The Launch of Making All Voices Count—a new Grand Challenge for Development—featured USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, Special Assistant to the President Samantha Power, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and more

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched Making All Voices Count: A Grand Challenge for Development, a unique multi-donor partnership to support innovative, next-generation solutions that use web and mobile technology to grow the global movement for open government, transparency and accountability.

This $45 million partnership with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Government of Sweden, and Omidyar Network will support innovation, scaling-up and research that will enable better citizen engagement with governments and help governments deliver to their citizens.

At the launch of this Grand Challenge for Development, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said, “We know that every day, solvable development problems go unsolved because of weak or broken links between governments and their citizens. We are launching this Grand Challenge for Development to harness new technologies to help new and emerging democracies, promote transparency, empower citizens, and fight corruption.” 

Making All Voices Count is inspired by the Open Government Partnership – a global open government movement focused on improving government performance, helping new democracies deliver to their citizens, and promoting inclusive development and growth.

New applications of science and technology for Making All Voices Count will open in Spring 2013 to enhance efforts between governments and citizens which will amplify the voices of citizens, empowering them to bring about change, and will enable governments to open up and become more transparent and accountable to their citizens.

The Making All Voices Count launch event featured USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; Samantha Power, Special Assistant to the President for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights; Sir Peter Westmacott, British Ambassador to the United States; Charlotte Petri-Gonitzka, Director-General, Sida; and Stephen King, Omidyar Network.

For more information, visit http://makingallvoicescount.org  and follow #AllVoicesCount on Twitter.