Following is the text of a joint statement by AusAID Director General Peter Baxter and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Agency for International Development and the Australian Agency for International Development on June 10, 2010.

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have formed a strategic partnership on international development that will see us working together to reduce poverty in developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

This new partnership reflects our shared commitment to increasing stability and prosperity in the developing world.

It builds on the strong and enduring relationship that exists between the United States and Australia in the areas of foreign policy, defense and international security, and trade and investment.

We have agreed on four priorities for initial cooperation:

• cooperation on stabilization, reconstruction and development in Afghanistan, including in the province of Uruzgan;
• agricultural research and innovation to improve food security, with particular attention to opportunities for joint work in sub-Saharan Africa;
• climate change and natural resource management, with particular attention to opportunities for joint work in Indonesia; and
• maternal and child health and family planning, with particular attention to opportunities for joint work in the Asia-Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa.

We will give particular emphasis to harnessing research and innovation for development, especially in the fields of food security and health. In the Pacific, we will work together within the framework of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination.

By working together we will extend the impact and increase the efficiency of our aid efforts to achieve better outcomes.

For more information about USAID's programs, please visit: usaid.gov.

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