Contents: (1) Introduction; (2) Recent Trends in Foreign Assistance; (3) U.S. Aid-Related Activities, by Agency: USAID; State; DoD; HHS; USDA; Treasury; Millennium Challenge Corp.; Peace Corps; Others; (4) Existing Coordination Mechanisms; (5) Aid Coordination in Other Countries; (6) Selected Coordination Options: Enhance Coordination as Part of a National Foreign Assistance Strategy; Empower One Entity to Coordinate All U.S. Foreign Aid; Build on White House/NSC Structures with Department/Agency Rep.; Separate Strategic Assistance from Development Assistance; Enhance Coordination and Authority at the Country Level; Require Whole of Gov¿t. Reporting; Require IG Reports on All Aid Activities; (7) Legislative Activity. Illustrations.

In Jan. 2006, to better align foreign assistance programs with U.S. foreign policy goals, the Sec. of State appointed the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for Internat¿l. Dev¿t. (USAID) to serve concurrently as Dir. of Foreign Assistance and gave it authority over all Dept. of State and USAID foreign assistance funding and programs. The Office of the Dir. of Foreign Assistance (State/F) was given responsibility for reforming foreign assistance by, among other things, consolidating State and USAID foreign assistance processes. This report: (1) examines State/F's key efforts to consolidate State and USAID foreign assistance processes; and (2) identifies any key challenges that affect State/F's reform of foreign assistance. Illustrations.

In Jan. 2006, Sec. of State Rice announced the ¿transformational development¿ initiative to bring coordination and coherence to U.S. aid programs. She created a new Bureau, which developed a Strategic Framework for Foreign Assistance to align aid programs with strategic objectives. The Framework became a guiding force in the FY 2008 and FY 2009 budgets, as well as the FY 2010 budget request. Numerous studies have addressed various concerns and provided recommendations regarding U.S. foreign aid policy, funding, and structure. Of the 16 recommendations, only enhancing civilian agency resources has the support of all of the studies covered in this report. This report is a review of selected studies written between 2001 and 2008. Table.

History and achievements of the Development Assistance Committee, an international organization seeking to coordinate foreign aid programs of the Western countries.

Foreign aid reform : comprehensive strategy, interagency coordination, and operational improvements would bolster current efforts : report to congressional requesters.