2012 Annual Letter by Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator
Download the PDF version of the 2012 Annual Letter
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
USAID Mission Priorities & Programs
Mission Priorities & Programs
Potential partners interested in working with USAID at the individual country level or on a regional basis are encouraged to review Mission-specific programs, activities and priorities and to contact the USAID Mission in that country or region. To facilitate this process, we have provided the following resources where available:
Mission Website;
Regional or Country Strategy;
Funding allocations as reported in the Congressional Budget Justification; and
Primary GDA or partnership contact(s) at the Mission.
Potential partners interested in working with USAID at the individual country level or on a regional basis are encouraged to review Mission-specific programs, activities and priorities and to contact the USAID Mission in that country or region. To facilitate this process, we have provided the following resources where available:
Mission Website;
Regional or Country Strategy;
Funding allocations as reported in the Congressional Budget Justification; and
Primary GDA or partnership contact(s) at the Mission.
Webcast: The President's Budget Proposal & Global Health
Webcast: The President's Budget Proposal & Global Health
This February 21 webcast features an expert panel discussing the President's FY 2013 budget proposal & potential implications for global health.
This February 21 webcast features an expert panel discussing the President's FY 2013 budget proposal & potential implications for global health.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
U.S. Investments in Global Nutrition
This week, USAID Administrator Raj Shah and other leaders will participate in several events during the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Two of these events focused on the international Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, which promotes country-led efforts in nutrition among leaders of national governments and development partners. Through Feed the Future and the Global Health Initiative, the United States Government is supporting SUN by addressing the root causes of global undernutrition and improving the potential of millions of people.
•Learn more about U.S. investments in global nutrition [PDF, 133KB].
•Read the USAID IMPACTblog post, Scaling Up Nutrition: Supporting country-led efforts to promote healthier lives, by Paul Weisenfeld, head of USAID's Bureau for Food Security.
•Watch the video Women and Agriculture: Behind the Scenes from Feed The Future at the UN General Assembly.
•Learn more about U.S. investments in global nutrition [PDF, 133KB].
•Read the USAID IMPACTblog post, Scaling Up Nutrition: Supporting country-led efforts to promote healthier lives, by Paul Weisenfeld, head of USAID's Bureau for Food Security.
•Watch the video Women and Agriculture: Behind the Scenes from Feed The Future at the UN General Assembly.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Bellagio Initiative
The Future of Philanthropy and Development in the Pursuit of Human Wellbeing
Your ideas
The Bellagio Initiative wants to engage the maximum numbers of people with an interest in and knowledge of philanthropy and international development in the Bellagio debate. There are two ways in which to contribute.
•Submissions
Find out more about contributing papers, think pieces and comment to the Bellagio debate.
•Innovations
Find out more about contributing your practical new ideas in philanthropy and international development to the Bellagio debate.
Your ideas
The Bellagio Initiative wants to engage the maximum numbers of people with an interest in and knowledge of philanthropy and international development in the Bellagio debate. There are two ways in which to contribute.
•Submissions
Find out more about contributing papers, think pieces and comment to the Bellagio debate.
•Innovations
Find out more about contributing your practical new ideas in philanthropy and international development to the Bellagio debate.
Gates Foundation Nutrition Strategy Overview
Gates Foundation Nutrition Strategy Overview LINK
In developing countries, undernutrition leads to increased risk of mortality due
to infections such as diarrhea and pneumonia and is the underlying cause of onethird
of all deaths in children under 5 years of age. Among surviving children,
approximately one-third suffer from stunting, which is associated with poor
school performance and subsequent low economic productivity.1 Undernourished
women are at a greater risk of dying from pregnancy complications compared
to well-nourished women and have a higher risk of delivering low birth weight
babies. Their children are at higher risk later in life of physical and cognitive
impairments and nutrition-related chronic diseases.2 Data indicate that the
overwhelming majority of people who are undernourished live in South Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa, where 10 countries account for two-thirds of all stunted
children worldwide.
