U.S. Global Leadership Coalition member InterAction recently unveiled a series of recommendations for the White House to reaffirm its commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As the President develops his precise plan of action in the run up to his presentation at the September MDG Summit, InterAction has underscored several initiatives that offer a quicker and more effective path to reducing global hunger and improving primary education, gender equality, and healthcare in the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

In order to meet the first Goal of “eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,” the report states that the U.S. must continue to prioritize its Feed The Future initiative to educate rural farmers on the best farming practices and provide them with the necessary initial resources. The initiative has already demonstrated success in teaching others how to develop sustainable agricultural and business procedures so that communities can feed themselves without relying on outside aid. Similarly, InterAction points out that the President’s Global Health Initiative must remain fully funded and increasingly focus on partnering with foreign governments and communities to find holistic solutions to improving quality healthcare access in the long term. Also amongst the recommendations is that the White House launch a “Global Education Initiative” to promote the expansion of primary education to all, in accordance with the second Millennium Development Goal. Basic education improvements will create new job and business opportunities and better prepare the world’s poorest to take advantage of opportunities and gain more control over their community’s economic and political future. InterAction weaves a strong thread through all of these recommendations for fixing problems for the long term so that poor communities can lift themselves to a higher standard of living that lays the groundwork for a stronger economy and more stable government. It also emphasizes getting the most out of every dollar to do so, proposing more accountability offices in both the federal government and at intergovernmental organizations like the UN to oversee that development funds for programs are spent as efficiently and effectively as possible.

You can read InterAction’s full set of recommendations here.