Press Releases

September 23, 2014
New Fund Models a Venture Capital Approach to Solving Global Development Challenges

The United States, United Kingdom, Swedish, and Australian Governments, in partnership with Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, announced today the launch of a new $200 million Global Innovation Fund (GIF) headquartered in London at the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Countdown event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Speaking together, UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah outlined the ambitious global vision and scope of the new Fund, which will invest in social innovations that aim to improve the lives and opportunities of millions of people in the developing world. The Global Innovation Fund uses a venture capital-like approach to investing in a wide range of social innovations, drawing on the success of the industry to discover and support innovative ventures that have the potential to scale across the developing world.

September 22, 2014

Illegal rhino horn trade has reached the highest levels since the early 1990s, and illegal trade in ivory increased by nearly 300 percent from 1998 to 2011, according to a new report by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partner TRAFFIC. “This report provides critical insights into often violent and complex trade networks that will help countries target their law enforcement efforts. Wildlife trafficking not only endangers rhinos, elephants, and many other wildlife species, but also threatens national and international security as well as local livelihoods,” said Eric Postel, Assistant Administrator at USAID. 

September 19, 2014
L’USAID et la Fondation Rockefeller ont annoncé aujourd’hui la décision du Gouvernement suédois d’engager des fonds d’un montant de 50 millions de dollars pour le Partenariat mondial pour la résilience et le lancement du Global Resilience Challenge.

Washington, DC - L’Agence des Etats-Unis pour le développement international (USAID) et la Fondation Rockefeller ont annoncé aujourd’hui la décision du Gouvernement suédois d’engager des fonds d’un montant de 50 millions de dollars pour le Partenariat mondial pour la résilience et le lancement du Global Resilience Challenge (Défi mondial de la résilience) lors du Forum Frontiers in Development de l’USAID.

 

September 19, 2014

Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Rockefeller Foundation announced a $50 million commitment by the Swedish government to the Global Resilience Partnership and the launch of the Global Resilience Challenge at the USAID Frontiers in Development forum.

September 18, 2014

The City of Dakar announced today its plans to issue the first non-sovereign-backed municipal bond in all of Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa. The $41.8 million bond, backed by a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Development Credit Authority bond guarantee, will raise funds for the construction of a marketplace for more than 3,500 street vendors

September 18, 2014

Today, I thank the Senate for confirming Ambassador Al Lenhardt as Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. With a critical mission of ending extreme poverty and delivering life-saving American assistance to people in need all around the world, a key priority of mine is filling important vacancies across the Agency with exceptional individuals.

MDG Countdown 2014: Innovating for Impact: The MDGs and Beyond
September 17, 2014
MDG Countdown event to feature Muhammad Yunus, Rajiv Shah and Justine Greening

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK Department for International Development (DFID) are co-hosting “Innovating for Impact: The MDGs and Beyond” in partnership with the Governments of Australia and Sweden and the Omidyar Network. This MDG Countdown event will feature the announcement of a new Global Innovation Fund (GIF) to provide grants and risk capital to social enterprises, for-profit firms, non-profit organizations, researchers, and government agencies working on breakthrough solutions to global development challenges.

September 15, 2014
More than 40 Global Leaders Discuss Ending Extreme Poverty

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will hold the second Frontiers in Development forum at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. September 18-19, 2014. The two day event will engage a dynamic community of global thought leaders and development practitioners to address the question: How will we eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 and lay the groundwork for a broad coalition of partners committed to this goal?

September 9, 2014

The United States announced today that it will support the African Union’s (AU) urgent deployment of trained and equipped medical workers to West Africa—the single largest injection of critical personnel to the region—to help combat the Ebola outbreak. With this contribution of $10 million, the United States has spent more than $100 million responding to the Ebola outbreak. This funding complements USAID’s announcement last week of plans to make available up to $75 million in additional funding.

September 5, 2014
MEDIA ADVISORY

This trip has been postponed.

September 5, 2014

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Paige Alexander will travel to Belarus and Ukraine from September 8-13.

September 4, 2014

Today, at the Social Capital Markets conference (SOCAP), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced three public-private partnerships to catalyze private investment towards early-stage enterprises and foster financially sustainable enterprise incubation in developing countries. The U.S. Global Development Lab (Lab) is partnering with Village Capital, Shell Foundation, and Unitus Seed Fund to drastically scale-up these efforts and combined will leverage nearly $40 million with a $6.3 million investment made by the Lab.

September 1, 2014
17 innovations to increase water availability and efficiency receive up to $3 million in funding and acceleration support

Today at World Water Week in Stockholm, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Sweden’s development agency (Sida), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands (MFA-NL) announced 17 award nominees for their program, Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development. Overall, the program partners will provide $32 million in funding to game-changing innovations that can produce more food using less water.

August 28, 2014

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Bertram, an agriculture expert with nearly 30 years of experience at USAID, has been named Chief Scientist in the agency’s Bureau for Food Security. In this new position, Rob will serve as a key adviser on a range of technical and program issues to advance global food security and nutrition.  He will lead our evidence-based efforts to advance research, technology, and implementation in support of Feed the Future, President Obama’s global hunger and food security initiative.

August 27, 2014

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing an additional $5 million to help combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The announcement brings USAID’s commitment for the Ebola response to nearly $19.6 million since the outbreak was first reported in March 2014.

On August 24 a flight carrying more than 16 tons of medical & emergency supplies landed in Liberia.
August 25, 2014

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) airlifted more than 16 tons of medical supplies and emergency equipment to Monrovia, Liberia on August 24 as part of its ongoing efforts to combat the West Africa Ebola outbreak. The shipment came from USAID’s warehouse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and included 10,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE), two water treatment systems, two portable water tanks capable of storing 10,000 liters each, and 100 rolls of plastic sheeting, which can be used in the construction of Ebola treatment centers. The critical commodities will be distributed to affected areas throughout Liberia.

August 20, 2014

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) today announce 46 new research projects that advance the scientific and technical capacity of both the United States and partner countries in critical areas of development. The projects, spanning 23 countries, are funded through the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program, a joint initiative designed to foster collaborative global research. Through the competitively awarded program, USAID directly supports researchers in developing countries who work with U.S. government-funded researchers.

August 18, 2014

Today marks World Humanitarian Day, a day designated by the UN General Assembly to remember the 22 UN and relief agency staff who lost their lives in a bombing in Baghdad 11 years ago. Since its designation in 2008, August 19th has become an occasion to celebrate the commitment of relief workers and honor fallen aid workers who have mad

August 12, 2014

Today, the United States will provide approximately $180 million to help feed the people of South Sudan, who now face the worst food security situation in the world. This food aid includes a release from the Department of Agriculture’s Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust as well as funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide aid to those in need. Since the start of this crisis, the United States has provided the South Sudanese with more than $456 million in humanitarian aid.

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