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Overview
The Department of State is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency within the Executive Branch and the lead institution for the conduct of American diplomacy. The head of the Department, the Secretary of State, is the President’s principal foreign policy advisor. The Secretary implements the President’s foreign policies worldwide through the State Department and its employees. The Department of State promotes and protects the interests of American citizens by:
- Promoting peace and stability in regions of vital interest;
- Creating jobs at home by opening markets abroad;
- Helping developing nations establish investment and export opportunities; and
- Bringing nations and people together and forging partnerships to address global challenges, such as climate change and resource scarcity, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, gender inequality, human trafficking, the spread of communicable diseases, cross-border pollution, humanitarian crises, nuclear smuggling, and narcotics trafficking.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent federal agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. In 1961, Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act to administer long-range economic and humanitarian assistance to developing countries. Two months after passage of the act, President John F. Kennedy established USAID. USAID’s mission is to partner to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity. The Agency accelerates human progress in developing countries by:
- Promoting broadly shared economic prosperity;
- Strengthening democracy and good governance and protecting human rights;
- Improving global health,
- Advancing food security and agriculture;
- Improving environmental sustainability;
- Furthering education; and
- Helping societies prevent and recover from conflicts and providing humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural and man-made disasters.
USAID is headed by an Administrator appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. USAID plans its development and assistance programs in coordination with the Department of State, and collaborates with other U.S. government agencies, multilateral and bilateral organizations, private companies, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations.
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Strategic Goals & Objectives
Agencies establish a variety of organizational goals to drive progress toward key outcomes for the American people. Long-term strategic goals articulate clear statements of what the agency wants to achieve to advance its mission and address relevant national problems, needs, challenges and opportunities. Strategic objectives define the outcome or management impact the agency is trying to achieve, and also include the agency's role. Each strategic objective is tracked through a suite of performance goals, indicators and other evidence. Click here for more information on stakeholder engagement during goal development.
Strategic Goal:
Strengthen America’s Economic Reach and Positive Economic Impact
Statement:
Strengthen America’s Economic Reach and Positive Economic Impact
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Expand Access to Future Markets, Investment, and Trade
Description:
In an interconnected world, America’s prosperity is closely linked with the global economy. In 2011, the United States exported $2.1 trillion of goods and services, which supported 9.7 million American jobs. In the Western Hemisphere alone, U.S. trade with Latin America and the Caribbean reached $1.3 trillion in 2012, with Canada and Mexico trade alone exceeding $1.5 billion per day, making Canada our top trade partner and Mexico our third largest partner. Foreign markets – especially in developing and emerging economies – are growing more rapidly than the U.S. domestic market.
As one of the world’s most competitive and innovative economies, the United States benefits as markets open and trade barriers are lowered. A proven way to open markets and lock in transparent trade and investment rules is through trade negotiations. The United States has free trade agreements with 20 countries, and is actively negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Doubling down on our already-robust partnership with Europe and linking the eastern and western halves of the Pacific is in our economic and security interest.
Free trade agreements are only part of the story. All around the world, State and USAID work hard to establish clear, transparent, and open markets outside of formal negotiations. U.S. firms succeed abroad when government and private sector procurement decisions are based on commercial and technical merits, when rules and regulations are transparent and enforceable, when intellectual property rights are respected, and when foreign competitors, including state-owned enterprises, do not benefit from unfair advantages or unsustainable labor and environmental practices.
We also work through international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization (WTO), International Labor Organization (ILO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and with private sector organizations. Reaching global consensus on economic rules through these organizations minimizes the potential for barriers to trade and investment, directly benefitting U.S. companies.
Information and communications technology drives growth and prosperity in every sector of the economy. The government and private sector partnership in this sector is essential to success. We conduct negotiations and engage with international organizations to set agreed rules and standards, paving the way for private sector innovation and prosperity.
Our educational, technical, and scientific exchanges and collaboration also bring clear economic benefits. They serve as a bridge between the United States and foreign countries and leaders; advance research and policy collaboration in addressing common challenges; and build respect for the United States as a meritocracy driven by knowledge and innovation. With America’s higher education sector perched at the pinnacle of the global education market, the United States is the preferred destination for international students, making education and training our nation’s fifth largest export.
International travel supports an estimated 1.2 million U.S. jobs. Facilitating quick, efficient, and secure travel remains an important goal of the State Department. We facilitate over 67 million visitors traveling to the United States each year. Travel and tourism-related goods and services accounted for $166 billion in 2012. Efficient issuance of U.S. passports also facilitates international travel by American citizens, promoting international tourism and commerce.