A set of key proven interventions exist, that if implemented at sufficient scale,
could reduce the burden of undernutrition and associated maternal and child
death and disability by one-quarter.3 These interventions include promotion of
optimal breastfeeding practices; age-appropriate complementary feeding that is
adequate in quantity and quality from 6-24 months; and interventions to ensure
sufficient intakes of key vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, zinc, iron, folic
acid, and iodine in the diet. Some of these have been successfully implemented,
with the global coverage of vitamin A supplementation rising from 16 to 79
percent between 1999 and 2009,4 and the global coverage of iodized salt reaching
71 percent in 2009.5
In developing countries, undernutrition leads to increased risk of mortality due
to infections such as diarrhea and pneumonia and is the underlying cause of onethird
of all deaths in children under 5 years of age. Among surviving children,
approximately one-third suffer from stunting, which is associated with poor
school performance and subsequent low economic productivity.1 Undernourished
women are at a greater risk of dying from pregnancy complications compared
to well-nourished women and have a higher risk of delivering low birth weight
babies. Their children are at higher risk later in life of physical and cognitive
impairments and nutrition-related chronic diseases.2 Data indicate that the
overwhelming majority of people who are undernourished live in South Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa, where 10 countries account for two-thirds of all stunted
children worldwide.
A set of key proven interventions exist, that if implemented at sufficient scale,
could reduce the burden of undernutrition and associated maternal and child
death and disability by one-quarter.3 These interventions include promotion of
optimal breastfeeding practices; age-appropriate complementary feeding that is
adequate in quantity and quality from 6-24 months; and interventions to ensure
sufficient intakes of key vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, zinc, iron, folic
acid, and iodine in the diet. Some of these have been successfully implemented,
with the global coverage of vitamin A supplementation rising from 16 to 79
percent between 1999 and 2009,4 and the global coverage of iodized salt reaching
71 percent in 2009.5
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Global Fund verdict could be devastating for the fight against Aids
Sarah Boseley's Global Health Blog LINK to Article
UK Gaurdian
9/20/11
A report from an independent high-level panel finds major flaws in the governance and oversight of the Global Fund in spite of its good work - which could give donors the excuse they want to cut its funding
The Global Fund must "change or wither". That is the devastating verdict of a very intelligent report by the high-level independent review LINK team brought in following a major crisis of confidence in the Fund, which channels money into developing country programmes for Aids, TB and malaria. Stories emerged at the end of last year of fraud and corruption among countries taking Global Fund money. In January, Germany suspended its payments and there was talk of other donor nations turning away.
UK Gaurdian
9/20/11
A report from an independent high-level panel finds major flaws in the governance and oversight of the Global Fund in spite of its good work - which could give donors the excuse they want to cut its funding
The Global Fund must "change or wither". That is the devastating verdict of a very intelligent report by the high-level independent review LINK team brought in following a major crisis of confidence in the Fund, which channels money into developing country programmes for Aids, TB and malaria. Stories emerged at the end of last year of fraud and corruption among countries taking Global Fund money. In January, Germany suspended its payments and there was talk of other donor nations turning away.
Monday, September 19, 2011
MFAN-From Policy to Practice
LINK to Document
At less than one percent of the federal budget, U.S. development programs save and improve millions of lives that would otherwise be lost or mired in poverty. We support these programs not only because it is right, but because it is in our vital national interest.
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have taken important steps toward reforming U.S. development policy and practice, and still more work needs to be done.
Ultimately, the full promise of this Administration’s emphasis on more effective development rests with its ability to partner with Congress to enact durable, bipartisan legislation that reflects current challenges and cuts through the layers of burdensome red tape that have made assistance efforts too slow and too bureaucratic. In doing this, the Administration and Congress must focus on the following:
•Maximizing efficiencies by eliminating wasteful regulations, better coordinating and leveraging work with partners, and demanding clear results through better evaluation;
•Increasing accountability to U.S. taxpayers as well as people in developing countries;
•Codifying a shared Executive-Legislative vision for the U.S. approach to development built around sound strategic planning, greater transparency, accountability for results, and the flexibility to spend resources according to needs and opportunities on the ground;
•Ensuring assistance is responsive to local priorities and supportive of local policy reforms that will lead to sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty;
•Recognizing and institutionalizing the distinctiveness between diplomacy and development so that short-term humanitarian and political goals and long-term development goals are complementary and work together to achieve U.S. objectives; and
•Empowering and strengthening USAID as a 21st-Century development agency.
