Overview
- Diplomats were told to lobby governments worldwide for a declaration that will be unveiled at the United Nations at the end of April, according to a State Department cable reported by multiple outlets.
- The cable says the effort uses the U.N. system to promote America First values and open business opportunities for U.S. companies, positioning commerce as the engine for development.
- The plan urges countries to favor private investment and pro‑business reforms over government‑to‑government aid, with internal notes arguing decades of traditional aid bred dependency and inefficiency.
- Humanitarian leaders warn the shift could slow delivery of food and medical relief and undercut U.S. soft power, with the Rockefeller Foundation calling the approach a break from America’s rescue‑first tradition.
- The push follows freezes, cuts, and a reorganization of U.S. foreign assistance programs, and it comes as several Western donors have been trimming aid budgets in recent years.