Speeches Shim
At USAID, our water investments under the Action Plan and the newly refreshed Global Water Strategy will enable crucial progress on access to water and sanitation services, as well as improved management of water resources, over the next five years.
So, this is a really important day getting to swear-in Dean Karlan as USAID’s new Chief Economist. From his earliest days, according to his mother, Dean demonstrated two traits critical for any development economist – an obsession with numbers, and a kind heart.
As you’ll hear from me and other leaders from USAID, we are taking these objectives seriously – with real targets, dedicated funding like our Centroamerica Locale initiative and a new Africa Localization Initiative, and new strategies for Acquisition and Assistance, risk appetite, and local capacity strengthening.
It's been a great pleasure – personal pleasure – and privilege of mine to get to work so closely with Secretary Vilsack on this whole range of issues that we will now touch upon as it relates to the developing world in this second panel. I want to thank not only Secretary Vilsack – who is an incredible partner, as you can imagine, but the discussion in the first panel didn't stray from the topic that we're grappling with here, which is what can be done in developing countries.
I want to also thank USAID’s very own Lindsey Doyle, without whom this event would not be happening. The announcements that you are going to be hearing from various leaders today, are directly the result of work that Lindsey and the team kicked off over the past year.
Joining me now from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, is USAID Administrator, former UN Ambassador, Samantha Power – with the President at the Global Climate Summit. Thank you so much Ambassador Power for being with us. President Biden coming to the Climate Summit after the U.S. and other industrialized nations were criticized by the rest of the world for causing climate change. The President outlining what the U.S. is doing. Are you concerned that if Republicans take control of Congress, this could be the last piece of climate change for this administration?
So grateful, Dominic, to you for your leadership and stitching together of all the various elements here, today. The partnership that you have demonstrated across decades, building crucial links between the public and private sectors to address some of our gravest challenges – from climate change to food security, and of course, inextricably linked now the two.
Well, it’s no secret here and it’s no secret around the world, how difficult times have been for the Lebanese people lately, especially with the electricity blackouts, the fuel prices, the food prices. I want to show solidarity, and to show up and say and show that America cares. I think we say it a lot, but I brought an additional commitment of about $72 million in humanitarian assistance, which I hope will help the Lebanese people, as well as some of the refugees who have been generously welcomed here.
Thank you, Aly, for that generous introduction, and for co-hosting this event with the Farm Journal Foundation. These two organizations share a belief in the power of agricultural innovation and research to fight global hunger – one we, of course, embrace at USAID.
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Last updated: November 07, 2022
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