At less than one percent of the federal budget, U.S. development programs save and improve millions of lives that would otherwise be lost or mired in poverty. We support these programs not only because it is right, but because it is in our vital national interest.
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have taken important steps toward reforming U.S. development policy and practice, and still more work needs to be done.
Ultimately, the full promise of this Administration’s emphasis on more effective development rests with its ability to partner with Congress to enact durable, bipartisan legislation that reflects current challenges and cuts through the layers of burdensome red tape that have made assistance efforts too slow and too bureaucratic. In doing this, the Administration and Congress must focus on the following:
•Maximizing efficiencies by eliminating wasteful regulations, better coordinating and leveraging work with partners, and demanding clear results through better evaluation;
•Increasing accountability to U.S. taxpayers as well as people in developing countries;
•Codifying a shared Executive-Legislative vision for the U.S. approach to development built around sound strategic planning, greater transparency, accountability for results, and the flexibility to spend resources according to needs and opportunities on the ground;
•Ensuring assistance is responsive to local priorities and supportive of local policy reforms that will lead to sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty;
•Recognizing and institutionalizing the distinctiveness between diplomacy and development so that short-term humanitarian and political goals and long-term development goals are complementary and work together to achieve U.S. objectives; and
•Empowering and strengthening USAID as a 21st-Century development agency.
USAID Policy Framework 2011-2015
Rajiv Shah Statement to USAID-
On the eve of the first anniversary of the President's Policy Directive on Global Development, I am pleased to announce the release of the USAID Policy Framework 2011-2015 LINK. This document is the first in what will become a regular strategic exercise every four years, reflecting the hard work our Agency has engaged in to become a policy and thought leader in development. The President's Directive recognized the importance of international development to our nation's security and called on the U.S. Government to strengthen our capabilities to deliver effective development assistance. In particular, the President made clear his vision for strengthening USAID in order to establish it as the world's leading development Agency. Secretary of State Clinton has also strongly echoed this vision, articulating a path toward strong partnership in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. I am proud of the steps that we have taken as an Agency to reflect on, strengthen and deliver real results towards this vision. Drawing on extensive consultation with colleagues in Washington and in our field missions, this document provides our staff and partners worldwide with a clear sense of our core development priorities; translates the President's Directive and the Secretary's Review into more detailed operational principles; explains how we will apply these principles across our entire portfolio; and lays out our agenda for institutional reform—USAID Forward—that is preparing the Agency to respond to the development challenges of the coming decades.
Promote Global Health and Strong Health Systems:
From Treating Diseases To Treating People
Reduce Climate Change Impacts and Promote Low Emissions Growth:
Building Resilience On Multiple Fronts
--Through Feed the Future (FtF), assist 18 million vulnerable women, children, and family members over the next five years to escape hunger and poverty by significantly increasing their purchasing power
--Lift 7.5 million people out of extreme poverty (defined as those living on less than $1.25 a day)
--In conjunction with the Global Health Initiative (GHI), help seven million children through nutrition interventions that prevent stunting and child mortality
--Generate $2.8 billion in agricultural GDP in our focus countries through investments in research and technology
--Leverage up to $70 million in private investment to create sustainable market opportunities
--Help developing countries increase their exports; for each dollar we spend on trade capacity-building, exports can increase by $43 over a two-year period
--Reduce the cost of doing business for the private sector in developing countries; for every dollar we spend on programs to improve the business-enabling environment, private sector firms’ costs of complying with regulation can be reduced by $29 per year, which helps stimulate entrepreneurship and private sector led growth
--Improve reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades by 2015 and improve the ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to generate workforce skills
--Through Partnerships for Growth (PFG), reduce the growth-inhibiting effect of key constraints to broad-based economic growth beginning in a small number of countries with high growth potential
--Extend credit guarantees to mobilize private sector financing through the Development Credit Authority
(DCA); for every dollar of loan guarantees made through the DCA, we can mobilize $28 of private capital
