Rajiv Shah
Dr. Rajiv Shah serves as the 16th Administrator of USAID and leads the efforts of more than 8,000 professionals in 80 missions around the world.
Since being sworn in on Dec. 31, 2009, Shah managed the U.S. Government's response to the devastating 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; co-chaired the State Department's first review of American diplomacy and development operations; and now spearheads President Barack Obama's landmark Feed the Future food security initiative. He is also leading “USAID Forward,” an extensive set of reforms to USAID's business model focusing on seven key areas, including procurement, science & technology, and monitoring & evaluation.
Before becoming USAID's Administrator, Shah served as undersecretary for research, education and economics, and as chief scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At USDA, he launched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which significantly elevated the status and funding of agricultural research.
Prior to joining the Obama administration, Shah served for seven years with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, including as director of agricultural development in the Global Development Program, and as director of strategic opportunities.
Originally from Detroit, Shah earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and his master's in health economics from the Wharton School of Business. He attended the London School of Economics and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Shah is married to Shivam Mallick Shah and is the father of three children. He lives in Washington, D.C.
But you know, the work we do in global development is at a really special and unique time. We've never had the chances that we have today to bring together the technologies, the innovations, the partnerships and the solutions that now exist to tackle extreme hunger, extreme poverty, the lack of health opportunity that exists for hundreds of millions of people around the world, and to do so in a manner that generates really specific results.
In that sense, the meeting that brought us to town, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, is just an absolutely outstanding example of, in my mind, the future of development policy and implementation. GAVI is an alliance that brings together private vaccine manufacturers, private philanthropists and corporate partners, governments from around the world to address a common goal – and that is the goal of making sure that every child everywhere has access to a basic package of life-saving vaccines.
Thank you for inviting me to deliver the keynote address at the Water for People Founders Award ceremony.
With the strong support of Secretary Clinton and the intellectual leadership of our friends in Congress and those here today, the President launched Feed the Future: an international effort aimed to break the cycle of food aid, famine and failed states in a select number of target countries. Thanks to strong bipartisan support from Congress, I'm proud to announce today, that in fiscal year 2011 our Administration intends to devote over $1.15 B on food security. The majority of that money-$950 M will be spent across all Feed the Future countries. An additional $90 M will be spent on strengthening our nutrition programming.
Male Speaker: Good afternoon and welcome to our Development Forum. Please take a moment to silence your blackberries and iPhones. Our program will begin shortly. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the stage the administrator of the USAID, Dr. Rajiv Shah accompanied by Susan Reichle and Dr. Esther Duflo. [applause]
[Remarks As Prepared]
Thank you all for being here today to launch the Economic Prosperity Initiative. I am pleased to be joined by the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Agriculture, U.S. Ambassador John Bass, and our USAID Acting Mission Director, Joakim Parker.
It's really wonderful to have you here at the National Press Club this morning for the first meeting in 2011 of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid. We are thrilled that you could all join us... This morning we are going to have the opportunity to talk with you about a number of the reform initiatives that are currently ongoing under Dr. Shah's initiative. We really hope that this will be more than anything a dialogue with you. And hopefully, some of the comments that are made will cause you to think about questions you have. And clarifications you hope to obtain in the course of the morning.
[Remarks As Prepared]
MS. FULTON: Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us for our special press briefing today. We have with us Mark Bartolini, who is the director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at USAID, and Reuben Brigety, who is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. They're going to talk to you today about the current ongoing humanitarian assistance efforts pertaining to Libya.
It is my pleasure to join you today at this respected university, which is such an important part of Sudan's intellectual community. This is my third visit to Ahfad University, and I am always impressed, inspired and humbled by the dedication, wisdom and imagination of the scholars and students I meet here.
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