Factors affecting U.S. government efforts to expand access to future markets, investment, and trade include the strength of the U.S. economy and fiscal situation, which in turn determines our leadership on global economic issues. Another financial crisis or deep recession could trigger resurgence in protectionist sentiment worldwide, rolling back efforts to open markets. Political instability can shock financial markets and lead to a deteriorating investment climate. On the education front, slower growth in students’ homelands, a stronger dollar relative to local currency, and greater competition from other countries could lead to fewer students attending U.S. universities. Successful science and technology cooperation depends on foreign partners with the right resources and expertise. Encouraging innovation depends upon foreign governments’ commitment to policy and regulatory reform – including strong support for intellectual property rights – and making the right investments to build a knowledge economy.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
Today’s increasingly competitive global environment compels the U.S. government to strengthen its advocacy for free, transparent, and open markets; promote equal legal and regulatory treatment for American and local companies in foreign markets; expand support for U.S. companies looking overseas for customers and partners; broaden access to the United States for foreign students and leading researchers; and intensify international collaboration on innovation and technology. Our diplomatic missions are on the front-line in achieving these goals advocating for U.S. exporters, pushing to eliminate impediments for our companies, and promoting job-creating foreign direct investment in the United States.
The Department of State, together with the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and USAID, support the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as it negotiates bilateral and multilateral trade, investment, and transportation agreements that reduce barriers to trade and foster a more open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based international economic environment. Moreover, USAID and State deliver targeted trade capacity building and technical assistance to foster adoption of agreed trade and investment rules. USAID further facilitates improvements in country trading systems and helps build capacity for trade, working with developing countries and countries in transition to identify and reduce trade and other barriers that inhibit business formation and growth. Assistance also encompasses reforming laws and regulations, reducing compliance costs for businesses and individuals, and ensuring implementation and enforcement capacity. The Department and USAID also promote regional economic integration as a way to reduce tensions among states, promote growth, and create larger common markets for U.S. exporters.
The Department partners with the Department of Commerce to advocate for U.S. companies bidding on foreign government tenders, to help U.S. companies find new markets for exports, to continue policies that open markets to trade and investment, and to encourage investment in the United States. The ability of U.S. companies to bid successfully on foreign government tenders is a measure of U.S. government success working with other governments to negotiate market-opening agreements and resolve regulatory issues, and in ensuring fairness for our companies in the face of aggressive foreign competition.
U.S. industries and operators are at the forefront of information and communication technology development and innovation. The State Department, in collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Commerce, other executive branch agencies, and industry, actively promotes the regulatory and policy environment necessary for market confidence and economies of scale for a global information and communications technology sector. U.S. engagement with organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) enables agreement on the technical standards and policies that drive this sector, facilitating scientific advancement, expansion of affordable broadband Internet access, and the evolution of wireless devices.
The Department of State promotes educational and professional exchanges and links between the United States and foreign educational, non-profit, and private sectors; promotes U.S. educational exports such as study in the United States through student advising centers; and prioritizes the visa applications of students, scholars, and exchange visitors, regularly expediting appointments and maintaining short appointment queues for these priority travelers. These efforts, and the people-to-people connections they foster, advance research and collaboration while building respect for the United States.
USAID assistance to strengthen foreign markets makes other countries better trade and investment partners for the United States. USAID tailors programs for individual countries. Some need assistance in broad-based economic policy reforms; others need help developing market-supporting institutions such as improved commercial law, industrial relations systems, trade regimes, banking structures, stock exchanges, or tax collection systems.
USAID has prioritized support for the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA), which is aimed at streamlining borders, including enhancing technical assistance and capacity building for developing countries. Implementation of this seminal agreement is expected to provide cost and time savings for companies trading goods regionally and internationally. Programming will focus on reforms that boost trade by reducing costs and delays for traders, and increase the predictability, simplicity and uniformity in customs and other border procedures. USAID is working with the private sector as an important partner in this work, involving U.S. and local business communities on public-private partnerships that expand and deepen bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
The intersection between economic growth and competitiveness, rapidly advancing technology, and the complexity of critical issues such as climate change require the Department of State and USAID to integrate traditional economic policy approaches with our support for entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship, innovation, and scientific collaboration. Expanding international collaboration on science, technology, and knowledge-based industries, facilitating fair access to emerging markets for U.S. companies, and fostering the free flow of goods, services, and ideas, while protecting intellectual property rights, have a powerful impact on growth and innovation.
Throughout all these efforts, the Department and USAID seek to increase the positive impact of economic growth. This means promoting gender and ethnic equality; increasing access to and defending a free, open Internet; advancing human rights and labor rights; encouraging responsible business practices; and protecting the environment. Gender activities are guided by the Presidential Memorandum on Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally.
Statement:
Promote Inclusive Economic Growth, Reduce Extreme Poverty, and Improve Food Security
Description:
Reducing extreme poverty and its causes has long been a central goal of the U.S. government’s development efforts. The Administration has prioritized inclusive economic growth and democratic governance as the only sustainable ways to accelerate development and eradicate extreme poverty. President Obama has called for the United States to “join with our allies to eradicate . . . extreme poverty in the next two decades.” Recent progress toward this goal is encouraging: since 2000, faster growth has led to falling aggregate poverty rates throughout the developing world, including sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Developing countries have cut their poverty rates in half in 10 years, with strong support from the United States and the international community.