--Use our microenterprise programs to empower the poor; our programs have benefited close to one million very poor people per year, a majority of whom are women and over three-quarters of whom live in rural areas
--Reduce maternal mortality by 30 percent, reduce under-five child mortality by 35 percent across assisted countries, and prevent 54 million unintended pregnancies; reduce child mortality through investments in water, sanitation, and health (WASH)
--Halve the burden of malaria for 70 percent of the at-risk population in Africa through the President’s Malaria
Initiative (PMI)
--Support the prevention of more than 12 million new HIV infections, provide direct support to more than four million people on treatment, and support care for more than 12 million people, including five million orphans and children through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
--Contribute to the treatment of a minimum of 2.6 million new sputum smear-positive turberculosis (TB) cases and 57,200 multidrug-resistant cases of TB; contribute to a 50 percent reduction in TB deaths and disease burden relative to the 1990 baseline
--Reduce the prevalence of seven neglected tropical diseases, contributing to the elimination of onchocerciasis in Latin America, and the elimination of lymphatic filariasis and leprosy, globally
On the eve of the first anniversary of the President's Policy Directive on Global Development, I am pleased to announce the release of the USAID Policy Framework 2011-2015 LINK. This document is the first in what will become a regular strategic exercise every four years, reflecting the hard work our Agency has engaged in to become a policy and thought leader in development. The President's Directive recognized the importance of international development to our nation's security and called on the U.S. Government to strengthen our capabilities to deliver effective development assistance. In particular, the President made clear his vision for strengthening USAID in order to establish it as the world's leading development Agency. Secretary of State Clinton has also strongly echoed this vision, articulating a path toward strong partnership in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. I am proud of the steps that we have taken as an Agency to reflect on, strengthen and deliver real results towards this vision. Drawing on extensive consultation with colleagues in Washington and in our field missions, this document provides our staff and partners worldwide with a clear sense of our core development priorities; translates the President's Directive and the Secretary's Review into more detailed operational principles; explains how we will apply these principles across our entire portfolio; and lays out our agenda for institutional reform—USAID Forward—that is preparing the Agency to respond to the development challenges of the coming decades.
Promote Global Health and Strong Health Systems:
From Treating Diseases To Treating People
Reduce Climate Change Impacts and Promote Low Emissions Growth:
Building Resilience On Multiple Fronts
--Through Feed the Future (FtF), assist 18 million vulnerable women, children, and family members over the next five years to escape hunger and poverty by significantly increasing their purchasing power
--Lift 7.5 million people out of extreme poverty (defined as those living on less than $1.25 a day)
--In conjunction with the Global Health Initiative (GHI), help seven million children through nutrition interventions that prevent stunting and child mortality
--Generate $2.8 billion in agricultural GDP in our focus countries through investments in research and technology
--Leverage up to $70 million in private investment to create sustainable market opportunities
--Help developing countries increase their exports; for each dollar we spend on trade capacity-building, exports can increase by $43 over a two-year period
--Reduce the cost of doing business for the private sector in developing countries; for every dollar we spend on programs to improve the business-enabling environment, private sector firms’ costs of complying with regulation can be reduced by $29 per year, which helps stimulate entrepreneurship and private sector led growth
--Improve reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades by 2015 and improve the ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to generate workforce skills
--Through Partnerships for Growth (PFG), reduce the growth-inhibiting effect of key constraints to broad-based economic growth beginning in a small number of countries with high growth potential
--Extend credit guarantees to mobilize private sector financing through the Development Credit Authority
(DCA); for every dollar of loan guarantees made through the DCA, we can mobilize $28 of private capital
--Use our microenterprise programs to empower the poor; our programs have benefited close to one million very poor people per year, a majority of whom are women and over three-quarters of whom live in rural areas
--Reduce maternal mortality by 30 percent, reduce under-five child mortality by 35 percent across assisted countries, and prevent 54 million unintended pregnancies; reduce child mortality through investments in water, sanitation, and health (WASH)
--Halve the burden of malaria for 70 percent of the at-risk population in Africa through the President’s Malaria
