6-10-08 Launch Statement (sam)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Nasserie Carew, 202-552-6561 (Office), 202-341-3814 (Cell), [email protected] Tawana Jacobs, 202-552-6534 (Office), 301-326-8687 (Cell), [email protected]

INTERACTION JOINS THE MODERNIZING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE NETWORK Statement by Samuel A. Worthington, InterAction President & CEO

The U.S. government’s current foreign assistance tools were not designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Right now, short-term diplomatic priorities often trump the notion of establishing a “people-centered” approach to development and humanitarian assistance. This means, building local capacity by empowering and holding all stakeholders – including recipients – accountable for achieving definable results and sustainable change. True freedom and democracy are ultimately achieved when people are placed at the center of development programs because they make the choices that determine their own future sense of well being. InterAction and its 165 member organizations believe that the heart of U.S. foreign assistance should reflect the wish of millions of Americans to be a friend to the world’s poor through a modernized development assistance program that effectively fights global poverty. We see modernizing foreign assistance as a new way to move our government further down that road. We fully support the vision of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) and its recommendations.

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InterAction is the largest alliance US-based development and humanitarian assistance nongovernmental organizations. Our 165 members operate in every developing country, working with local communities to overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life.