Inclusive economic growth, in which all members of society benefit, can reduce political turmoil and conflict by stabilizing countries and regions. When the causes of poverty and hunger are addressed by helping youth gain access to economic opportunities, connecting people to the global economy, building resilience to economic and social stresses in conflict-prone societies, empowering women and minorities, and saving children from disease and preventable death, the United States and the world are stronger and more secure. As countries develop, they open their markets, become potential consumers of U.S. goods and services, and contribute to regional stability. To meet the goal of a world without extreme poverty, we continue to pay particular attention to the need for inclusive economic growth in fragile or conflict-affected states, where extreme poverty is likely to be concentrated in the coming decade and where growth can be uneven and volatile.
Through diplomacy and development programs, the Department of State and USAID encourage both governments and increasingly influential non-state actors to: demand and implement sound macroeconomic policy, good public financial management and accountability, and transparent and effective financial institutions and regulation; invest in public goods (like safe water and infrastructure); and establish an environment that permits the private sector, innovators, entrepreneurs, and civil society to flourish. We also encourage governments to work with civil society organizations, including labor organizations and business chambers. These groups have an important role as partners in development, influencing decisions regarding government resource allocation and the development agenda at the country level.
The Department of State and USAID can also play a critical role facilitating private sector engagement and private-public partnerships throughout the world. The private sector paves the way for reform efforts, creating bonds among people that foster a virtuous cycle of investment, growth, profits, and jobs in which everyone benefits.
We also support gender and minority integration and encourage governments to consider the impact of new policies on both men and women and majority and minority groups. This is a proven way to ensure that growth is inclusive and that it leads to better outcomes. We also support accessible quality education to reduce extreme poverty. An educated populace is healthier, more productive economically, and more active and empowered politically at all levels of society.
To help make countries more resilient in the face of shocks, USAID has developed Policy and Program Guidance to Building Resilience to Recurrent Crisis. This policy promotes resilience as an analytical, programmatic, and organizing concept to address the causes of chronic vulnerability and recurrent crisis. Greater resilience can help vulnerable communities emerge from cycles of crisis onto a pathway toward development.
Globally, 842 million people are chronically hungry. Climate change will make meeting the food and nutrition needs of a growing global population even more challenging. The resulting malnutrition can translate to a loss of as much as eight percent of a country’s gross domestic product. To tackle these food and nutrition security challenges, the U.S. government engages on policy, trade, investment, and development tracks – both bilaterally and through multilateral organizations such as the World Food Program. Through the Feed the Future Initiative, we work to increase agricultural productivity by partnering with governments, donor organizations, the private sector, and civil society. By focusing on small farmers, particularly women, we promote inclusive growth that increases incomes and reduces hunger, poverty, and under-nutrition. We also support food security goals through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and Partnerships for Growth.
External factors influence whether we attain our development goals. U.S. government development programs are typically only a small fraction of the economy in countries where we operate, so the political and economic environment inside a country is critical. Success is more likely when partner governments set a good policy and regulatory foundation for growth and improved public service delivery and encourage a vibrant private sector that invests and creates jobs. Events such as another global economic slowdown, political instability, conflict, drought, floods, and other natural disasters could all cause setbacks. In times of government austerity, donor resources can drop, making it more difficult to achieve development goals.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The world is coalescing around a goal to end extreme poverty by 2030, with growing optimism that this remarkable goal is within reach. The U.S. role is critical to ensuring continued global progress. American ingenuity is essential to solving the most complex development challenges that stand in the way of a world without extreme poverty.
The Department and USAID are making critical contributions toward achieving this goal. Ending extreme poverty requires enabling inclusive growth and promoting free, peaceful, and self-reliant societies that build human capital and create social safety nets for the poorest members of society, including women and other marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people, and members of indigenous or ethnic minority groups. Engagement can open doors for development by resolving conflict, fostering political stability, and advocating development-friendly policies. U.S. government initiatives that increase food security, reduce deaths from preventable illness, and improve energy access address fundamental causes of poverty. USAID's work on education and resilience in the face of recurrent crisis is reaching millions in extreme poverty, and cross-cutting efforts on gender, governance, and climate are key to sustainability. USAID is also strongly positioned in the countries - many of them fragile - where extreme poverty affects the most people.
The Department and USAID promote inclusive growth through initiatives such as the African Women's Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP), which provides professional networking, business development, and trade capacity building opportunities for prominent women entrepreneurs across sub-Saharan Africa. AWEP includes an export readiness program, technical assistance, and access to capital. It empowers small-and-medium-sized African enterprises to capitalize on the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, increasing trade regionally and with the United States. USAID’s Women’s Leadership Incentive Fund is also used annually to leverage Mission funding in support of women’s economic empowerment and female entrepreneurs are key participants in USAID’s worldwide economic growth projects. For example, using Leadership Funds, women in Bangladesh will be empowered to lead on employment and labor reform in the apparel sector, a crucial arena for promoting inclusive economic growth.
USAID's Policy Framework features eight interrelated development objectives: (1) increase food security; (2) promote global health and health systems; (3) reduce the impact of climate change and promote low emissions growth; (4) promote sustainable, broad-based economic growth; (5) expand and sustain the ranks of stable, prosperous, and democratic states; (6) provide humanitarian assistance and support disaster mitigation; (7) prevent and respond to crises, conflict, and instability; and (8) improve lives through learning and education. Poverty is multi-dimensional, and elements of each of these eight objectives are essential to address the causes and consequences of extreme poverty and promote inclusive growth.