Initiative (PMI)
--Support the prevention of more than 12 million new HIV infections, provide direct support to more than four million people on treatment, and support care for more than 12 million people, including five million orphans and children through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
--Contribute to the treatment of a minimum of 2.6 million new sputum smear-positive turberculosis (TB) cases and 57,200 multidrug-resistant cases of TB; contribute to a 50 percent reduction in TB deaths and disease burden relative to the 1990 baseline
--Reduce the prevalence of seven neglected tropical diseases, contributing to the elimination of onchocerciasis in Latin America, and the elimination of lymphatic filariasis and leprosy, globally
Friday, September 9, 2011
Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Guidance
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
The President has defined our fiscal challenge as demonstrating that we can live within our means so that we can invest in job creation and economic growth now and in the long term. In April, he proposed a balanced framework for $4 trillion in deficit reduction that would put us on path to achieve fiscal sustainability by the middle of this decade. Over the summer, in negotiations with the Congress, the President pursued deficit reduction of this magnitude. Once it was clear a bipartisan agreement could not yet be reached, the President signed into law a down payment toward this goal: the Budget Control Act of 20 11. This legislation set ceilings on total discretionary spending and a target of $2.4 trillion in total deficit reduction over the next decade.
The President has defined our fiscal challenge as demonstrating that we can live within our means so that we can invest in job creation and economic growth now and in the long term. In April, he proposed a balanced framework for $4 trillion in deficit reduction that would put us on path to achieve fiscal sustainability by the middle of this decade. Over the summer, in negotiations with the Congress, the President pursued deficit reduction of this magnitude. Once it was clear a bipartisan agreement could not yet be reached, the President signed into law a down payment toward this goal: the Budget Control Act of 20 11. This legislation set ceilings on total discretionary spending and a target of $2.4 trillion in total deficit reduction over the next decade.
Foreign Assistance Reform
Discussion Draft: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS ACT OF 2011
Proposed by Ranking Member Howard L. Berman
Overview:
Today, more than ever, our health, security, and prosperity depend on a world in which basic human needs are met, fundamental freedoms are respected, conflicts are resolved peacefully and the world's resources are used wisely. There is no escaping our obligations to help foster this environment. Not only are we morally bound to do so, but our economic and political interests demand that we address widespread poverty and chaos in the world.
Aid is not a gift. The United States provides foreign assistance because it serves OUR interests. Helping countries become more democratic, more stable, more capable of defending themselves and better at pulling themselves out of poverty is just as important for us as it is for them. Our task therefore, is to make sure that we provide this assistance in the most efficient and effective way possible.
The Global Partnerships Act of 2011 is a discussion draft of a bill to replace the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which serves as the foundation for U.S. international aid programs, as well as the Arms Export Control Act, which contains additional authorities for arms sales and military assistance. This proposal modernizes the full spectrum of foreign assistance programs, from development to democracy to self-defense.
Proposed by Ranking Member Howard L. Berman
Overview:
Today, more than ever, our health, security, and prosperity depend on a world in which basic human needs are met, fundamental freedoms are respected, conflicts are resolved peacefully and the world's resources are used wisely. There is no escaping our obligations to help foster this environment. Not only are we morally bound to do so, but our economic and political interests demand that we address widespread poverty and chaos in the world.
Aid is not a gift. The United States provides foreign assistance because it serves OUR interests. Helping countries become more democratic, more stable, more capable of defending themselves and better at pulling themselves out of poverty is just as important for us as it is for them. Our task therefore, is to make sure that we provide this assistance in the most efficient and effective way possible.
The Global Partnerships Act of 2011 is a discussion draft of a bill to replace the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which serves as the foundation for U.S. international aid programs, as well as the Arms Export Control Act, which contains additional authorities for arms sales and military assistance. This proposal modernizes the full spectrum of foreign assistance programs, from development to democracy to self-defense.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
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