U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green will travel to the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from March 22 - 30, 2019.  Assistant Administrator for the Middle East Bureau Michael Harvey and Acting Assistant Administrator for Legislative and Public Affairs Eddy Acevedo will accompany the Administrator.  The delegation will visit USAID projects, and meet with senior government officials and local community members to strengthen bilateral relationships.

Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is activating a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to Mozambique to lead the U.S. Government's response to Cyclone Idai, which has caused catastrophic flooding, killed hundreds of people, and affected hundreds of thousands of others in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

 
Today, United States Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green and the Brazilian Secretary of the Office of International Relations within the Ministry of the Environment, Roberto Castelo Branco, signed a Letter of Intent to work toward the launch of the first-ever biodiversity-focused impact-investment fund for the Brazilian Amazon. The fund, to be financed largely by the private sector, is intended to leverage $100 million in investments in hard-to-reach, high-risk sectors to spur successful businesses that align with forest and biodiversity conservation.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green met with the Honorable David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), to discuss the strong partnership between USAID and the WFP.

This budget supports USAID’s efforts to aggressively communicate the stark differences between authoritarian financing tools and the approach that we and our allied donor nations use. Our approach is true assistance. It helps partner nations build their own self-reliance and a more dynamic, private enterprise-driven future. It incentivizes reform to spur private enterprise and free markets, attract investments, and again, foster self-reliance.

We also aim to help partner countries recognize the costs of alternative models, like those of China and Russia. Their approach seeks to weaken confidence in democratic and free market systems, saddle countries with unsustainable debt, lead to the forfeiture of strategic resources, and further the militaristic ambitions of those authoritarian actors. In coming weeks, we will unveil a framework that we’ll use to help counter malign Kremlin influence, especially in Europe and Eurasia and Central Asia, and this budget supports that work.

The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Budget Request for USAID continues to advance our efforts to strengthen U.S. national security through strategic investments that promote the Journey to Self-Reliance. The Budget envisions the day when USAID’s development assistance is no longer needed. USAID supports governments, civil society, and the private sector in partner countries to build self-reliance, defined as the ability of a country to plan, finance, and implement solutions to its own development challenges. The FY 2020 Budget also upholds the President’s commitment to serve the needs of American citizens, ensure their safety, and defend their values, as outlined in the President’s National Security Strategy. The Budget includes significant investments to reduce the reach of conflict; prevent the spread of pandemic disease; and counteract the drivers of violence, instability, transnational crime, and other security threats.

Today, on International Women's Day, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) celebrates more than 50 years of promoting equality and empowerment for women. Our investments in women are vital to our mission of promoting self-reliance and resilience among our partner countries, as well as to the goals of worldwide stability and prosperity we all share. As the President's 2017 National Security Strategy notes, "Societies that empower women to participate fully in civic and economic life are more prosperous and peaceful."

Today, the United States airlifted additional humanitarian relief supplies from Florida to Cúcuta, Colombia, intended to help people affected by the man-made political and economic crisis in Venezuela.

Yesterday, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green met with The Honorable Carlos Vecchio, the Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States. Administrator Green underscored the continuing resolve of the United States to help relieve the man-made suffering inside Venezuela. Administrator Green and Ambassador Vecchio discussed plans for positioning more relief supplies to meet urgent needs in Venezuela and next steps to take now that Interim President Juan Guaidó has returned to Caracas. Further, Administrator Green applauded the people of Venezuela for their courageous actions to restore peace and democracy to their country.