USAID is establishing a new development model that focuses on creating public-private partnerships and harnessing science, technology, and innovation to deliver measurable results. The new model is grounded in the reality that political leadership and policy reform are essential preconditions to driving investment to the regions and sectors where it has the biggest impact on reducing extreme poverty and ending the most devastating consequences of child hunger and child death. This approach requires integrated diplomatic and development efforts as we seek policy reform and promote investment and responsible business conduct in complex and transitional environments.
Priority Goal: Food Security
Statement:
Increase food security in Feed the Future initiative countries. By September 30, 2015, increase the number of farmers and others who have applied new technologies or management practices to eight million, from a corrected base of five million in 2012.
Description:
Approximately 840 million people in the world remain hungry today, and 98 percent of them live in developing countries. In addition, the world’s population is projected to increase to nine billion by 2050. This population increase and changes in diets will require at least a 60 percent increase in global food production, all in a world that will have less arable land and less access to water under changing climate patterns.
Improving food security has risen to prominence as a global development goal in recent years due to factors such as food price spikes, increasing poverty rates, and social unrest related to poverty and hunger. At the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, in July 2009, global leaders—including President Obama—agreed to take significant action to improve food security through agricultural development and reforms to the way the international community approaches food security. The U.S. committed at least $3.5 billion and other countries committed over $18 billion through 2012. In May 2012, at the Camp David G-8 Summit with African heads of state and corporate and G-8 leaders, President Obama again led global food security efforts by launching the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition for Africa, a shared goal to achieving sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raising 50 million people out of poverty by 2022.
The Feed the Future initiative is the U.S. Government’s contribution to the global effort launched by President Obama at L’Aquila. Feed the Future works with the global community, strengthening coordination with other donors and stakeholders, to:
- Advance comprehensive, country-led strategies that focus on accountability and improving the productivity and market access of small-scale producers, particularly women, who make up the majority of small farmers in developing countries;
- Catalyze private sector economic growth, finance, and trade with necessary investments in public goods as well as policy, legal, and regulatory reforms;
- Use science and technology to sustainably increase agricultural productivity;
- Protect the natural resource base upon which agriculture depends;
- Build resilience and help to prevent recurrent food crises in vulnerable regions; and
- Invest in improving nutrition for women and young children as a foundation for future growth.
Feed the Future is well-positioned to support the U.S. Government’s aim to promote inclusive economic growth, reduce extreme poverty, and improve food security, as outlined in the State Department-USAID Joint Strategic Plan.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Increase food security in Feed the Future initiative countries. By September 30, 2015, increase the number of farmers and others who have applied new technologies or management practices to eight million, from a corrected base of five million in 2012.
Description:
Approximately 840 million people in the world remain hungry today, and 98 percent of them live in developing countries. In addition, the world’s population is projected to increase to nine billion by 2050. This population increase and changes in diets will require at least a 60 percent increase in global food production, all in a world that will have less arable land and less access to water under changing climate patterns.
Improving food security has risen to prominence as a global development goal in recent years due to factors such as food price spikes, increasing poverty rates, and social unrest related to poverty and hunger. At the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, in July 2009, global leaders—including President Obama—agreed to take significant action to improve food security through agricultural development and reforms to the way the international community approaches food security. The U.S. committed at least $3.5 billion and other countries committed over $18 billion through 2012. In May 2012, at the Camp David G-8 Summit with African heads of state and corporate and G-8 leaders, President Obama again led global food security efforts by launching the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition for Africa, a shared goal to achieving sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raising 50 million people out of poverty by 2022.
The Feed the Future initiative is the U.S. Government’s contribution to the global effort launched by President Obama at L’Aquila. Feed the Future works with the global community, strengthening coordination with other donors and stakeholders, to:
- Advance comprehensive, country-led strategies that focus on accountability and improving the productivity and market access of small-scale producers, particularly women, who make up the majority of small farmers in developing countries;
- Catalyze private sector economic growth, finance, and trade with necessary investments in public goods as well as policy, legal, and regulatory reforms;
- Use science and technology to sustainably increase agricultural productivity;
- Protect the natural resource base upon which agriculture depends;
- Build resilience and help to prevent recurrent food crises in vulnerable regions; and
- Invest in improving nutrition for women and young children as a foundation for future growth.
Feed the Future is well-positioned to support the U.S. Government’s aim to promote inclusive economic growth, reduce extreme poverty, and improve food security, as outlined in the State Department-USAID Joint Strategic Plan.
Strategic Goal:
Strengthen America’s Foreign Policy Impact on Our Strategic Challenges
Statement:
Strengthen America’s Foreign Policy Impact on Our Strategic Challenges
Strategic Objectives
Statement:No Data Available
Description:
We will strengthen America’s foreign policy impact as we work independently and with our partners to build a new stability in the Middle East and North Africa. Success in this endeavor is essential to U.S. global interests and is linked to other pressing challenges and opportunities for U.S. national security: preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a top priority; terrorist groups active in the region continue to seek the capability to attack our allies, interests, and homeland; the region’s strategic energy supplies are essential to support the global economy; and regional stability and Middle East peace efforts are vital for the security of Israel and our other friends in the region.
