In the run up to 2015, the British Government and the US are working with developing countries, the business world and public organisations to inspire action as we strive to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To this end, we kicked off in New York this week with the first ever MDG Countdown event, highlighting [...]
Archives for September, 2011
Women and Agriculture: Behind the Scenes
After an event on Monday with Secretary Clinton to promote food security, influential leaders discuss the important role women play in strengthening global agriculture. Featured in this short video: Kathy Spahn, President of Helen Keller International; Dr. Jose Granziano da Silva, Director General Elect of UN FAO; and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever.
Googling Google on my way to the Open Government Partnership
On the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly, I experienced the “Power of Open.” Across town, at Google’s New York headquarters, I joined other U.S. and foreign government officials, high-tech entrepreneurs and executives, NGO activists as well as public and private donors to support the launch of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The participants [...]
Mapping the Famine with Open Data and Open Source Tools
Check out USAID’s new FWD campaign and you will find something that you haven’t seen a lot of on USAID.gov in the past—a suite of interactive maps designed to tell the story of the crisis and the response. The six maps available now show food insecurity, drought, affected populations, refugee and IDP movements and USAID’s [...]
In The Arena: Sports as a Catalyst for International Development
Governments and private organizations have long been using sport as a tool in global development and humanitarian aid because of its ability to transform lives in unique and powerful ways. In fact, there are few areas in development where sport cannot be used as a platform to strengthen communities and improve lives. At the field [...]
MDG countdown: Celebrating Successes and Innovation
Today, Secretary of State Mitchell of UK development agency DFID and I will co-host an event along the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to celebrate successes and innovations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Indeed, the world has much to celebrate. Through partnerships between communities and governments and the integration of new, non-traditional [...]
Because No Mother Should Die Giving Life; Every Child Deserves a Healthy Start
Last night, the Saving Lives at Birth partnership announced three award nominations for transition-to-scale grants that have the potential to save the lives of mothers and newborns in rural areas of the developing world at the time of birth. We couldn’t be more excited about the announcement. The award nominees – a mobile technology initiative [...]
Collective Action to Advance the Health of Women and Newborns
Global maternal mortality has dropped by one third since 1990, but still every day an estimated 1,000 women lose their life in childbirth. For the past year, USAID, the UK Department for International Development, Australian Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have worked in partnership to accelerate progress in improving [...]
Harnessing the Power of Sport and Play for Development and Peace
As a former Olympic athlete, I have experienced the incredible impact that sport can have firsthand. But, it wasn’t until 1993, during a trip to Eritrea, as an ambassador for Olympic aid, that I began to truly understand the influence that sport can have on a variety of developmental issues, including the Millennium Development Goals [...]
