The Professional
Services Council (PSC) and its Council of International Development Companies
(CIDC) yesterday published a new report chronicling the history and adaptability of
international development companies (IDCs).
The report, “50
Years of Development: How Private Companies Adapt and Deliver,” follows
USAID’s own report on its 50th anniversary in 2012 and outlines the dramatic
changes that have reshaped foreign assistance delivery since the inception of
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The report, authored by
Tony Barclay, the former CEO of the international development company DAI, also
describes how IDCs have changed and expanded to support USAID, even as budget
cuts chipped away at the agency’s workforce but not its workload. Despite these
budget cuts, IDCs continue to successfully support U.S. government development
missions around the globe and under a variety of challenging circumstances,
including in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“This paper clearly shows that international development
companies remain reliable and resilient partners for the U.S. government,” said
report author Tony Barclay, the former CEO of DAI. “IDCs alone deliver
expertise through competitively awarded contracts that support projects that
demand efficiency, flexibility, and measurable results in an environment of
strict accountability for managing funds and compliance with procurement law
and regulations.”
“This compelling account of the growth of U.S. international
development companies proves the axiom that history is best written by those
who lived and helped make it,” PSC President and CEO Stan Soloway said in his
introduction to the report. “The overarching message of this narrative is
simple and powerful. As U.S. foreign assistance policies and practices have
evolved, development companies have matured, adapted to change, and grown with
the times while always meeting the needs of their federal, foreign and private
partners.”