Recent events have again demonstrated the need to look beyond traditional security concerns and consider the full range of issues that affect and contribute to regional stability. A new regional stability will be built on the premise that increased democracy with respect for the rights of all citizens of a country, including minorities, will benefit both the region and the United States. Regional stability must be built on a foundation of responsive and accountable governance, inclusive economic growth, and rights-respecting and capable security institutions.
The crisis in Syria embodies these complex challenges. The Asad regime has violently defied the Syrian people’s demands for reform, and the regime’s brutality has destabilized the region through its partnership with Iran and the regime’s increasing reliance upon Hizballah. Neighboring states, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq, struggle to cope with vast refugee flows, spillover violence, and, in the case of Lebanon, serious threats to political stability.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The United States will build regional stability by working toward a comprehensive Middle East peace; forging strong partnerships to address regional threats; supporting economic growth and prosperity; and promoting democratic governance and political reforms, among other measures.
Working towards a comprehensive Middle East Peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and Israel and its neighbors:
The United States is committed to a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, central to which is a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We define comprehensive peace as peace between Israel and a future Palestinian state, as well as between Israel and its neighbors. With the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in July 2013, Middle East peace efforts now focus on the conclusion and full implementation of a final status agreement and the realization of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which promises normalization of relations between Israel and Arab League states in the context of a comprehensive peace. Should the efforts of the United States and the international community succeed in a two-state resolution to the conflict, U.S. assistance will remain critical in building Palestinian governance capacity and implementing an agreement. Comprehensive peace also will require Israel and a Palestinian state to normalize political and economic relations with the region.
The United States is building strong partnerships to address regional security threats. The United States will work with international partners to ensure that Syrian chemical weapons are removed and eliminated and that Syria complies with the Chemical Weapons Convention, UN Security Council resolutions, and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons requirements. We will continue to deliver humanitarian assistance to affected communities inside Syria and in neighboring countries, and to work to achieve a negotiated political solution that ends the violence in Syria and begins a political transition. The United States will continue our unwavering commitment to Israel's security.
Egypt continues to face economic and political instability, while Jordan struggles to handle an influx of refugees from Syria even as it simultaneously addresses dire economic challenges, including an energy crisis.
Build strong partnerships to address regional security threats:
U.S. strategic partnerships, globally and within the region, enhance our security efforts on counterterrorism and nonproliferation. We will continue to work with the P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China, facilitated by the European Union), the broader international community, and international organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure that Iran complies with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Building upon the work at the NATO Summit in Wales, Jeddah Conference, and U.N. General Assembly meetings in September 2014, we will continue to strengthen the global coalition formed to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) through humanitarian and security assistance to partner countries in the region threatened by ISIL. This also includes coordinating broad efforts to counter terrorist financing the flow of foreign fighters within and through the region.
The United States seeks to achieve a comprehensive agreement that fully resolves the international community’s concerns with Iran’s nuclear program. Syria’s accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention was a major accomplishment. In cooperation with like-minded international partners, we have dismantled one of the largest remaining chemical weapons arsenals in the world and eliminated those weapons as a strategic threat to Israel. We will continue to work to achieve a negotiated solution that ends the violence in Syria and begins a political transition.
In addition, U.S. security cooperation and assistance to our partners will cover all aspects of counterterrorism, including legal frameworks and rights-respecting security approaches. We will undertake efforts to prevent and mitigate extremism, sectarian conflicts, and mass atrocities; and we will counter Iran's destabilizing activities in the region. We will also emphasize our work with states undergoing democratic transitions to assist them in establishing the capacity to provide a stable and rights-respecting domestic security environment.
The Syrian regime could resist a negotiated settlement to its current situation. Terrorist organizations may take advantage of regional instability, fragile security environments in transition countries, and ongoing conflicts to launch attacks. Governments backsliding on democratic transitions could further endanger long-term regional stability. We must continue to undermine the violent extremist narrative by encouraging states to establish democratic and accountable institutions thereby supporting our needs to advance our broader regional security priorities.
Promote economic growth, job creation, open markets, and energy security:
The United States will address economic marginalization through the promotion of economic growth, job creation, open markets, and energy security. Economic growth and inclusive prosperity fueled by private sector development, increased investment, and inclusive employment are fundamental to regional stability and to counter the terrorist narrative. The free flow of energy resources to the global economy is critical to promoting economic prosperity. Sound regulatory, economic, education, and health policies are needed for enduring private sector expansion and stable employment. Achieving these goals requires coordination with partners to design and implement reforms. We will need to partner with governments and the private sector in the region as they develop economic incentives, protect critical infrastructure, and achieve local backing for reforms. We will support implementation of projects that increase access to finance for small and medium enterprises. We will encourage sound fiscal and economic policies and improved regulation to attract private investment and spur growth. We also will support development of improved regulatory and rules-based markets to attract foreign investors to the region, including U.S. businesses.
