Foreign Policy blog reports on reaction to GHI office closing

Foreign Policy's "The Cable" reports on reaction to an announcement by the Obama administration on July 3 that the Global Health Initiative (GHI) office will close and that the office's work is being "elevated" to the State Department's new Office of Global Health Diplomacy. "The Obama administration quietly announced ... that it is scrapping the office of the Global Health Initiative and abandoning plans to move the whole project over to USAID, creating anger and frustration in the non-government organization community," the blog writes, adding, "The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN), an umbrella group representing development organizations co-chaired by David Beckmann, George Ingram and Jim Kolbe, today issued a harsh criticism of the administration's decision." 

"We are concerned that our partners on the ground will continue to be confused about global health leadership and coordination, which will hamper efforts to effectively transition ownership of development programs to recipient countries," MFAN wrote, adding, "Viewed through these lenses, the administration may have undermined its own landmark efforts to increase development effectiveness and accountability," according to the blog. "The Cable" notes that a post by Amanda Glassman and Rachel Silverman published Monday in the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog "said the administration has dramatically scaled back its ambitions for GHI by deciding not to consolidate its leadership at USAID" (Rogin, 7/10).