On August 13th, nearly 500 people gathered at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, WA to hear USAID Administrator Shah discuss the role of technology and innovation in development with a panel of leaders from the local development community. In Administrator Shah’s opening remarks he emphasized USAID’s commitment to evidence-based development strategies and the need for scalable and sustainable solutions. He was joined on the panel by Congressman Jim McDermott, Congressman Adam Smith, Dr. Akhtar Badshah of Microsoft, Dr. Christopher Elias of PATH, and Dr. Prema Arasu of Washington State University. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, moderated the discussion, which included questions submitted by audience members. Read more of Global Washington’s recap of the event here and see photos or watch the full event below.
Posts Tagged ‘USAID’
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah Speaks at a Global Washington Event
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
Watch Highlights from the MFAN-GHTC Event
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Last week, we gave a recap of our recent event with the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) on leveraging innovative research for development. Now, GHTC has posted a series of clips from the event on their YouTube channel. See below for MFAN Principal and President and CEO of the Global Health Council Jeff Sturchio’s opening remarks, and watch the rest of the event by clicking here:
MFAN Member Staats on Vacancies at USAID
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Last week, MFAN Member Sarah Jane Staats, director of policy outreach at the Center for Global Development, published an op-ed in the Global Post lamenting on the vacant leadership positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Staats argued that these top positions need to be filled in order for the agency to successfully implement internal reforms and move the overall foreign assistance reform agenda forward. Staats wrote:
“To date, only one official — USAID Administrator Raj Shah — has been confirmed. While Shah has skilled and capable leaders in his front office and throughout the agency, several of whom have been doing yeoman’s work in acting positions, it is unconscionable that all remaining management seats remain unfilled 18 months into this administration. Shah cannot captain the USAID ship without a crew.”
“USAID cannot be the premier development agency everyone envisions without appointed and confirmed leaders at the helm of its regional and functional bureaus. Nor can it elevate development across the U.S. government — as Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have called for — without a full cadre of assistant administrators to inform major development policy reviews taking place right now and congressional efforts to rewrite foreign assistance legislation.”
Josh Rogin later reported on The Cable that President Obama intends to nominate Nancy Lindborg — current President of Mercy Corps and MFAN Principal — to be Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Affairs Bureau, as well as nominate Donald K. Steinberg to be Deputy Administrator of USAID. The other names working their way through the nomination process are: Mark Feierstein to be Assistant Administrator of Latin America and Nisha Desai Biswal to be Assistant Administrator of Asia; both were approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. The Obama Administration is now batting 5 out of 12 for Senate-confirmed leadership positions at USAID.
MFAN Member Responds to President Obama’s MDG Plan
Friday, July 30th, 2010
Below is a guest blog post from MFAN member Porter McConnell, Policy Advisor for Oxfam America’s Aid Effectiveness team, on today’s release of the U.S. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) strategy:
President Obama is releasing the US’s MDG strategy today…but where’s the bigger plan?
The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Summit is coming up in September. World leaders will discuss how to end hunger, send kids to school, keep mothers and their babies healthy, stop HIV/AIDS from becoming a death sentence, and all kinds of other poverty-fighting goals.
It’s a tall order. So President Obama asked USAID to produce a plan for doing the US share to meet the MDGs. Today, the White House releases that MDG action plan.
A plan to fight the MDGs is a great stepping stone in fighting global poverty, but it’s not the whole story. If the US is committed to fighting global poverty, President Obama needs to deliver a global development strategy at the upcoming MDG Summit.
I’m happy to report that the MDG action plan mentions a new “development policy” coming out soon. Why is it so important that the US come up with a plan to fight poverty? Until the US has some kind of mission statement, all of these piecemeal reform efforts are like a ship without a compass. Why bother investing in “game changing innovations” if we don’t know what destination we’re trying to get to? Which innovations? To do what? How do we know when we’ve succeeded?
The good news is the White House may already have its mission. In a document leaked this spring, here’s what they had to say:
“Helping to create a world with more prosperous and democratic states, able to meet the needs of their people and to be our partners in addressing common threats, challenges and opportunities.”
I think that’s a pretty great mission. Why not make it official?
And while you’re at it, tell us how you intend to get there. On the campaign trail, you committed to “Elevate, streamline, and empower a 21st Century US development agency.” I can’t think of a better way to put global poverty front and center!
And finally, show us how the US can make a truly lasting impact, and put ourselves out of the aid business. Borrowing a line from your own playbook, in the leaked document this spring:
“The US will respond directly to country priorities, making new investments in line with established national strategies and country development plans. Where our partners set in place systems that reflect high standards of transparency and accountability, the US will empower responsible governments to drive development and sustain outcomes by working through national institutions rather than around them.”
President Obama, thanks for the MDG action plan. Looking forward to seeing that global development strategy at the MDG Summit in September!
130+ Businesses, NGOs, Think Tanks, and Individuals Sign MFAN’s Open Letter
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
With the deadline fast approaching, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) is happy to report that over 130 organizations and individuals have endorsed the Open Letter to the President on the U.S. Commitment to Global Development. We look forward to sharing the Open Letter with the community in the coming days.
Just to name a few of the signatories:
Alliance to End Hunger
Better World Campaign
Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty
Devex
International Housing Coalition
NIKE
ONE
Truman National Security Project
You can still sign the Open Letter on our website or take a few steps listed below to help us spread the word on this important call to action:
- Circulate the Open Letter
- Download a badge for your Facebook, MySpace, or other profile to show you support more effective foreign aid and get your network to sign the letter
- Tweet: “I signed a letter urging Pres Obama to increase U.S. foreign aid’s impact. YOUR TURN!http://bit.ly/12FBms #ReformWithinReach”