Setbacks to the global economic recovery, particularly in European markets, could have negative effects in the region. Regional conflicts, security deterioration, and increased acts of terrorism would deter investment, undermine growth, and threaten energy supplies. The influx of Syrian refugees into neighboring countries could have a crippling effect on the respective country’s financial stability. We will work to sustain the positive synergies and mutual reinforcement between security, democratic political reforms, and economic growth.
Promote improved, democratic governance, empowered and effective civil society, and respect for the rule of law and human rights:
The United States will continue to support democratic governance, civil society, and respect for the rule of law and human rights. Responsive, inclusive, and accountable governance serves as the strongest foundation for long-term regional stability. Governments and societies that are more inclusive, equitable, and representative are better positioned to address challenges and to partner with the United States. We will, therefore, promote government institutions that are democratic, responsive to citizens, respect minority rights, and deliver public services transparently and equitably; legislatures that represent constituent interests; and expanded opportunities for meaningful political participation by all citizens. Many civil society groups in the region lack capacity. We will support the development of civil society that is effective, empowered, and able to interact constructively with government. And we will work to strengthen and improve legal systems and weak government institutions in the region, expand access to justice, promote greater respect for human rights, and empower women, minorities, and other marginalized groups.
Factors beyond the U.S. government's control may affect our efforts in the region. The Syrian regime could resist a negotiated settlement to the conflict. Terrorist organizations may take advantage of regional instability, fragile security environments in transition countries, and ongoing conflicts to launch attacks. Governments rejecting or backsliding on reform could further endanger long-term regional stability. Other factors that may affect our efforts include setbacks to the global economic recovery, particularly in European markets, that could have negative effects in the region. Regional conflicts, security deterioration, and increased acts of terrorism could deter investment, undermine growth, and threaten energy supplies. The influx of Syrian refugees into neighboring countries also places added financial costs and demands on the infrastructure in hosting communities, as well as on social services, such as education and health care.
Countries in the region face serious challenges, including stagnant growth and lack of economic opportunity; internal and cross-border conflicts and associated refugee flows; resource scarcity; religious and ethnic tension and discrimination; and a demographic youth bulge. We are convinced that responsive and accountable governments are more capable of addressing those challenges, and are committed to use our engagement, influence, and assistance to help address them.
Statement:No Data Available
Description:
The United States “rebalance” to the Asia-Pacific reflects the recognition that the future security and prosperity of our nation will be significantly defined by events and developments in that region. The United States must enhance and deepen its strategic engagement and leadership role to influence and benefit from a rising Asia-Pacific. At a time when the region is building a more mature security and economic architecture to promote stability and prosperity, sustained, active U.S. engagement is essential. U.S. leadership will help strengthen that architecture and pay dividends for our security and prosperity well into this century. The U.S. goal in the Asia-Pacific is to establish a stable security environment, an open and transparent economic environment, and a political environment that respects universal rights and freedoms. Our efforts will yield benefits for the region and increase the economic prosperity and security of the United States.
Maintaining peace and security across the Asia-Pacific is central to global progress, whether through halting North Korea’s proliferation activities, defending freedom of navigation and managing growing tensions over territorial disputes, or ensuring transparency in the region’s military activities. Supporting trade liberalization and economic development in the region stands at the center of American economic and strategic interests, and is a key U.S. priority. U.S. economic vitality depends, in part, on the extent to which our private sector can access the opportunities offered by the Asia-Pacific’s growing consumer base. Open markets in the region provide the United States unprecedented opportunities for commercial engagement and expansion of trade and investment ties. Adherence to our nation’s values – in particular, our steadfast support for democracy and human rights – greatly enhances our credibility, stature, and authority. Strengthening and deepening people-to-people ties across the region underpins the goals of the rebalance.
While the Asia-Pacific is widely recognized as a region of economic dynamism, it is also home to 29 percent of the world’s poor and the site of 60 percent of the globe’s natural disasters. Many countries in the region face challenges associated with weak institutions, inadequate rule of law, and rising inequality. The United States seeks to help our partners in the region ensure that, as economies grow, the benefits of this growth are shared by those who are most in need.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The United States has strong and historic strategic ties and trade linkages with the Asia-Pacific, which is home to the world’s fastest growing economies. Treaty alliances with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand form the cornerstone of our strategic position in the Asia-Pacific. To meet transnational threats of terrorism, violent extremism, cybercrime, and nuclear, chemical, and biological proliferation, the United States supports Asia-Pacific partners as they adopt internationally recognized legal and policy frameworks, and build their capacity to deter and mitigate these pressing threats. In cooperation with the Department of Defense and other national security agencies, our diplomats and programs help maintain peace and security across the Asia-Pacific through efforts to achieve verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, halt North Korea's proliferation activities, maintain freedom of navigation, discourage aggressive acts, and promote increased transparency in military activities.
