This post was submitted by USAID EGAT Bureau‘s Tjada McKenna, Senior Advisor to Feed the Future.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah addressing the WFP board on 7 June 2010.
I have just returned from Rome where USAID Administrator Raj Shah gave a speech at the opening session of the UN World Food Programme’s Executive Board Meeting. In addition to the World Food Programme, we met with other Rome-based agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), and representatives from civil society.
Working closely with multilateral partners and other key stakeholders including civil society and the private sector are core principles that will guide our implementation of Feed the Future, the US government’s global health and food security initiative.
USAID and the US Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome led by Ambassador Ertharin Cousin have been working closely with these Rome agencies on Feed the Future on several fronts including supporting country-led planning processes, operationalizing the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, a multilateral trust fund, and providing other analytical support and services to countries as requested. Our trip to Rome was energizing and exciting because it reinforced how committed we are to the Rome Principles and how much more we can do together with our focus countries. There was a sense of optimism that now is the time to end hunger and food insecurity and a shared commitment to working together in a more efficient and coordinated way to make that happen.
