Yesterday, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green announced the selection of 12 target countries for the next phase in America's global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.

I think Feed the Future itself, as an approach, is not simply humanitarian response.  Humanitarian response is important, but we’re all understanding, you want to help people protect themselves and to be strengthened against the potential for future shock and crisis, as a sad reality, Ethiopia seems to get those shocks every few years; not just once a generation.  And so, I think what we’re doing here, these sorts of facilities which create better livelihoods, but also some of the partnership for putting together, including the American business community, agribusiness community is a very smart way of tackling food and security.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green will travel to Ethiopia, August 30-31. The Administrator will visit multiple USAID-funded Feed the Future sites that contribute to strengthening community resilience and economic development in Ethiopia. Green will also visit a program supported through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which aims to reduce the economic vulnerability of families affected by HIV/AIDS.

I think it's also clear that the U.S. Government values its relationship with Sudan. I think Sudan is a country that has enormous potential, and I think it's a country that the U.S. is hoping to have a closer and stronger relationship with. I think what we are talking about -- in terms of the five-track plan -- presents an opportunity for a new and closer relationship in the future. That's what I think makes this so very important.

USAID is deeply disappointed by the decision of Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to shut down the NDI's Cambodian operations, and require its foreign staff to leave the country.

Power Africa, a U.S. Government-led initiative to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, has released its annual report. The initiative consists of more than 150 public and private sector partners, which have collectively committed more than $54 billion towards achieving Power Africa's goals. It is among the world's largest public-private partnerships in development history.

But basically, my philosophy and my approach at USAID is precisely what I’ve talked about before and is in my statement that I submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  And I believe philosophically the purpose of foreign assistance is to end the need for its existence.  I believe in hand-up development.  So the American taxpayers are extraordinarily generous people and we aim to mobilize compassion around the world.  But I think the most important thing is to be truly compassionate, and that’s doing what we can to help our partners, allies, and friends to lead themselves, and so we look to build the capacity of our partners – host country partners, but also civil society and all those attributes that we all know are crucial for countries to rise.  And that’s what we want to work on.

Good morning.  It's good to see all of you.  Thank you for your kind welcome.  I can't tell you what an honor and relief it is to finally be here with you.  And before we go any further, I have a debt of gratitude to a number of people that I would like to mention.  First and foremost, President Trump and Secretary Tillerson for their trust and confidence.  I must say, they are obviously open-minded.  After all, Secretary Tillerson is from Texas, and I grew up in the shadow of Lambeau Field.

Second, I want to offer my very sincere thanks to Wade Warren for his leadership, during his time as Acting Administrator, during the many months of building a transition plan, and, of course, for his many years of service to the Agency.  Wade, thank you.  You've done a fabulous job,  a really wonderful job.  I also need to thank Don Gressett, Sonali Korde, Casey Redmon and my whole LPA staff for their great work during the confirmation process.  More importantly for making me appear better and smarter than I really am.

Today the United States announced more than $169 million in humanitarian assistance to support those in Ethiopia and Kenya who are experiencing the effects of prolonged severe drought. This additional funding, including nearly $137 million in Ethiopia and nearly $33 million in Kenya, brings the total U.S. humanitarian contribution in Ethiopia and Kenya to more than $458 million in Fiscal Year 2017.