Speeches Shim
And that's what's so tragic Anderson, as you know, countries don't want to be receiving humanitarian assistance when they can grow their own crops and feed their own people. But when fertilizer prices skyrocket when wheat that they're accustomed to buying, you know, becomes out of reach, inaccessible, or the prices, you know, go up, then they're in a position for the first time in some instances to have to ask for help. And so we want to be in a position to provide that help. But it can't be the United States alone. Every country has to step up.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you so much to Shereen for her leadership, her introduction, and her wide-ranging contributions. One minute she’s managing all our most important relationships with our international and development counterparts, the next minute she’s helping to run our massive effort to vaccinate the world, and through it all, she serves as an inspiration as one of our few Arab American leaders here at USAID.
After mounting a double-digit rebound in GDP growth last year which led to significant cuts in poverty, the loss of remittances from Russia and Ukraine, along with shuttered trade routes and export markets for Moldova’s goods, is causing real economic pain for the country. Food and energy prices are increasing as they are everywhere, with the cost of gas jumping more than four-and-a-half times.
Welcome to everyone who has joined our inaugural Women in Leadership Summit! I’m grateful for the chance to discuss how best to support the women leaders who make our work possible. By women leaders, I mean the women who lead our offices, bureaus, and missions, as well as our senior leadership gathered here today.
As head of the Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs, Jodi has a tough job—making USAID’s case to Congress, and to the American people. We all know that famous stat: that while we spend just a fraction of one percent of our total budget on foreign aid, most Americans think that number is over ten times higher. But it’s not just about correcting America’s math. For this agency to be successful, we have to convince Congress, and the public, that investing in other countries is an investment in our own. That America benefits from efforts to prevent conflict, cure diseases, and save lives beyond our shores. And that Americans should be proud of the good we do in the world.
I especially want to thank Dr. Beverly Wright for founding and fearlessly leading the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, and Dr. Robert Bullard, the father of environmental justice, for this opportunity. Dr. Bullard once said: “When you don’t protect the least in your society, you place everybody at risk.” Those words have always been true, not just of American society, but of our entire planet.
This is such a special day—the swearing in of USAID’s new Chief of Staff, Dennis Vega.
So again, on this day of all days to be discussing ways to strengthen relationships, to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians, it feels like a very auspicious time, a very historic time. It was a year ago that Congress passed the Nita Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, and this is the largest investment that the U.S. government has ever made to strengthen ties between the two communities. It comes after years of, I think it's fair to say, inadequate funding. I think my predecessor, Mark Green, would agree with that for people to people, peace building initiatives. And now we have new money. It's the rarest thing in Washington. We have new money. We have resources that we can use to improve, expand and scale our work building connections between the Israeli and Palestinian people. This legislation exists thanks in large part to one force of nature's will, to Congresswoman Lowey herself, who we're so pleased to have here on the board. She was a fierce advocate for Middle East peace over her thirty two years in Congress. We're also immensely grateful to all of you, the other board members here today, and those of you listening in for your years of advocacy and commitment to peace.
On behalf of USAID, it is my honor to welcome all of you to the inaugural meeting of the Partnership for Peace Fund Advisory Board. The Nita M. Lowey Partnership for Peace Act or MEPPA tasked USAID and the Development Finance Corporation with building trust and relationships between Israelis and Palestinians programming $250 million over five years all with the goal of broadening the constituency for peace. MEPPA also established this Advisory Board to provide strategic guidance to USAID for the implementation of the fund. Board members, we are grateful to Congress for appointing you. And we are grateful to all of you for the time and the energy and the enthusiasm that you have approached this important work.
We've been working with the Ukrainians to help document the atrocities underway, which started on day one, when they began hitting residential areas and, you know, hospitals and the like.
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Last updated: May 06, 2022
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