Charter of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid

Speeches Shim

  1. Committee's Official Designation
    Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA).
  2. Authority
    President Harry S. Truman established ACVFA in a letter to Secretary of State George Marshall on May 14, I 946. The renewal of the Committee is in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) of 1972 as amended, Title J of the United States Code.
  3. Objectives and Scope of Activities
    To serve as a focal point for relations between the U.S. Government and private and voluntary organizations active in the fields of relief, rehabilitation and development abroad. To assure the voluntary sector plays a vital and dynamic role in the formulation and execution of foreign-assistance programs.
  4. Description of Duties
    To consult with, provide information to, and advise the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other U.S. Government Departments and Agencies, as appropriate, on a wide spectrum of development issues related to foreign assistance on which the U.S. Government and private and voluntary organizations interact. To provide information and counsel to the community of private and voluntary organizations that are working abroad in relief, rehabilitation, and development on issues of concern regarding their relations with USAID and other U.S. Government Departments and Agencies. To foster public interest in the field of voluntary foreign aid and the activities of private and voluntary organizations in development and humanitarian assistance.
  5. Agency or Official to Whom the Committee Reports
    The Administrator of USAID.
  6. Support
    Staff in the Office of the USAID Administrator provide support to ACVFA.
  7. Estimated Annual Operating Costs and Staff Years
    The annual operating costs in dollars and person-years for the Advisory Committee and Subcommittees thereof are estimated to be approximately $150,000 and 1 person-year, respectively.
  8. Designated Federal Officer
    The Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for ACVFA is the Executive Director of ACVF A or his/her designee. This DFO will call all meetings of the Committee and Subcommittees, prepare and approve all meeting agendas, attend all meetings of the Committee and its Subcommittee, adjourn any meeting when the DFO determines adjournment to be in the public interest, and chair meetings when directed to do so by the USAID Administrator.
  9. Estimated Number and Frequency of Meetings
    ACVFA will hold one or two public meetings annually. It's Subcommittees will meet as dete1mined is necessary.
  10. Duration
    The ACVFA will serve indefinitely, on a continuing basis, subject to biennial renewal as required under the F ACA.
  11. Termination
    Two years from the date this Charter is filed.
  12. Membership and Designation
    ACVFA have no fewer than 15 and no more than 30 members, all appointed by the USAID Administrator as representatives of a balanced cross-section of non-governmental entities, including private and voluntary organizations, cooperatives, foundations, private firms, professional societies, universities, and other sources as he/she sees fit. Members serve in representative, not an individual capacity, and therefore are not subject to statues on conflict of interest.
  13. Subcommittees
    ACVFA or the USAID Administrator may appoint Subcommittees as necessary. These Subcommittees shall report back to ACVFA, and shall not provide advice or work products directly to the Administrator.
  14. Recordkeeping
    ACVFA will handle records of this Committee, all formally and informally established Subcommittees, in accordance with General Records Schedule 6.2, or other approved Agency schedule for the disposition of records. These records shall be available for public inspection and copying, subject to the Freedom of Information Act, (Section 552 of Title 5 of the United States Code).