The Sequester Effecting International Non-profits

Oxfam America's "Change Makers" ads

Since March 1st , congress has started implementing the outlined concessions of the sequester as a result of both parties inability to reduce the United States deficit. With plans to increase certain taxes and cuts to federal spending already evident, domestic non-profits are not the only ones within the third sector worried about how this will effect funding to their programs. Oxfam America, an international non-profit organization which works to alleviate different human rights inequalities around the world , posted an article earlier this month voicing their concerns of how the United States sequester cuts will effect the already less then 1% of U.S. federal budget aid they receive. This 1% of funding is spread over hundreds of non-profit organizations located in numerous countries around the world and is classified as poverty-focused international aid.

At Oxfam America, the staff and many of the people they work with are concerned about those who will be directly effected by cuts to poverty-reducing aid. They wonder what Americans and policymakers imagine when they think of developing countries and their assistance they give to them through foreign aid. Furthermore, the organization posed the overarching question throughout the article , do massive federal budget cuts have human faces associated with them?

Oxfam America wanted to make it very clear to DC policymakers that there were indeed human faces tied to the international aid they give and in January they produced multiple ads containing stories of local "change makers" in developing countries. These change makers are local entrepreneurs who are holding their governments accountable, seeing results from their products, and are using US foreign aid to start and progress thier local enterprises. The ads were originally focused to get the attention of DC policymakers but to many people's surprise, the U.S. general public has picked up on these ads via social media. Their responses to the ads were mixed. Some U.S. citizens thought the ads were forced and inaccurate, thus furthering their desire to have foreign aid be the first item reduced during the sequester cuts. While others were pleasantly surprised to see a non-profit working alongside developing countries to ensure accountability and growth from the aid they obtained.

This article address a lot of the major themes discussed throughout the course relating to foreign aid, specifically within William Easterly's critiques regarding the lack of accountability and feedback given with foreign aid. Seeing a large international non-profit like Oxfam America proactively working to implement regulations on accounting where aid is going while also tracking its effectiveness is encouraging to see but is it enough to change the way Americans and U.S. policymakers view the importance of continuing foreign aid? Either way, it will be interesting to see the exact effects the sequester cuts will have on the 1% of federal budget funds given to poverty-reducing aid within the next couple of years.