USAID Archives - UN Dispatch

Map of Burkina Faso and its bordering countries, Mali and Niger, a hotbed of Islamic terrorist activity and small villages.

A New Study Shows How to Counter Violent Extremism Through “Social Cohesion”

The border region of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger is home to violent extremist groups eager to recruit young men to their ranks. To counter the lure of groups like the Islamic State, officials have experimented with programs and projects...

The USA is Closer Than Ever to Reforming its Inefficient Food Aid Program

Advocates for better food aid are hoping they’ll finally see long-awaited changes become law. Last week, Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) and Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) proposed companion bills that they say ease...

Why We Lie About Aid

A provocative new book examines the politics of the debate on foreign aid. Pablo Yanguas is a research fellow at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. He is the author of the new book “Why We Lie...

Episode 99: Raj Shah

Dr. Raj Shah served as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, from 2010 to 2015. He was just 36 years old when he was appointed to this cabinet-level position, and less than a week into...

Raj Shah’s Farewell Address

Outgoing USAID chief Raj Shah is set to give his final remarks reflecting on his tenure. What’s remarkable is the venue: the American Enterprise Institute (a neo-conservative hotbed); in an event co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress (a progressive...

With Obama’s Re-election, “Global Health Diplomacy” Will Get Its First Test

Done well, an office of Global Health Diplomacy could re-establish American leadership on global health and get middle-income countries to take health seriously as part of their path to prosperity. It’s not a rush of new money for vaccinations or HIV, true. But it’s an opportunity to do something totally new and important for global health.