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Contact: Tawana Jacobs, 202‐552‐6534 (Office), 202‐297‐1696 (Cell), tjacobs@interaction.org
Nasserie Carew, 202‐552‐6561 (Office), 202‐341‐3814 (Cell), ncarew@interaction.org
HISTORIC CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FACE USAID NOMINEE
STATEMENT FROM SAMUEL A. WORTHINGTON, INTERACTION PRESIDENT & CEO
Washington, DC (November 10, 2009)—“InterAction congratulates Dr. Rajiv Shah on his nomination to
lead the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). His nomination is definitely a step in the
right direction. The alliance of 187 InterAction member organizations looks forward to working with him
on the historic opportunities and challenges facing the U.S. on the humanitarian and global
development fronts.
Shah’s work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on
food security is very highly regarded. It is our hope that he will bring that same energy and management
expertise to an agency that desperately needs strong and vigorous leadership especially considering the
complexity of issues he’ll find in his in‐box.
We want to underscore, however, that Shah will face some immediate challenges as he prepares to take
on his leadership role at USAID. The Obama administration, in the absence of a USAID administrator, has
embarked on establishing major development policies that will have an impact on what Shah will be
able to influence and how he does his work. It is urgently important that he play a lead role in each of
the following processes:
The FY2011 budget process.
The Presidential Study Directive (PSD) on development, which is expected to be completed in
January 2010.
Establishing the framework and pillars of the U.S. State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy
and Development Review (QDDR).
Policies to guide U.S. development and humanitarian work in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The challenges are many, but USAID administrator‐nominee Shah has a historic opportunity to shape the
way U.S. foreign assistance is done for at least the next 50 years. Rep. Howard Berman (D‐CA) and other
congressional leaders are looking to the new administrator to help guide discussions around climate
change, food security, a rewrite of the outdated 1961 Foreign Assistance Act and countless other
issues.”
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Visit http://www.interaction.org/foreign‐assistance‐briefing‐book to read InterAction’s Foreign
Assistance Briefing Book Progress Reports, which examines the state of U.S. foreign assistance, one year
after the election of President Obama.
Visit http://www.interaction.org/sites/default/files/1/LETTERS/Memo_to_the_President‐
Historic_Opportunity.pdf to read a December 2008 memo to President‐elect Obama detailing the
development community’s preferred job qualifications for the USAID administrator‐nominee.
InterAction is the largest alliance US‐based nongovernmental international humanitarian relief and development
organizations with more than 180 members. Our members operate in every developing country, working with local
communities to overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life.