[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 194 (Thursday, December 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, for 50 years the Inter-American Foundation, 
IAF, has partnered with grassroots organizations and underserved 
populations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to advance U.S. 
interests by helping to improve the lives of the hemisphere's poorest 
people, supporting civil society, and strengthening democratic 
institutions. I want to take this opportunity today, on IAF's 50th 
anniversary, to comment briefly on the foundation's accomplishments and 
on the unique value of small-grant, community-led development.
  In 1969, Congress established IAF as an independent development 
agency charged with identifying and investing in community-led 
development solutions. IAF awards small grants, averaging $280,000 over 
4 years, directly to local organizations, eliminating costly 
intermediaries and ensuring programs are led and implemented locally. 
IAF also requires grantees to contribute or mobilize their own cash or 
in-kind resources, helping to ensure sustainability and local 
investment in project success. On average, such counterpart investments 
mobilize $1.31 for every $1 invested by IAF.
  According to IAF, in fiscal year 2019 alone, it awarded $18.5 million 
to 97 grassroots organizations in 24 countries and mobilized $20 
million in grantee counterpart resources. IAF grantees created more 
than 2,500 partnerships with other organizations to share experiences 
and advance their missions, trained more than 200,000 people in new 
leadership and technical skills, and contributed to the creation of 
11,000 new or improved jobs.
  IAF's development model illustrates that if modest resources and 
technical support are provided directly to communities and their 
grassroots organizations so they can define their own needs, design 
their own solutions, and invest in their own communities, then local 
ownership, self-reliance, and sustainable development are possible.
  IAF's small-grants model also enables it to be nimble and responsive 
to changing conditions on the ground, including natural and man-made 
disasters. In recent years, IAF has used its network of grantees in 
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to support thousands of displaced 
Venezuelans and the communities where they have relocated.
  After the signing of the Colombia Peace Accords in 2016, IAF launched 
the Colombian Peacebuilding Initiative and invested nearly $2 million 
in 23 local Colombian organizations to support community-level 
peacebuilding and reconciliation.
  In Central America, IAF has 98 projects addressing the causes of 
migration in areas likely to be targets of criminal gangs in order to 
help families and communities resist such violence. And since June 
2019, IAF has awarded $650,000 in grants to civil society organizations 
across the Eastern Caribbean focused on strengthening community-led 
disaster mitigation and preparedness planning.
  IAF's successful approach to development is why we increased funding 
in the fiscal year 2020 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations 
bill, which was reported unanimously by the Appropriations Committee in 
September. Increased funding would enable IAF to support a greater 
number of meritorious grant proposals, as the foundation was able to 
fund only 7 percent of the almost 800 proposals received in fiscal year 
2019.
  Regrettably, this model of donors directly supporting small-scale, 
local initiatives to design, implement, and sustain their own 
development solutions is more the exception than the rule. I hope IAF's 
50th anniversary serves not only as an opportunity to commemorate its 
many accomplishments, but also to reflect on the need to expand IAF's 
approach to development across the U.S. Government.
  (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

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