In a major speech Tuesday that covered territory from domestic U.S. gun laws to democratic backsliding in Sudan, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power called for a more “nimble” approach to U.S. democracy promotion.
U.S. President Joe Biden came into office pledging to fight back against global democratic decline, but on the heels of America’s own tumultuous transition of power, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given the issue existential urgency.
“America and all who share our values—the world’s democracies, allies in the private sector, civil society, multilateral institutions, religious and diaspora communities, everyday citizens— all of us must build on the unity that we have demonstrated in Ukraine to try to extend a broader revolution of dignity to people seeking to be free,” Power said Tuesday.
For USAID, that means a sharper focus on three priorities: 1) highlighting democratic “bright spots” and assisting the reformers who enable them; 2) fighting back against “digital authoritarianism”; and 3) taking a more proactive role in targeting sanctions against kleptocrats.
On that last point, Power noted that USAID’s traditional involvement with sanctions has been focused on helping humanitarian partners navigate them in order to deliver assistance to people living under sanctioned regimes. And while she emphasized that the agency will continue to do that, she also said that USAID will increasingly look to international journalists, activists, and civil society actors who have “unique insights into where and how illicit gains are stashed away and are eager to pass that information to sanctioning authorities.”
More broadly, Power wants to see USAID play a more assertive role in helping democratic reformers consolidate their hard-won gains by supporting their delivery of effective government services.
“Far too often, reformers will win an election on a platform of strengthening the rule of law or a mass movement will succeed in toppling a repressive government, only for the democratic dream to wither as despots wrest back control,” she said.
“Traditionally, we have responded to these bright spots with democracy assistance. But what a democratic bright spot may most desperately need is debt relief, shipments of wheat or vaccines, support for a more robust social safety net, particularly amid economic reforms, or even just an infusion of bureaucratic expertise so that citizens have access to basic services— these are moves that would quickly deliver tangible benefits to everyday people,” she said.
While many of the concrete plans mentioned in Power’s speech were previously announced, her framing of what needs to happen next struck democracy advocates as a step in the right direction.
Source: Devex Newswire
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