CDR OVERVIEW

The Consensus for Development Reform (CDR) is a platform for leading conservative and private sector voices in support of strengthening U.S. global leadership through reforming and improving our approach to global development. CDR’s participants include a select group of former members of Congress, senior Administration officials, and private sector leaders who share a common commitment to a new U.S. approach to global development.   

CDR is founded on the fundamental belief that America is a force for good in the world, and that our foreign policy is most successful when it supports economic opportunity, democratic accountability, and respect for human dignity. Advancing such universal values is vital to our security and prosperity in a world full of challenges that defy military and diplomatic solutions alone, but our development dollars must be deployed more effectively and achieve greater impact. When guided by a clear strategy, held accountable for results, and focused on economic growth that enables countries to drive their own development, our aid will yield better results for those we are helping and will more faithfully serve U.S. interests. 

A primary objective of CDR is to articulate a development strategy that will more clearly focus U.S. foreign assistance on the promotion of private sector-led economic growth – the only truly sustainable development strategy. CDR believes that U.S. assistance programs must focus on mobilizing private sector investment in developing countries through the promotion of rule of law and democratic institutions, reduction of barriers to growth, finance and risk mitigation tools, and investments in critical infrastructure. 

CDR also believes that U.S. foreign assistance should continue to lead the global fight against suffering and disease, bringing hope and opportunity to those in greatest need. This humanitarian commitment has been the basis of American global leadership for 70 years. During President George W. Bush’s Administration, conservatives built a legacy of leadership on global development and humanitarian assistance through the creation of bold and innovative programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

CDR works with policy-makers, think-tanks, advocacy groups, and committed individuals to help create a foreign assistance reform agenda that strengthens our global leadership, drives economic growth, improves accountability, and builds democratic institutions.