Chuck Cooper is the Assistant Administrator of Legislative & Public Affairs

Earlier this year, in his State of the Union address, President Obama made a commitment to ending extreme poverty in the next two decades. Today, with the release of the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), we are reminded of our role in fulfilling this commitment. As an agency, we’re fortunate to have this as our mission: to work on behalf of the American people to eradicate poverty and its most devastating corollaries, widespread hunger and preventable child death.

To seize this moment, USAID is fundamentally changing the way we work: harnessing innovation, science and technology; leveraging our resources to build partnerships that have an even greater impact; and focusing like never before on delivering and measuring results. To deliver these results, we are implementing an ambitious set of reforms called USAID Forward that have touched every aspect of our work.

While real progress has been made, we’re clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. Under the President’s budget, USAID will continue to strengthen our reform efforts. Our budget fact sheet outlines some of the critical programs that are funded under this budget – and details an important new reform initiative to modernize how the United States delivers food aid.

The President’s food aid reform proposal envisions a more efficient, effective, and timely program that will reach 4 million more hungry people each year. Today, Administrator Shah will share his vision on the future of food assistance at an event hosted by CSIS. To learn more about food aid reform, please visit our food aid reform page: www.usaid.gov/foodaidreform

Alongside diplomacy and defense, our development work will continue to play a critical role in America’s economic and national security. With just over one percent of the federal budget, the State Department and USAID budget moves us closer to ending extreme poverty, advances U.S. national security, protects Americans at home and abroad, opens markets overseas, creates American jobs, forges global partnerships and delivers real results for the American people.

For additional resources on the President’s FY14 budget and USAID’s work, please visit our website.