Solutions: The New American Foreign Partnership Standard

It’s long past time to reimagine and reshape the U.S. approach to global development and build a new model fit for the 21st century. International systems largely built in the aftermath of World War II cannot keep up with the many interconnected challenges we face. 

Strategic Aid, Stronger America, Prosperous World

How the U.S. engages with the world matters—a lot. For every American. Your family's health and safety, your job, and the products (and their prices!) on your store shelves are directly connected to how effectively America engages with the world.

When done right, Americans benefit directly when we invest globally. For example:
Our partner countries benefit, too. Developing nations are very clear about what they want: jobs, trade, technology, health security, and partnerships – above all, a transformed, more modern relationship with the United States.

Our Recommendations to the U.S. Department of State and Congress

As policymakers navigate the future of U.S. foreign engagement, we urge adoption of this Foreign Partnership Standard as the foundation for a reimagined approach.

This standard represents our collective vision for what must guide U.S. foreign investments going forward. They offer a path to break free from the binary debate of simply cutting aid versus maintaining the status quo. Instead, they present a third way forward that serves American interests while creating sustainable partnerships globally.

Click here to read our open letter to Secretary Marco Rubio and Members of Congress.
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Aid Reimagined: The New American Foreign Partnership Standard

Advancing What Works

Promote Jobs & Economic Growth
Prioritize investments that promote jobs and economic growth while securing new markets for U.S. products and services.

Protect Public Health
‍Prioritize investments that promote strong health systems that prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases that are essential to both global and national security.

Invest in Innovation, Scale What Works
‍Leverage technology and innovation to bring down costs, deliver faster results, and scale what works.

Drive Mutually-Beneficial Partnerships
‍Transform traditional aid relationships into mutually-beneficial partnerships where host countries have agency and co-invest—ensuring Americans don't shoulder indefinite financial burdens while building strong, self-reliant partners abroad.

Prioritize Results Over Process
‍Focus on paying for measurable results rather than activities, with accountability for impact and metrics that benefit partner countries and the United States.

Require Strategic Exits, Enduring Results
‍Design all foreign engagements with fixed end dates, self-sustainability or clear transition plans to local actors.

Stopping What Doesn't Work

Stop Programs Without Clear Transitions
‍Reject approaches that make the U.S. the sole foreign aid funder with no sustainability plans or transition strategies for local ownership.

Stop Bureaucratic Barriers
‍Eliminate bureaucratic processes and red tape that slow things down and exclude more innovative local actors and private sector players from contributing.

Stop Low-Impact Projects
‍Move beyond investments with limited scale to those that drive systematic change and sustainable economic growth.

Stop Top-Down Programs
‍Stop developing aid projects in Washington, DC that lack buy-in or co-investment from host countries, jeopardizing sustainability.

Stop Funding Intermediaries
‍End reliance on the aid industry and instead fund those closest to the challenges, increasing sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and self-reliance.

Take Action

Join us as we put pressure on lawmakers and the Trump Administration to adopt the New American Foreign Partnership Standard.

Sign up to get involved with our #AidWeWant campaign to reshape the future of U.S. global development.

Resources

The below resources capture a number of recommendations Unlock Aid has developed since 2021 to change the way the United States invests more than $60 billion every year for global development.
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