Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, British Ambassador to The United States Sir Peter Westmacott, Samantha Power, Special Assistant to the President for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights and other notable leaders to announce unique partnership for citizen engagement

Washington, D.C. - On December 5, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will host a unique event with leaders from across government, civil-society, and the technology sector to unveil Making All Voices Count (MAVC): A Grand Challenge for Development - a unique multi-donor partnership to support innovative solutions using web and mobile technology to grow the global movement for open government, transparency and accountability.  MAVC is a $45 million public-private partnership with the United Kingdom’s Department of International Development, the Government of Sweden, and Omidyar Network.  Making All Voices Count is inspired by the Open Government partnership, a global open government movement focused on elevating government performance, helping new democracies provide to their citizens, and promoting inclusive development.  MAVC will work in new democracies, primarily in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia to develop new pathways for citizens to provide robust feedback on how government is performing, and governments to respond to that feedback to ensure that political and economic progress reaches all citizens.  The Grand Challenge will begin accepting proposals in Spring 2013 for new applications in science and technology.

The launch of the Grand Challenge will be hosted by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at a high-level forum that will feature former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, British Ambassador to the United States Sir Peter Westmacott, “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf, among others.

Members of the press are invited to attend.  Details of the program are below including rsvp instructions.  Follow along on Twitter by following @USAID and @AllVoicesCount with #AllVoicesCount