This morning, the White House launched the Presidential Policy Directive on Development (PPD). This is really a great moment for the US and for the development community . The PDD establishes development as a strategic, economic, and moral imperative for the United States. It establishes beliefs that I share and that we’ve talked about up here at UNGA in New York, that American leadership on development must be oriented toward transformative and sustainable outcomes, not just addressing immediate or emergency needs.
We want to help countries out of poverty and set in place effective, democratic institutions to create the next generation of emerging markets. We want to see science and technology change the prospects for development across the board: increased crop yields, cures for devastating diseases, and production of clean forms of energy. We want to see governments take on the responsibility for meeting citizens’ basic needs – with the technical know-how, the systems, and the sources of revenue to do it. Ultimately, we want to support the conditions that enable countries to sustain further progress on their own.
This is already happening in Feed the Future, the Global Health Initiative, and Global Climate Change Initiative, the centerpieces of the President’s ambitious commitment.
It was an honor to join the President as he announced it this afternoon at the MDG Summit. Be sure to check out our <!a href=”http://www.usaid.gov/unga/ppd.html” target=”_blank”>fact sheet for more details.
