We spend $23.5bn on foreign assistance, much of which is mismanaged and corrupted, and not ending up in the hands of those to whom it's intended (i.e. the poor!). The next president needs to make a concerted effort to reform our broken foreign assistance programs. We should use PROVEN models of assistance that will provide for wealth accumulation for the poor from the bottom up -- things like development of microfinance, conditional cash transfer programs, and child development accounts.
The next President to show their committment to eridicating global poverty by appointing a Cabinet Level Secretary to oversee American Efforts, from better funding for global health, wider use of microcredit loans to infrastructure development in Africa.
