rather than
substitution for, the self-help efforts that are essential to
successful development programs and shall be concentrated in
those countries that take positive steps to help themselves.
Maximum effort shall be made, in the administration of subchapter
I of this chapter, to stimulate the involvement of the people in
the development process through the encouragement of democratic
participation in private and local governmental activities and
institution building appropriate to the requirements of the
recipient countries.
(2) Development planning must be the responsibility of each
sovereign country. United States assistance should be
administered in a collaborative style to support the development
goals chosen by each country receiving assistance.
(3) United States bilateral development assistance should give
high priority to undertakings submitted by host governments which
directly improve the lives of the poorest of their people and
their capacity to participate in the development of their
countries, while also helping such governments enhance their
planning, technical, and administrative capabilities needed to
insure the success of such undertakings.
(4) Development assistance provided under this part shall be
concentrated in countries which will make the most effective use
of such assistance to help satisfy basic human needs of poor
people through equitable growth, especially in those countries
having the greatest need for outside assistance. In order to make
possible consistent and informed judgments in this respect, the
President shall assess the commitment and progress of countries
in moving toward the objectives and purposes of this part by
utilizing criteria, including but not limited to the following:
(A) increase in agricultural productivity per unit of land
through small-farm, labor-intensive agriculture;
(B) reduction of infant mortality;
(C) control of population growth;
(D) promotion of greater equality of income distribution,
including measures such as more progressive taxation and more
equitable returns to small farmers;
(E) reduction of rates of unemployment and underemployment;
(F) increase in literacy; and
(G) progress in combating corruption and improving
transparency and accountability in the public and private
sector.
(5) United States development assistance should focus on
critical problems in those functional sectors which affect the
lives of the majority of the people in the developing countries;
food production and nutrition; rural development and generation
of gainful employment; population planning and health;
environment and natural resources; education, development
administration, and human resource development; and energy
development and production.
(6) United States assistance shall encourage and promote the
participation of women in the national economies of developing
countries and the improvement of women's status as an important
means of promoting the total development effort.
(7) United States bilateral assistance shall recognize that the
prosperity of developing countries and effective development
efforts require the adoption of an overall strategy that promotes
the development, production, and efficient utilization of energy
and, therefore, consideration shall be given to the full
implications of such assistance on the price, availability, and
consumption of energy in recipient countries.
(8) United States cooperation in development should be carried
out to the maximum extent possible through the private sector,
including those institutions which already have ties in the
developing areas, such as educational institutions, cooperatives,
credit unions, free labor unions, and private and voluntary
agencies.
(9) To the maximum extent practicable, United States private
investment should be encouraged in economic and social
development programs to which the United States lends support.
(10) Assistance shall be planned and utilized to encourage
regional cooperation by developing countries in the solution of
common problems and the development of shared resources.
(11) Assistance efforts of the United States shall be planned
and furnished to the maximum extent practicable in coordination
and cooperation with assistance efforts of other countries,
including the planning and implementation of programs and
projects on a multilateral and multidonor basis.
(12) United States bilateral development assistance should be
concentrated on projects which do not involve large-scale capital
transfers. However, to the extent that such assistance does
involve large-scale capital transfers, it should be furnished in
association with contributions from other countries working
together in a multilateral framework.
(13) United States encouragement of policy reforms is necessary
if developing countries are to achieve economic growth with
equity.
(14) Development assistance should, as a fundamental objective,
promote private sector activity in open and competitive markets
in developing countries, recognizing such activity to be a
productive and efficient means of achieving equitable and long
term economic growth.
(15) United States cooperation in development should recognize
as essential the need of developing countries to have access to
appropriate technology in order to improve food and water, health
and housing, education and employment, and agriculture and
industry.
(16) United States assistance should focus on establishing and
upgrading the institutional capacities of developing countries in
order to promote long term development. An important component of
institution building involves training to expand the human
resource potential of people in developing countries.
(17) Economic reform and development of effective institutions
of democratic governance are mutually reinforcing. The successful
transition of a developing country is dependent upon the quality
of its economic and governance institutions. Rule of law,
mechanisms of accountability and transparency, security of
person, property, and investments, are but a few of the critical
governance and economic reforms that underpin the sustainability
of broad-based economic growth. Programs in support of such
reforms strengthen the capacity of people to hold their
governments accountable and to create economic opportunity.
(c) Worldwide cooperative effort to overcome aspects of absolute
poverty
The Congress, recognizing the desirability of overcoming the
worst aspects of absolute poverty by the end of this century by,
among other measures, substantially lowering infant mortality and
birth rates, and increasing life expectancy, food production,
literacy, and employment, encourages the President to explore with
other countries, through all appropriate channels, the feasibility
of a worldwide cooperative effort to overcome the worst aspects of
absolute poverty and to assure self-reliant growth in the
developing countries by the year 2000.
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