Arne Duncan is the U.S. Secretary of Education Today, the global community faces an economic crisis that has many people around the world feeling tenuous about the future. World leaders are grappling with how to handle rising debt and shrinking funds. Yet despite this uncertainty, one thing is certain: education is still the light shining […]
Archives for 2011
USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (11/14/2011 – 11/18/2011) November 14: CNN’s Security Clearance blog reports that five former U.S. Secretary of States wrote a joint letter to Congress addressing the importance of foreign aid. In the letter, former Secretaries Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger write that, “now is not the time for […]
New FEWS Data – Updated 11/18/2011
Moving Forward The facts are hard to fully grasp: across the Horn of Africa, there are 13.3 million people in crisis – more than the populations in the cities of Los Angeles and New York combined. And the crisis is the worst in Somalia, a country gripped by two decades of conflict. Somalis, primarily women […]
FWD Day Surpasses Goal, Hitting 117 Million Forwards
The USAID FWD Campaign successfully garnered 117 million forwards of crisis facts on FWD Day, dwarfing the goal of 13.3 million—the number of people currently affected by the crisis in the Horn of Africa. Celebrities, NGOs, corporations, and the American public joined forces to amplify the message through a host of online channels including […]
Selectivity and Focus
You’ve heard USAID talk about selectivity and focus in theory, but what do these principles mean in practice? In response to the global trends that are reshaping the development landscape and in line with the QDDR and PPD, USAID will apply seven operational principles across the Agency to help us focus on achieving and measuring […]
A $5,000 Prize for the Best Plan to Spread Awareness About the Horn of Africa Crisis
As featured on Good The largest humanitarian crisis in the world today is happening in the Horn of Africa, where more than 13 million people are suffering from a deadly famine caused by decades of conflict, instability and the worst drought the region has seen in 60 years. The devastation has spread across four countries, […]
Dr. Biden Meets with ONE Mom Bloggers
As featured on the White House Blog On Wednesday, October 25th, Mom Bloggers from the ONE campaign came to the White House to meet with Dr. Jill Biden, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Gayle Smith, Special Assistant and Senior Director for Development and Democracy in the […]
What “Capacity Development” Means to Me
This week, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah attended the Annual Meeting of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) in San Francisco. U.S. universities share a long history of close partnership with USAID, including collaboration on agricultural capacity development activities in the developing world. See below how some of this work is reaching women researchers […]
International Education Week: Somali Soap Opera Teaches Young People to Take Control of Their Finances
Somali youth are learning from the USAID sponsored soap opera Dab iyo Dahab that being good at math is not the same as knowing how to manage a household budget or run a business. In English, the title means “Fire and Gold.” The innovative collaboration between USAID and the Education Development Center (EDC) proves positive […]
Joining Together To Combat Conflict Minerals
As featured on the Dipnote Blog Maria Otero serves as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, and Robert Hormats serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs. Gold, tin, tungsten, and tantalum. These four metals are everywhere — in our smart phones, laptops, ball point pens, and light bulbs […]
