Don’t Miss Raj Shah on 20/20 Tonight!

BY: Raj Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator

This Post originally appeared on ABCNews.

Raj Shah holds up his hads, with the words 1 million moms written on his palms Ensuring the safety of a mother and her newborn is not only one of the greatest development challenges we face, it is also one of the most heartbreaking.

Earlier this year, I visited South Sudan, where I met school children studying in a classroom—some of them for the very first time. Although I was optimistic about their future, I was also concerned, because I knew that for every girl I met, she was statistically more likely to die in childbirth than complete a secondary education.

This reality is simply unacceptable.

There is an incredible need to ensure the safety of mothers and infants in the critical period of 48 hours surrounding birth. To help spur progress in maternal and child health, we launched our first Grand Challenge for Development – Saving Lives at Birth – in partnership with the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada and The World Bank.

Saving Lives at Birth calls for groundbreaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in rural settings during this perilous time around childbirth. We received more than 600 proposals to our Grand Challenge, more than a quarter of which arrived from the developing world. Last week we announced our three transition-to-scale grant nominees. These nominees have proven that their ideas can deliver real results in local communities and are ready to test them on a much larger scale. While we expect our first round of grants to yield exciting innovations with the potential for significant change, we will encourage our community of innovators to push boundaries and find new ways to shape collective action.

Similarly, the Million Moms Challenge is inspiring American families to help mothers and children around the world. I am proud to accept this Challenge and will continue my commitment to this important cause.

I hope you will too.

December 16, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Administrator Shah Emphasizes the Role of Mobile Banking

At an OECD Meeting on May 27^th, 2011, Administrator Shah outlined three areas of reform for USAID, one of which was “leveraging the role of science and technology,” particularly through mobile phone banking systems. The announcement should not come as a surprise, given the growing movement among the leaders of the agency to support mobile phone programs.

Photo Credit: USAID

Shah’s announcement is coupled with his recent talk with MIT economist Esther Duflo at the USAID Development Forum on May 23^rd. During the question and answer session, Shah referred to the power of mobile banking, citing the financial security it provides to rural farmers.

In addition to voicing support for mobile banking, USAID has supported specific initiatives, coming to an agreement last year with the Gates Foundation to provide a $10 million incentive fund to companies in Haiti who provide mobile financial services. Speaking about the fund, Shah said, “Before the earthquake, fewer than 10 percent of Haitians had ever used a commercial bank. A mobile money system can restore and remake banking in Haiti and serve as an engine of inclusive growth.”

Eric Postel, assistant administrator at EGAT, has led USAID’s mobile money programs in Haiti, including one project that allows Haitians to purchase emergency relief food supplies via mobile money payments. Postel praises Haitian shop owners who accept mobile payments, which, he claims, are “broaden their client base” and lower their risk by not carrying cash payments to the bank.

Photo Credit: USAID

Other leaders in USAID have shown support for mobile banking as well. Maura O’Neill, Chief Innovation Officer at the USAID Development Innovation Ventures in the Office of the Administrator, recently co-hosted the Mobile Money Summit in Afghanistan. At the summit, the USAID Mobile Money Innovation Grant Fund was announced, which aims to create unique public-private partnerships to encourage mobile banking. Currently, “only 4% of Afghans have bank accounts,” and given the success of M-PESA in Kenya and similar services worldwide, mobile banking is a legitimate solution to this problem. O’Neill attended the summit with Senior Advisor to the Administrator Priya Jaisinghani, another notable expert in mobile banking.

USAID’s interest in mobile projects is not new. In 2008, USAID commissioned a report on the use of phones in citizen media. As well, numerous projects targeting women in development, have utilized mobile phones. Mobile banking, however, appears to be a high priority for USAID currently.

June 2, 2011/by actualize