OCEE: Committee on Science and Technology to Support Foreign Assistance

An NRC committee will assess the capabilities of AID to draw on the science and technology resources of the nation in designing and carrying out development assistance programs. It will also recommend steps that AID should consider in enhancing these capabilities. Special attention will be devoted to partnerships that involve AID together with international, regional, U.S. governmental, and private sector organizations in fields such as heath care, agriculture and nutrition, education and job creation, and energy and environment

The Committee of the National Academies that has been established to guide this effort will be particularly mindful of the following issues:

Raising awareness outside USAID as to the significant contributions that USAID already makes to the promotion of the U.S. government’s science, technology, and health interests, while emphasizing that there is considerable underutilized potential for increasing contributions through foreign assistance efforts
Raising consciousness within the agency as to the benefits of developing an integrated strategy for international science, technology, and health capacity building.
Using science more effectively for achieving specific programmatic goals and for improvements of existing programs.
Looking beyond current program needs to broader opportunities for building international science capacity.
The role that the Millennium Challenge Corporation will play in influencing the future of development and foreign assistance in the U.S.
Capacity-building steps that should be considered by USAID and its partners

Responsible Staff Officer: Glenn E. Schweitzer, Director, Office for Central Europe and Eurasia