Following the U.S. Delegation to HLF-4: A Guide to Our Message and Social Media

Posted by Cindy Huang / November 28, 2011

Cindy Huang serves as Senior Advisor to the Secretary's Office of Global Food Security.

Greetings from Busan, Republic of Korea, where the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) is underway.

I'm joined here by about 2,000 delegates from governments, multilateral organizations, civil society and the private sector to assess the impact of our development dollars and chart an inclusive, sustainable, and effective course forward. In 2003, the world's largest donors came together in Rome and eight years later, we're meeting for the fourth time. It is particularly appropriate that HLF-4 is being hosted by South Korea, because 50 years ago it was an aid recipient, just emerging from a devastating war, and now it is a development donor. It's a remarkable a story, and by improving the way we do business, we are working to help more counties join their ranks.

Unlike in previous years, at Busan, we'll be changing the conversation from talking about aid to focusing on development effectiveness and economic growth. This means that in addition to concentrating on how every dollar is spent, we are also calling attention to how the full range of our engagement and cooperation advances development outcomes. As our challenges become more complex, we will be discussing more practical solutions at every level, leveraging skills in government agencies, businesses, and non-profit organizations to make development investments more effective, and sustainable.

This shift in our approach means that we are expanding the circle of participation. We are working with stakeholders in the private sector because we recognize that trade flows are primary drivers of economic growth. And we are working to ensure that women reap the benefits of our efforts as well as men, as we know that gender equality is an integral component of sustainable economic growth; we can't leave out half of the population on the path to prosperity and expect it to last.

This shift also means we are becoming more accountable for the work we do. Making development more effective starts with being transparent about how funds are spent and the results we get. We've already taken the first steps with www.foreignassistance.gov.

Secretary Clinton is leading the U.S. delegation to HLF-4, marking the first time an American Secretary of State has attended a conference like this. Her participation is part of Secretary Clinton's and the State Department's ongoing efforts to elevate the role of development alongside diplomacy and defense as a key pillar of our foreign policy and national security agenda. It is also a key component of our economic statecraft agenda. Development effectiveness is "smart power" in action.

We invite you to join us at HLF4 by watching the live webcast of the opening ceremony and Secretary Clinton's remarks on Tuesday, November 29 at 7:30-8:30 p.m. (EST). The website includes additional information on how to keep tabs on the action in Busan.

You can also follow the delegation across our social media platforms, including USAID Administrator Raj Shah (@rajshah), Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer (@S_GWI), the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Daniel Yohannes (@MCCtweets) and Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. Representative to UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture (@USUNRome). Our embassy in Korea (@usembassyseoul) will also be tweeting, along with the State Department (@StateDept) and USAID (@USAID).

USAID has developed a special web page for Busan. In addition to regular updates on DipNote, you can also read about HLF4 on USAID's ImpactBlog, MCC's Poverty Reduction Blog, and CEO Blog, as well as on the blog of the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.

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