Recent news
January 2011
USAID Administrator Shah outlines agency’s plans to modernize foreign aid, harness science and innovation
January 20, 2011 -- Rajiv Shah, administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), recently gave a speech at the Center for Global Development in which he outlined how the agency will modernize and reform its approach to international development. Among other principles, Shah said that USAID is leveraging a “spirit of innovation, science, technology, and strategic thinking” to issues such as education, water, climate, and health. He added that under the Global Health Initiative, USAID is working with partners such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to “build on recent advances in science and technology, especially in high return areas such as vaccinating children, preventing HIV, malaria and TB, and focusing on childhood nutrition during pregnancy and the first two years of life.”
In reaction to Shah’s speech, David Cook—executive vice president and chief operating officer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)—writes in a Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network blog post that the United States has “long held an advantage in science and technology, and its biotechnology industry is driving innovation to make lifesaving products … to protect hundreds of millions of people around the world.” He adds, “Health innovations that emerge from R&D also yield cost savings and economic improvements,” and help put “people to work across the US at research centers, academic institutions, and biotech companies.” Global health research can also “strengthen scientific and technological skills and infrastructure in developing countries, which can contribute to creating more vibrant economies,” Cook writes. He concludes, “As researchers in the US and around the world are poised to build on this recent momentum, lawmakers looking to find common ground on how to spur the economy both in the US and in the developing world have a great place to start in global health R&D. As Dr. Shah noted today, US foreign assistance is not just USAID’s tag line of ‘from the American people’ but also ‘for the American people’ in part because US assistance helps develop the ‘markets of the future.’” See the links below for more details.
- Shah speech transcript
- Shah speech webcast
- Cook blog post
- Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network statement following Shah’s speech
