USAID Impact Photo Credit: USAID and Partners

Archives for Global Partnerships

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 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.

Countdown to MDG Summit: Conversations With America “The Obama Administration’s Work Toward Achieving the Millennium Development Goals”

Posted by  on Thursday, September 16th 2010     

Conversations With America

Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator, USAID
David Lane, President and CEO, ONE

The Obama Administration’s Work Toward Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Conversations With America
U.S. Department of State

Moderator: PJ Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs

September 16, 2010

On Thursday, September 16, 2010, David Lane, President and CEO of ONE, will hold a conversation with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, on global development opportunities and challenges on the eve of the Millennium Development Goals summit.

The discussion will be moderated by PJ Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. The event will be streamed live on this page and DipNote, the Department of State’s official blog, at 10:15 a.m. (EDT). You will have the opportunity to participate through the submission of questions, some of which will be selected for response during the live broadcast. Submit your questions now on DipNote.

This is the sixth in the Conversations with America video series recently launched by the Bureau of Public Affairs, in which the State Department’s senior leadership hold monthly conversations live, online, with leaders of prominent non-governmental organizations. Discussion topics include foreign policy and global issues, and provide a candid view of how leaders from civil society engage the Department on pressing foreign policy issues.

If you missed it, please click here.

COUNTDOWN TO THE MDG SUMMIT: USAID’s Rajiv Shah: “We Need Results”

Posted by  on Wednesday, September 15th 2010     

As featured in Ministerial Leadership Initiative’s blog

Part two of the 8-part series In the Driver’s Seat: A Series on Country Ownership of Health Programs. Dr. Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 31, 2009. He spoke with John Donnelly earlier this month.

 


Q: What does country ownership mean?

A: I think it primarily means the country owning and defining the set of priorities in terms of what they want to accomplish in the health sector. It will vary country by country and vary based on disease, and it will vary on different country governments and their prioritization of health problems. It’s fundamentally about saying in the last decade that there’s been this huge growth in global health, with a lot of the work being done by NGOs, contract partners, and foundations that sometimes operate outside the dialogue and engagement with the host country. If we are going to achieve progress at a higher level, and ensure that countries sustain these achievements, then we need to make this whole system of donor-supported global health activities fit within a country’s own set of aspirations for global health. We’ve now seen a lot of different models for countries to express their priorities. The ones I prefer are inclusive of civil society and other groups within those countries.

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COUNTDOWN TO THE MDG SUMMIT: Global Investment in Malaria Prevention Could Save 3 Million Lives Over Next Five Years

Posted by  on Tuesday, September 14th 2010     

By Rear Adm. Tim Ziemer, U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator

This morning at the National Press Club, I joined the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) to launch the third report from the Progress & Impact Series “Saving Lives with Malaria Control: Counting Down to the Millennium Development Goals”.  The report states that the lives of almost three quarters of a million children in 34 African countries are estimated to have been saved in the past 10 years through the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying, and preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy.  The Lives Saved Tool (or LiST model) provides the first assessment of lives saved based on the level of coverage achieved with currently available malaria prevention tools. The report estimates that an additional 3 million lives could be saved by 2015 if the world continues to increase investment in tackling the disease.

Admiral Ziemer hands out a bednet at a distribution site. Photo Credit: USAID/Global Health

The results in global malaria prevention and control are encouraging, but, as we have seen before, this progress is fragile and can be easily reversed.  As we expand and consolidate these gains, it is vitally important to ensure that our efforts not only maintain momentum, but also continue to adapt to emerging challenges such as drug and insecticide resistance. That’s why a key imperative in the United States’ Strategy for meeting the MDGs is to leverage innovation as a powerful catalyst for development.

The U.S. Government’s commitment to fight malaria is a key component of our nation’s foreign assistance strategy and the Administration’s Global Health Initiative to expand the promise of good health that is the foundation of stronger and more stable families, communities, and societies.  On behalf of the American people, the U.S. Government has taken extraordinary steps to curb the spread of this preventable and curable disease.  Working with national governments and other donors, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), led by USAID and implemented together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reached more than 50 million people in the past year with highly effective malaria prevention or treatment measures in 15 focus countries in Africa.

This Week at USAID – August 16, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, August 16th 2010     

Administrator Shah will officially swear-in Alex Dickie to be the Mission Director-designate to Iraq and Mike Harvey to be the Mission Director-designate to West Bank Gaza.

Secretary Clinton gives a speech on the Global Health Initiative (GHI) at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.  The GHI is building on the Bush Administration’s successful record in global health, and taking these remarkable achievements to the next level by further accelerating progress and investing in sustainable health delivery systems.

This Week at USAID – August 2, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, August 2nd 2010     

Administrator Shah will join President Obama at the White House for a town hall during the Presidential Young African Leaders Forum.  As a global leader in empowering and engaging youth, USAID works to ensure that young people have access to skills and opportunities to be active and effective citizens who contribute to their country’s overall stability and development.

Ambassador Garvelink, Deputy Coordinator of Feed the Future, will speak at two sessions during the International Food Aid and Development Conference in Kansas City.  His keynote address will underscore the U.S. commitment to addressing global hunger and food security, highlighting the whole-of-government approach and goals of Feed the Future.

This Week at USAID – July 26, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, July 26th 2010     

Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Management Drew Luten will testify before the Commission on Wartime Contracting on Subcontracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Administrator Shah and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke will appear before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations for an oversight hearing on corruption in Afghanistan.

Chief Innovation Officer Maura O’Neill will participate in a briefing entitled: Innovation to Catalyze Development: Leveraging Research in Foreign Assistance, which is organized by the Global Health Technologies Coalition and the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.

Administrator Shah will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere about: The Crisis in Haiti: Are We Moving Fast Enough?  He will also brief the Congressional Black Caucus about efforts in Haiti.

Long-Term Investments to Bring Real-Life Improvements to People of Pakistan

Posted by  on Tuesday, July 20th 2010     

A summary map on the activities announced or underway in Pakistan.

During Dr. Raj Shah’s whirlwind two-day visit to Pakistan with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the ongoing Strategic Dialogue between the two countries, the U.S. announced more than $500 million in new development assistance for Pakistan. 

The new projects include the completion of two hydroelectric dams in South Waziristan and Gilgit-Baltistan that will supply more than 34 megawatts of additional power to 280,000 residents in those areas, the renovation and construction of three medical facilities, economic growth programs and seven projects to improve water distribution and efficiency in the country. Much of the assistance will be delivered by USAID.

The United States shares with Pakistan a vision of a future in which all people can live safe, healthy, and productive lives. Dr. Shah spoke with press about USAID’s role in Pakistan, saying that “Our commitment is broad and deep,” and one that encompasses programs ranging from health and energy to economic growth and agriculture. 

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This Week at USAID – July 19, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, July 19th 2010     

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah is in Afghanistan and Pakistan to meet with USAID mission personnel, visit USAID projects and attend the Pakistan Strategic Dialogue and the Kabul Conference with Secretary Clinton.  The Conference will reinforce the commitment of the Government of Afghanistan and the international community to work together to realize the goal of full Afghan ownership and responsibility for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.

Technical leaders from USAID’s office of HIV/AIDS are part of the U.S. delegation to the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.  Notably, results from a USAID-funded microbicides trial will be released at the conference on Tuesday.  The trial was conducted in South Africa in close partnership with the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), the CONRAD Program, and Family Health International.

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