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- 02/06/12: Remarks by Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator, US Agency for International Development - Beyond Victimhood: The Crucial Role of Marginalized Groups in Building Peace
- 02/02/12: Statement of Dr. Sarah E. Mendelson, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights - U.S. Policy toward Post-Election Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 01/20/12: Remarks by USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah at the Environment and Security Conference, Washington, DC
- 01/19/12: Remarks by USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC - U.S. Aid and Transparency for Global Development
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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks by Ambassador Randall L. Tobias
Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and USAID Administrator
"Our Common Cause"
Address before Interaction Board of Directors
September 11, 2006
Watergate Hotel, Williamsburg Room
Thank you, for the opportunity to spend a few minutes together this evening. I want to keep my remarks to a minimum so that we might have a little time to focus on any questions or comments you might have. But I do want to convey a couple of thoughts.
I want to begin by sharing a very small experience I had recently while re-entering the United States after the Lebanon pledging conference in Stockholm. This story is about how first impressions are generated. While waiting in the customs line at Dulles to be stamped back in, I read the following sign, "Please stand behind the line until the officer summons you to step forward." I thought to myself, "Isn't there a nicer and more welcoming way to say these things?" How about "until the officer invites you to step forward?"
Maybe it's a small thing, but the language we use there contributes to the formation of whatever impression that visitors from other nations have about the attitude of Americans toward the rest of the world. I began my last executive staff meeting at USAID telling this story and asking folks to keep this in mind as we travel and interact with others around the world. And I thought about this further in preparation for my discussion with you tonight. Because truly, it is the NGO community, together with our own field staff, who everyday are the face of America to the rest of the world. I believe your actions generate an enormously positive impression of United States in other countries.
And these interactions do not come without serious risk. You are out on the front lines. Outside of the green zones, away from the protected U.S. government motor pools, and on the ground before ceasefires are in place. The most recent example of this is in Lebanon. Within days of the outbreak of violence-a team effort, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN agencies, and the NGO community-began operating in southern Lebanon, providing much-needed medical treatment and evacuating the injured under dangerous conditions. In other crises and in hotspots, you are there because you believe so strongly that you are doing the right thing to help humanity. For all of that, I thank you.
A number of you have talked with me - some more than once - about the reform process we have under way. And many of you have told me, with your own examples, of the need for this reform. In fact, one of you told me recently that your own organization currently receives foreign assistance funding from 21 different places within the U.S. government. I can't imagine that results in a very strategic approach. And while it is my responsibility to lead this effort, let me assure you that I welcome your suggestions along the way. We need you. You are part of the one-two punch combination that we need to address poverty around the world and make our nation more secure. In mobilizing human assets on the ground, we can act faster together than the government can act alone.
But beyond this, we also need and want access to your technical expertise. Many of you have dedicated your lives to studying one area in depth and have witnessed first-hand the impact of programs on the ground. You have, for example, useful points-of-view on the merits of using one indicator over another to demonstrate impact. The field of development is so vast that the U.S. government would have to spend many more millions in personnel, research and development and training to even come close to replicating the breadth of knowledge found in the NGO community. We are seeking, and will continue to seek, the most effective ways of tapping into that expertise, while maintaining the appropriate role of those of us inside the U.S. government to establish and direct policy related to foreign assistance.
In closing, I would like to share with you a quotation from which I draw inspiration.
"I am certain it is a matter of common cause among us here that the continued impoverishment of millions of people throughout the world has become one of the great sources of global instability. Those who are deprived will inevitably act to demand a better life… The simple point we are trying to make is that the dire poverty of some is not an affliction which impacts only on those who are deprived. It reverberates across the globe and ineluctably impacts negatively on the whole of humanity, including those who live in conditions of comfort and plenty. The inescapable conclusion from all this must surely be that our interdependence, bringing us together into a common equation, across the oceans and the continents, demands that we all combine to launch a global offensive for development, prosperity and human survival."
While spoken well before the tragic events of 9-11, the 5th anniversary which we recognize today, these words spoken by Nelson Mandela in 1991 at the World Economic Forum I believe capture the very essence of the transformational diplomacy initiative launched by the Secretary. His conviction was that we should be supporting nations to help respond to the needs of their people and contribute productively to the international system, and that it is to our own peril not to do so.
I believe that this vision is our common cause. The U.S. government and NGO community together must use their comparative advantages to augment the sustainable impact of foreign assistance in combating poverty and making the world a safer place. I look forward in listening to your ideas, concerns and suggestions and we move forward toward achieving this goal together.
Thank you very much.
And now, I welcome your questions.
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