USAID at UNGA 2013: Day Two

This year’s United Nations General Assembly focuses on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and inclusive development goals for persons with disabilities. 

UNGA Day Two: September 24, 2013

Highlight:

President Obama delivered an address to the United National General Assembly. A number of outlets are reporting on the President’s announcement of an additional $339 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria.

Announcements:

• President Obama announced $339 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria during his address to the United National General Assembly. This new announcement brings the total U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people to nearly $1.4 billion since the crisis began.
  • White House Fact Sheet: U.S. Humanitarian Assistance in Response to the Syrian Crisis
  • White House Fact Sheet: Additional Humanitarian Assistance for Lebanese Host Communities and Refugees from Syria
  • USAID Fact Sheet on Response to Syria

• As a part of the Better than Cash Alliance anniversary event, USAID announced that it is on a path to incorporating language into all grants and contracts to accelerate the use of electronic and mobile payments into its programs across the world.

Recap of Tuesday’s Events:

• Yesterday afternoon Administrator Shah and DFID’s Justine Greening hosted the “MDG Countdown 2013 – Women & Girls” event. The event highlighted the progress made against the MDGs and focused on the work needing to be done over the next 828 days. The event included Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, Geena Davis, actress and UN Special Envoy for Women and Girls in the field of Technology and was moderated by NY Times reporter Nicholas Kristof.

  • Read more: Girls and Women Transforming Societies, blog by Alex Thier
  • Learn more: Storify of the MDG Countdown Event
  • Learn more: USAID’s MDG Website
  • Watch: MDG Countdown 2013 Video (below)

• The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) celebrated its one year anniversary with guest speakers Bill Gates and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. As a founding member, USAID made the commitment to begin the internal reform to move the agency from cash to electronic payments. Yesterday, USAID announced that it is on a path to incorporating language into all grants and contracts to accelerate the use of electronic and mobile payments into its programs across the world and encouraged other BTCA members and people working in the financial inclusion sector to make similar commitments.

  • Read more: USAID, Founding Member of the Better than Cash Alliance, Pledges Deep Commitment on One Year Anniversary, blog by Administrator Shah
  • Read more: Coordinating Counts: Fostering Mobile Money in Malawi, blog by Chris Chibwana

Happening Today:

• 12:00 pm – Administrator Shah will speak at the Education Finance and Delivery Event. Watch live: http://webtv.un.org/

• 3:00 pm – Administrator Shah will speak at the Responsible Investments in Myanmar Event. Watch live: http://asiasociety.org/new-york/live

Learn more about this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and its focus on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and inclusive development goals for persons with disabilities.

Follow @USAID and @RajShah for ongoing updates during the week and join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtags #UNGA and #UNGA2013.