The United States’ comprehensive economic agenda for the region combines expansion of trade and investment with greater regional economic integration. U.S. trade and investment ties with the Asia-Pacific region underpin the nation's prosperity and influence across the region. The United States is promoting development of a rules-based regional economic and trade framework that provides an open and fair commercial environment. Concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the centerpiece of our economic strategy in the region, is the most important step we can take to advance prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. The TPP, with 12 members uniting Asia and the Western Hemisphere across the Pacific Rim, will foster economic growth and facilitate regional economic integration as membership expands. In collaboration with other U.S. government agencies and the private sector, the Department will also build on past successes within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to foster trade and investment liberalization and strengthen regional economic integration, including initiatives on climate change and environmental protection, disaster resiliency, and health security. The Department of State is conducting sustained diplomatic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among Asia’s biggest economies. We will increase U.S. development assistance to foster trade ties, entrepreneurial activity, cleaner and more secure energy, food security, and economic empowerment of women in the region. Continued U.S. support for Taiwan maintains peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, underpins economic and commercial relations with our 10th largest trading partner, and reinforces U.S. support for democracy and human rights.
The United States is modernizing its treaty alliances to provide the flexibility to effectively respond to traditional and non-traditional security challenges. The United States seeks to strengthen partner capabilities and policies to address shared challenges and to bolster a rules-based order that operates in accordance with international laws, norms, and standards. Strengthened partnerships with Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam contribute to regional stability and prosperity. A cooperative partnership with China will strengthen U.S. national security, promote trade and economic growth, and help address transnational challenges. The United States’ engagement with Burma supports and encourages its political and economic reforms and national reconciliation. Mongolia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island countries are important partners through their contributions to peacekeeping activities, UN votes, and efforts that align with our international economic and security priorities. People-to-people activities, including continued outreach to international exchange alumni, play a critical role in building support within these countries for sustained partnerships with the United States.
The United States engages regional institutions and groupings such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Regional Forum, East Asia Summit, APEC, Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), and the Pacific Islands Forum to reinforce our bilateral relationships and advance our economic, political, and security interests with regional allies and partners. U.S. engagement with these bodies helps them establish and implement rules and norms consistent with the international norms that promote peace and stability, spur greater economic growth, and enable the region to respond more effectively to security threats and manage crises.
Across the Asia-Pacific, the United States is promoting democratic practices and improved governance, quality health and education, food security, strengthened disaster preparedness/emergency response, and improved environmental stewardship. Democratic development will contribute to greater civilian security, stability, and prosperity and stronger ties throughout the region. Strong democratic institutions and responsive governments provide the framework that paves the way for solid economic growth, improved health outcomes, greater food security, quality education, strengthened emergency response, adaptability to climate change, and stronger livelihoods overall.
Statement:No Data Available
Description:
Despite the worldwide reduction of deaths from armed conflict since the end of the Cold War, more than 1.5 billion people live in fragile or conflict-affected states or countries trapped in cycles of violence. Fragility and conflict impede development and undermine U.S. interests worldwide. When states in crisis cannot control their territory, protect their people, or support economic growth, the resulting instability disrupts the people’s well-being and fosters environments ripe for violent extremists, armed factions, weapons proliferation, and crime. Fragile countries are especially vulnerable to shocks, such as natural disasters and economic crises, and their spillover effects. Complex emergencies may arise that put demands on scarce humanitarian assistance resources.
The U.S. government leads the international community in responding to crises, conflicts, and natural disasters. An estimated 45 million people worldwide, primarily women and children, have been uprooted from their homes due to conflict and persecution. Each year, natural disasters displace tens of millions more and climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of events such as hurricanes and drought. U.S. humanitarian assistance aims to save lives, alleviate suffering, and minimize the costs of conflict, crises, disasters, and displacement. This requires that the United States respond urgently to emergencies, and make concerted efforts to address hunger, resolve protracted humanitarian situations, and build the capacity to prevent and mitigate the effects of conflict and disasters.
Most natural disasters such as drought or floods cannot be prevented. However, the U.S. government aims to enhance the resilience of countries so that they can respond and recover as quickly as possible. Strengthening resilience enables our humanitarian assistance to start the rebuilding and transition to long-term political, economic, and social investments that will consolidate and protect future development gains.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The United States will convene stakeholders, marginalize spoilers, and catalyze local efforts aimed at preventing and responding to crisis and conflict. U.S. diplomacy will support peace and reconciliation efforts at the national, regional, and local levels; and it will encourage parties to negotiate solutions, to manage peaceful transitions, and to hold accountable perpetrators of mass atrocities. To strengthen fragile states, U.S. diplomacy and development will promote inclusive economic growth, job creation, and the sound policies needed for sustainable private sector expansion and stable employment. The U.S. will direct resources to support local initiatives and to build the capacity of civil society actors so they can successfully advocate for peaceful change. The U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP) demonstrates that integrating women and gender considerations into peacebuilding processes promotes democratic governance and long-term stability. As such, we will strengthen women's rights, leadership, and substantive participation in peace processes, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, transitional processes, and decision-making institutions in conflict-affected settings. Finally, we will multiply the impact of our efforts by engaging the UN and partner governments, and will strengthen partnerships with the private sector and experts outside of government.
