Beyond Good Intentions: New Legislation on Foreign Aid Effectiveness

• Author: Gergana Danailova-Trainor, James Filpi, Norman L. Greene, Salome Tsereteli-Stephens
• Pages: 1-19

Beyond Good Intentions: New Legislation on

Foreign Aid Effectiveness

a

G

ERGANA

D

ANAILOVA

-T

RAINOR

,* J

AMES

F

ILPI

,**

N

ORMAN

L. G

REENE

,***

AND

S

ALOME

T

SERETELI

-S

TEPHENS

****

a

Copyright



(2020) Gergana Danailova-Trainor, James Filpi, Norman L. Greene, and

Salome Tsereteli-Stephens. The American Bar Association Section of International Law’s 2018

Annual Conference featured a panel entitled More than Good Intentions, Stage Two: New

Legislation on Foreign Aid Effectiveness, which included the authors of this article. The

remarks of the panelists provided the initial ideas for the article.

* U.S. Government Accountability Office. danailovatrainorg@gao.gov. The opinions and

views expressed in this article are the author’s alone and are not intended to reflect GAO’s

institutional views. Gergana Danailova-Trainor is a Senior Economist with the U.S.

Government Accountability Office. Since coming to GAO in 2005, Gergana provided technical

expertise and has led teams in International Affairs and Trade (IAT) in assessing the results of

programs and the effects of policies implemented by U.S. government agencies. She has

worked on multiple engagements in most major IAT portfolio areas, including international

security, foreign assistance, international trade, human rights, international sanctions, and

foreign affairs management. More recently, she has applied her knowledge of program

evaluation and MCC’s results framework to a broader meta-evaluation of foreign assistance

programs across key U.S. foreign assistance agencies. Gergana holds a Ph.D. in economics

from the Johns Hopkins University.

** Department of Commerce. jamesfilpi@gmail.com. The opinions and views expressed in

this article are the author’s alone and are not intended to reflect the U.S. Department of

Commerce’s institutional views. James Filpi is a Senior Counsel with the Commercial Law

Development Program (CLDP) in the Office of the General Counsel of the United States

Department of Commerce. This article does not represent the positions of the U.S.

Department of Commerce. Prior to public service, Filpi practiced law with the International

Competition Group at the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Goodwin Procter, LLP. He

advised foreign and domestic clients regarding commercial transactions, including mergers and

acquisitions, federal administrative procedures, corporate restructurings, banking, and

consumer protection. Prior to his legal career, Filpi managed research and development

programs for the Washington, D.C.-based strategic research firm, Advisory Board Company,

and tracked commerce and trade legislation for a member of the United States Congress. He

received his Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center where he was a staff

member of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review and spent a portion of

his legal study focusing on transnational law at the University of Hong Kong. He also holds a

Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Filpi is the author of “United

States Foreign Assistance: Beyond Good Intentions and Toward Accountability,” ILSA Journal

of International & Comparative Law, Vol. 23:3 (2016) (available in English and Spanish).

*** Schoeman Updike Kaufman & Gerber, LLP, New York, N.Y. ngreene@schoeman.com.

Norman Greene has written, spoken, and programmed on rule of law and development,

including judicial reform; judicial independence; the design of judicial selection systems and

codes; the developing world, particularly North Africa (Morocco); foreign assistance; and

counter-human trafficking. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, including the

Denver University Law Review (international rule of law and development; U.S. judicial

elections); West Virginia Law Review (judicial bias and the rule of law); ILSA Journal of

International and Comparative Law (judicial reform in Morocco; counter-human trafficking

(co-authored)); and the ABA’s Africa Law Today (co-authored.) He belongs to a number of

THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER

A TRIANNUAL PUBLICATION OF THE ABA/SECTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH

SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW

2 THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER [VOL. 53, NO. 1

I. Executive Summary

The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act (FATAA) of 2016

1

may be considered the most significant legislation in U.S. foreign aid in

decades. The new law and the corresponding OMB and key foreign aid

agencies’ guidelines require providers to follow best practices in the

monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of U.S government (USG) foreign aid.

2

A recent study conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office

across the key USG foreign aid agencies identified a number of areas that

needed improvement in the design, implementation, conclusions, and

dissemination of foreign assistance evaluations.

3

FATAA and the relevant

guidelines will require providers to address those areas and focus their

reporting requirements on tangible outcomes and the impact of their

programming. But these requirements pose a number of implementation

challenges for smaller projects, smaller implementers, and certain

interventions with long-term effects, such as the programs supporting the

rule of law. In addition, because foreign aid funding implementers

throughout the USG provide programming in conjunction with each other,

programming provided by multiple, collaborating agencies must evaluate the

outputs and outcomes of this joint assistance. While the guidelines require a

delineation of roles and responsibilities of funding and implementing

professional associations on international law, including the N.Y.C. and American Bar

Associations, the American Society of International Law, and the American Branch of the

International Law Association, and practices law at the firm of Schoeman Updike Kaufman &

Gerber, LLP, New York, N.Y. He graduated from Columbia College and New York University

School of Law. The opinions and views expressed in this article are his own.

**** Creative Associates. salome.tsereteli@gmail.com. The opinions and views expressed in

this article are the author’s alone and are not intended to reflect the views of current or former

employers. Salome Tsereteli-Stephens is the Senior Manager of Design, Monitoring, and

Evaluation at Creative Associates. She has over fifteen years of experience in international aid

and development, specializing in monitoring and evaluation. She has developed monitoring

tools, trained staff, and conducted evaluations for various organizations in the U.S. and

overseas. Her interests include mixed methods approaches for measuring democracy,

governance, the rule of law, evaluation of policy and advocacy, and use of evaluation. Over the

course of time, she has written and presented on these issues in the U.S. and abroad. Originally

from Georgia, Tsereteli-Stephens holds an M.A. in law from Tbilisi State University and is

fluent in several languages. She has been a member of the American Evaluation Association

since 2012 and co-chaired its Democracy and Governance Topical Interest Group in 2015

through 2017.

1. Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016, Pub. L. No.114-191, 130 Stat.

666.

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[hereinafter GAO-17-316], https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/683157.pdf.

THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER

A TRIANNUAL PUBLICATION OF THE ABA/SECTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH

SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW