USAID Impact Photo Credit: Nancy Leahy/USAID

Archives for Global Partnerships

A Look at Our Partners – Relief Work in Haiti

Posted by  on Monday, January 31st 2011     

As featured in the White House Blog

By: Joshua Dubois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

After the one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, I wanted to highlight some of the great work our nonprofit and faith-based partners have been doing to help the Haitian people rebuild and recover.  From such a tragic event came an outpouring of giving and companionship for our brothers and sisters in Haiti.  Led by the great folks at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), we have been working hard to assist in feeding over 3.5 million people in partnership with the World Food Program as well as distributing emergency shelter materials to more than 1.5 million people.

One of the partners we work closely with is the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC). The JDC has a proud history of giving time and resources for humanitarian relief projects in over 70 countries, and the devastating earthquake in Haiti is no different.  One year later JDC’s relief efforts have directly impacted over 240,000 Haitians.  With $7.7 million dollars in donations, JDC has demonstrated the power of successful collaboration.  Together with Haitian, Israeli and other NGOs, JDC and its partners have delivered medical services to more than 53,000 Haitians and additionally aided more than 800 people and fitted more than 70 prosthetics through its state-of-the-art rehabilitation clinic at l’Hôpital de l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti and nearby prosthetic lab.  JDC also ran 10 schools in tent camps in Port Au Prince and ensured that 150,000 displaced Haitians had access to 80 emergency water tanks.

We are proud of the outstanding work that JDC and many of our partners are doing in the effort to rebuild Haiti.  As USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah said in his recent ‘Modern Development Enterprise’ speech, “Organizations of faith not only express the moral values of millions of Americans, they also provide some of the most dependable support systems for millions in the developing world… Our success depends on listening to communities of faith, connecting with them deeply, and supporting the vital work they perform around the world.”

To learn more about JDC and their work in Haiti visit www.JDC.org and read their Haiti Relief One Year Report.

If you would like to comment about this posting or to receive more information, email Ari Alexander aalexander@usaid.gov

Feed the Future launches Comprehensive Approach to engaging the Private Sector

Posted by  on Friday, January 28th 2011     

By:  Tjada McKenna,Director, Private Sector and Innovation Office, Bureau for Food Security

At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Administrator Shah proudly announced USAID’s support for the WEF’s New Vision for Agriculture initiative. This initiative is led by 17 global companies, including Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Coca-Cola, DuPont, General Mills, Kraft Foods, Monsanto, PepsiCo, and Wal-Mart to name a few that are Industry Partners of the Forum. The goal of this initiative is to utilize market-based solutions to increase production by 20%, while decreasing emissions by 20% and reducing the prevalence of rural poverty by 20% every decade.

Today, nearly 1 billion people go hungry everyday – half of them farmers – and malnutrition needlessly robs people of their potential to contribute to their families, their communities and society as a whole. Three-quarters of the poor live in rural areas, most relying on agriculture for their livelihood, with women contributing the bulk of farm labor. And now, these farmers face even tougher constraints as the world must produce more with less and the agriculture sector is entering a new era marked by scarcer resources, greater demand and higher risks of volatility partly owing to global climate change.

Standing alongside the CEO’s of Unilever and Monsanto, Administrator Shah committed USAID, through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, to promote the development of innovative, large-scale private sector partnerships in FTF focus countries to achieve significant impact on global hunger and malnutrition. This approach will bring together farmers, local businesses, supply chain companies, global corporations, local and national governments and civil society to promote sound investments in agriculture. USAID will support these partnerships by leveraging its own investments in agriculture-led growth in key corridors or breadbasket regions in FtF countries.

For example, USAID through FtF is supporting Tanzania’s Kilimo Kwanza Growth Corridor with an equity investment of $2 million in the Corridor’s $50 million catalytic fund, and is considering additional annual investments up to $10 million. The fund will help open up partnership opportunities for private investment in rural infrastructure (irrigation and rural roads), processing, research and training, institutional capacity building, and nutrition and is expected to leverage nearly $500 million in private sector investment.

In an effort to combat malnutrition, USAID also signed an Memorandum of Understanding with DSM Nutritional Products to work together to improve dietary quality across the developing world, starting with rice fortification in rice staple food countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, and Tanzania. DSM is a global material and life sciences company and a leader in the fields of human and animal nutrition with 70 years of innovative product development and application technology in vitamins and nutrient fortification. USAID will also tap into DSM’s expertise in efforts to improve the nutritional value, shelf-life, and nutritional test methods of food aid commodities.

Work together with FTF focus country governments, USAID will continue to promote the development of dynamic new partnerships directly with the private sector by facilitating the work of both local and private companies who want to contribute to new models of agriculture-led development. We stand ready to build new partnerships based on jointly defined priorities and focused choices to transform agriculture and drive food security.

‘Modern Development Enterprise’ – A Major Address by Administrator Shah

Posted by  on Wednesday, January 26th 2011     

By: Ari Alexander, Deputy Director at the Center for Faith-based & Community Initiatives and the Coordinator of Global Engagement

As featured in the White House Blog

Last week, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah gave a major address to over 200 non-governmental organizations, think-tanks, academics, and international development leaders hosted by the Center for Global Development. The text of the speech as prepared for delivery can be found here.  Dr. Shah’s speech on The Modern Development Enterprise addressed the current state of development and formally announced the Agency’s 50th anniversary.

In his speech, Dr. Shah recognized the important role of religious and community groups in providing assistance to those most in need around the world. I thought you’d be especially interested in the excerpts below:

  • American Values:  When we prevent violence in Southern Sudan, we’re not just avoiding future military involvement; we’re also expressing America’s values.  When schoolchildren organize bakesales to pay for anti-malarial bed nets, they are expressing America’s values.  When more American families gave money to the Haiti relief than watched the Super Bowl, they were expressing America’s values.  When church groups across America raise money and volunteer to support children orphaned by AIDS, they are expressing America’s values.
  • Communities of Faith:  I’m proud to know that USAID is one of CRS’s largest supporters.  But I’m also proud to know that we support a wide-range of faith-based organizations, from Samaritan’s Purse to the American Jewish World Service. Organizations of faith not only express the moral values of millions of Americans, they also provide some of the most dependable support systems for millions in the developing world. In Kenya for example, 30% of all healthcare services are provided by Christian Hospitals.  Our success depends on listening to communities of faith, connecting with them deeply, and supporting the vital work they perform around the world.
  • Food Security:  Instead of merely providing food aid in times of emergency, we are helping countries develop their own agricultural sectors, so that they can feed themselves.  We launched Feed the Future – bringing together resources across the federal government and engaging in deeper partnerships to extend the impact of our efforts.  We are now leveraging more investment from countries themselves and from other donors.  Firms ranging from General Mills to local African seed companies are all doing more.  As a result, in just five of our twenty focus countries we will be able to help nearly 6.5 million poor farmers – most of them women – grow enough food to feed their families and break the grip of hunger and poverty for tens of millions of people.
  • Global Health:  In our Global Health Initiative, instead of a scattered approach that fights individual diseases one at a time, we are pursuing an integrated approach that will generate efficiencies and strengthen health systems.  We are now working with partners such as the NIH, CDC and PEPFAR to leverage recent advances in science and technology, especially in high return areas such as vaccinating children, preventing HIV, malaria and TB and focusing on childhood nutrition during pregnancy and the first two years of life.
  • Smart and Transparent Investments:  I want the American taxpayer to know that every dollar they invest in USAID is being invested in the smartest, most efficient, and most transparent way possible.
  • 50th Anniversary:  This year, USAID will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Our legacy is filled with incredible accomplishments. Throughout those fifty years, we have contributed greatly toward ending an incomprehensible measure of human suffering, and I urge you to learn more about our Agency’s rich legacy through our newly launched anniversary Web site, http://50th.usaid.gov.  But if I am lucky enough to live another 50 years, I hope I am also lucky enough not to witness our centennial. Instead, I hope we will be commemorating the success of USAID’s mission.


Supporting U.S. Global Development Objectives through Private Sector Partnerships

Posted by  on Thursday, January 20th 2011     

By: Matthew Corso, USAID

USAID recently released the 2011 Global Development Alliance (GDA) Annual Program Statement (APS).  The 2011 GDA APS captures and conveys the Administration’s commitment to partnering with the private sector in support of U.S. global development objectives.

The intention for this APS is to encourage conversations between the private sector and USAID that may produce innovative, sustainable partnerships around the world to meet both business goals and USAID development objectives.  Since 2001, USAID has cultivated over a 1,000 public-private alliances with over 3,000 individual partners contributing billions of dollars in combined public-private resources in most of the 90 countries in which USAID operates.  In fact, on average, every dollar USAID commits to partnerships leverages nearly three and half private sector dollars – a significant return on taxpayer’s investment in a time of tight budgets.

Read the rest of this entry »

Secretary Clinton Holds Town Hall Meeting at USAID on the QDDR

Posted by  on Monday, December 20th 2010     

On Friday, Secretary Clinton and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah spoke on the First Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), “Leading Through Civilian Power,” at a town hall meeting at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Here is the webcast in case you missed it.

USAID Commemorates International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Posted by  on Friday, December 3rd 2010     

To commemorate this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, USAID is hosting a photo display, “USAID and Inclusive Development” in the lobby at the 14th Street entrance of the Ronald Reagan Building on December 3. Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, will speak at the display opening at 4:00 P.M. The display consists of images from USAID’s programs worldwide and illustrates the progress USAID and our partners have made in integrating persons with disabilities into the political, social, economic, and cultural life in communities around the world. It demonstrates how USAID’s inclusive development programming aligns with the Millennium Development Goals.

A usual day in inclusive kindergarten, supported by the USAID-funded Children in Difficult Circumstances Project, implemented by World Vision. Photo courtesy USAID/Yerevan

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, annually observed on December 3, aims to promote a better understanding of disability issues worldwide. Established by the U.N. in 1981, it focuses on the rights of persons with disabilities and the value of integrating persons with disabilities into every aspect of society.

This year’s theme for International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Keeping the Promise: Mainstreaming Disability in the Millennium Development Goals Towards 2015 and Beyond.” It continues the connection between disability programming in the developing world and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It reminds us that although many commitments have been made by the international development community to include persons with disabilities in all aspects of development, much work remains to fulfill those commitments.

Last year’s theme, “Making the Millennium Development Goals Disability-Inclusive: Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Their Communities Around the World,” linked disability to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). USAID supports the MDGs and inclusive development in its own policies and programming in its missions around the world.

In 2008, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities acknowledged the development of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention provides a legally binding instrument to ensure that societies recognize that all people must be provided with the opportunities to live life to their fullest potential. The United States signed the U.N. Convention on July 30, 2009.

In September 1997, USAID adopted a groundbreaking policy which led to the creation of a detailed framework to guide USAID’s efforts in the area of disability and inclusive development. The policy states that USAID will not discriminate against persons with disabilities and will work to ensure the inclusion of these individuals in USAID-funded programs and activities. The policy also calls on USAID missions to enlist partners, host-country counterparts, and other donors in a collaborative effort to end discrimination against and promote equal opportunity for persons with disabilities.

In 2005, Congress provided USAID with a dedicated source of funding to complement their commitment to include persons with disabilities in development programs and to empower them to advocate for their own rights. To date, these initiatives have supported programs in more than 40 countries, primarily through financial and technical assistance to USAID missions to promote their own inclusive  development  activities.

USAID works to educate employees on disability issues through courses and workshops. USAID provides tools and technical assistance to field missions as they institutionalize the policy and it has developed self-reporting mechanisms to track progress in implementing the policy in Washington, D.C. and overseas.

For additional information on USAID’s Disability Policy and Inclusive Development programming, see the Disability Policy section of the USAID website here.

Contact: Rob Horvath, rhorvath@usaid.gov

Saving Lives Through Smart Investments

Posted by  on Wednesday, December 1st 2010     

As featured in Dipnote

By Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator

As we approach World AIDS Day, many are asking difficult questions about the way forward on global AIDS. The questions are not about whether lives are being saved from the devastation of AIDS, because they are — by the millions. But some wonder whether we can continue to maintain our strong commitment and make dramatic progress when the global economy is under such strain. It’s a reasonable question, and one motivated by genuine concern for those we serve. Let us be clear: the answer is that we can, and we are fully dedicated to continuing in our fight against HIV/AIDS.

Through a range of actions, the Obama Administration is demonstrating that the U.S. commitment remains firm, even in these challenging economic times. The Administration’s budget request for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) this year is the largest in any President’s budget to date. We are grateful for the strong foundation of success that President George W. Bush and a bipartisan Congress established when they launched PEPFAR. Building on that foundation, during President Barack Obama’s tenure PEPFAR has continued to expand, greatly increasing the number of lives saved from this destructive pandemic. Tomorrow, on World AIDS Day, we’ll announce our latest results, which will show continued, dramatic progress in saving lives devastated by HIV/AIDS.

We’re also proud of the partnerships that we built with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis and with individual country governments. The Obama Administration recently announced the first-ever multi-year pledge to the Global Fund of $4 billion — a significant 38 percent increase.

Under PEPFAR, the U.S. government is also focused on doing business more efficiently and effectively. Years of experience in the field have taught us how to better use every dollar invested in battling AIDS. This means we are getting a bigger bang for the buck — allowing us to do more to fight not only HIV/AIDS, but other global health issues that impact communities affected by HIV. It means that our yardstick for measuring success is not dollars invested, it’s lives saved. Simply put, we’re focused on making smart investments that improve and save more lives.

Let’s look at a few examples.

• We’re saving lives and money by using more generic drugs. Recognizing that one of the biggest hurdles to rapid treatment scale-up was the high price of antiretroviral drugs, PEPFAR worked with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to bring more generics to market. By 2008, generics accounted for almost 90 percent of the 22 million antiretroviral drug packs purchased, increasing from 14.8 percent in 2005, and resulting in an estimated cumulative savings of $323 million.

• We’re successfully implementing programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission is one of the most effective — and cost-effective — interventions for HIV. By focusing on preventing mother-to-child transmission, Botswana and parts of South Africa have had extraordinary success, reducing the likelihood of infant infection to levels similar to those found in the United States, and reducing the significant costs associated with new infections. Accordingly, PEPFAR’s Five-Year Strategy set goals to reach 80 percent of pregnant women with HIV counseling and testing, and to provide antiretroviral prophylaxis or treatment, as appropriate, to 85 percent of pregnant HIV-infected women in PEPFAR countries.

• We’re changing the way we deliver medicines. We have become more efficient in shipping needed medicines in a timely fashion by using water and land delivery systems instead of air freight, reducing costs by as much as 90 percent. In 2009, sea freight charges for products PEPFAR moved through the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) were $520,000, while moving the same volume by air would have cost an estimated $3.8 million. Similarly, road freight charges for the product PEPFAR moved through SCMS were $395,000, while to move the same volume by air would have cost an estimated $953,000.

• Last, but not least, medical male circumcision promises dramatic impact on prevention efforts. Medical male circumcision is an ideal HIV prevention investment for countries and donors, as it is a one-time intervention that provides lasting prevention benefits. The majority of the expenditure required to saturate a country with high levels of adult male circumcision takes place in the first 1-3 years, depending on the speed of the program, and expenditures drop precipitously following this initial investment to support neonatal and adolescent boys. Scaling up male circumcision to reach 80 percent of adult and newborn males in 14 African countries by 2015:

- Could prevent more than 4 million adult HIV infections over 15 years (2009 – 2025)

- Could result in cost savings of $20.2 billion between 2009 – 2025 with an overall investment of approximately $4 billion

We’ve had great success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but the battle is far from over. The goal now must be to build on that success and continue to be smart about the investments we make.

This Week at USAID – October 11, 2010

Posted by  on Tuesday, October 12th 2010     

Administrator Shah opens a weeklong training for over 80 USAID communications staff from USAID Missions all over the world.  These communicators are in Washington, D.C. to engage with senior officials about elevating development, particularly the first-ever national development strategy issued by a U.S. President and “USAID Forward”, the Agency’s change management agenda.  Sessions featured during the week include: a meeting with staff from the National Security Council, a joint session at the annual State Department Public Affairs Officer’s conference, and a panel discussion with leading foreign policy journalists at the Newseum.

Administrator Shah travels to Des Moines, Iowa to speak at the Borlaug Dialogue, which is held each year in conjunction with the awarding of the World Food Prize.  The theme of the conference is: smallholder agriculture, “Take it to the Farmer“.  Dr Shah will focus on how you take interest in fighting poverty to the smallholder farmer.  He will also promote progress under Feed the Future, the Administration’s global hunger and food security initiative.

USAID @UNGA: Working to Energize Private Sector Partnership Development at UN Summit

Posted by  on Wednesday, September 22nd 2010     

Submitted by Scott Schirmer, Senior Coordinator, Private Sector Alliances Division, Office of Development Partners

Eleven nations today released at the United Nations a joint Bilateral Donor’s Statement in Support of Private Sector Partnerships for Development. Read into the UN record by Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, this ground breaking statement recognizes the tremendous impact that private sector actors have on development and commits the donors to working together to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More importantly, it recognizes the private sector as equal partners on key development issues.

The donors further agreed to proactively enter into partnerships with local and international companies to achieve the MDGs by 2015. USAID is proud of its association with its fellow donor nations and sees this statement as an opportunity to energize its private sector partnership development activities through USAID’s Global Development Alliance mechanism in a new spirit of donor coordination.

A nascent bilateral working group of the eleven nations on private sector partnerships is already in place. This group will enable the participants to share knowledge, identify opportunities and to begin to develop international cooperation on private sector partnerships.

This working group can be leveraged to create a global community of public and private partners – a global Network of Partnerships. Networked partnerships can be the new reality of an interconnected world.  No longer should partnerships be viewed as simple isolated matches: uncoordinated, lacking in strategy, and unrelated to a greater whole. In a globalized and connected world, partnerships should now be networked, complimentary and multi-faceted.

USAID @ UNGA: The Millennium Development Goals are Everyone’s Business

Posted by  on Tuesday, September 21st 2010     

Submitted by Helen Clark, United Nations Development Programme Administrator and former Prime Minister of New Zealand

Helen Clark: Official Photo

Helen Clark: Official Photo

I’m looking forward to attending the World Business Development Awards tonight, to celebrate best practice in the private sector which is contributing to achieving the MDGs. UNDP worked with the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Business Leaders Forum to organize these awards, along with USAID, DFID, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency, the UN Foundation, and the Global Compact Office.

Tonight’s awards honor ten companies which have helped improve the lives of people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Together, they have helped to accelerate our shared work towards creating a world of people who have access to higher incomes, education and more basic services. They show us that it’s possible to do good work and good business, at the same time.

UNDP’s new report, “The MDGs: Everyone’s Business,” cites numerous instances of companies —large and small— which are implementing inclusive business models. Along with the Rainforest Alliance and large buyers, for example, we’re helping coffee farmers in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru sell their coffee at premium price and lift their standard of living. Soon we’ll be launching a new effort to promote inclusive business initiatives in Africa. We’ll be working with officials and businesses to help the African private sector, thereby igniting the economy and creating badly needed jobs, especially for women and young people who often miss out.

Through its investments and activities, the private sector can create jobs, nurture entrepreneurs and innovators, contribute to tax revenue, and meet everyday demand for the goods and services we all use and need—and for which the poorest among us all too often pay the highest prices. It can definitely be a catalyst for change in creating the world we want.

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