Innovate. Partner. Go Global.

USAID/India’s 2020-2024 CDCS Goal is "India Accelerates its Own Inclusive Development and Fosters Enhanced Regional Connectivity." This goal statement is purposefully divided into two parts - "Inclusive Development" and "Regional Connectivity" - given the bifurcated nature of the proposed strategy and results framework, which will both have an internal India focus and an external regional focus.

USAID/India has invested heavily in poverty reduction, health, and education for more than 20 years, yielding innovations and sustainable partnerships, and gaining Government of India (GOI) support to adopt best practices and scale them up to the general population. Nevertheless, development gaps continue to persist and USAID/India perceives them as a problem of inclusiveness. If marginalized groups are included in development efforts, preventable child and maternal deaths will decrease, the basic literacy rate will improve for all, pollution-related mortality for all groups will decrease, multidimensional poverty will decrease, and the most impoverished in India will start to catch up to the development of the rest of the population.

USAID also believes that regional connectivity will improve the self-reliance of India and other countries in South Asia as well as globally. Increased regional trade and a reliable energy supply will bolster regional economic growth, as will improved cross-border management of natural resources and climate risks vital to domestic economic development.