The United States will expand and improve U.S. government activities that lead to effective strategies, policies, diplomacy, and development programs that avoid negative impacts ("Do no harm") on conflict dynamics, and create the potential to manage and mitigate sources of violent conflict. The United States will promote learning agendas, and share lessons learned and best practices. And through interagency collaboration, policy development, enhanced professional training, and evaluation, the United States will institutionalize a gender-sensitive approach to our diplomatic and development activities in conflict-affected environments.
UN peacekeeping operations represent the international collective will to promote peace and reconciliation. The United States will continue as the largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping operations. The United States will use its contributions to promote effective operations, including strengthening mandates to address the needs and vulnerabilities of women and children in conflict and post-conflict zones. The United States will also continue to support regional and sub-regional organizations and their member states as they seek to provide a cost-effective regional capacity for conflict management and crisis response.
The U.S. government will support country transitions out of fragility and political instability by fostering more inclusive, responsive, accountable, and democratic institutions. The United States will support and strengthen institutions, especially those relating to safety and justice, to manage and mitigate sources of violent conflict, including gender-based violence. The United States will support civil society actors that advocate and work toward greater civilian security.
The U.S. government will advocate policies and norms that prevent violence and protect vulnerable populations. The United States will press to strengthen norms concerning the protection of civilians, to prevent, mitigate, and redress mass atrocities, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, and to empower women's participation in political transitions and peace processes.
The U.S. government will provide needs-based humanitarian assistance through flexible and timely funding for persons affected by crises, conflicts, and natural disasters. Through collaboration with other donors and host countries, the United States will find solutions to displacement, promote disaster risk reduction and climate
change adaptation, and will foster resilience. In line with the NAP, the United States will respond to the needs of women and children in conflict-affected disasters and crises, including by providing safe, equitable access to humanitarian assistance.
The U.S. government will promote rapid and well-planned humanitarian responses through support to the United Nations, Red Cross organizations, and Non-governmental organizations; mobilize and partner with other donors and host governments; and engage the international humanitarian community to maximize the effectiveness of humanitarian aid.
Factors beyond U.S. government control that may affect our efforts include shocks to the global economic system; political, social, or economic instability; long-standing ethnic, religious or other societal group tensions; sovereignty issues that lead governments to restrict humanitarian operations within their borders; reluctance of foreign partners to share information, regulations on protection of national security information, and privacy concerns; and natural disasters and extreme weather. Factors the United States seeks to influence include endemic or institutionalized corruption; inadequate or nonexistent control of borders and sovereign territory; actors (state and non-state) with violent and/or destabilizing agendas; weak or dysfunctional national, regional, or local civil and military institutions; mismatches between the span of transnational criminal activity and the applicability of national laws and enforcement systems; partners' resources, capabilities, quality of their laws, and strength of their judicial/legal institutions; insufficient institutional capacity for economic development, environmental regulation and oversight; persistent gender inequality and gender-based violence; and allies and/or partners' views on the need to act on security issues.
Statement:No Data Available
Description:
Today, the United States faces diverse and complex security challenges. Hostile nation states, violent extremists, transnational organized crime, unaccountable or abusive governance, weak rule of law, and inter- and intra-state conflict all affect civilian security, international stability and prosperity, and directly threaten U.S. interests and foreign policy objectives. To meet these challenges, we must secure the world’s most dangerous weapons and material; prevent the rise of criminal and insurgent groups; mitigate the effects of transnational crime; dismantle al-Qa’ida, its affiliates and adherents, and other terrorist organizations and deny them new recruits; strengthen rule of law globally; counter threats posed in cyberspace; reaffirm and support the balance between individual rights and collective security; and empower women to play an equal role in solving global security problems.
Many of today’s threats cannot be solved by a single state, making U.S. global leadership and multilateral cooperation ever more crucial. This objective encompasses our efforts to counter violent extremism and build the counterterrorism capacities of partner nations’ law enforcement entities, and promote regional peace and security through our diplomatic engagement and security assistance to partner nations.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
In order to overcome these global security challenges, the Department of State and USAID will advance the Security Sector Assistance Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-23), helping partner countries build and sustain the capacity and effectiveness of institutions to provide security, safety, and justice for their people, and to contribute to efforts that address common security challenges. The Department and USAID efforts include pursuit of arms control and nonproliferation; reduction of transnational organized crime and strengthening rule of law (ROL); countering the drivers of recruitment and radicalization to violence; and securing cyberspace. The Department and USAID will cooperate with other federal agencies and international coalitions; foreign governments and their security and justice services, and multilateral organizations. Our strategy also entails cooperation with state and local partners and civil society.
The Department and USAID will balance assistance appropriately, supporting governments when interests converge and political will is present, when governments are accountable to their people and are committed to partnering with civil society for change, and as a check on abuse. To counter violent extremism, the United States will focus on the drivers of violent extremism.
Statement:No Data Available
Description:
U.S. efforts to improve global health advance our broader development goals and national security interests, and are a concrete expression of our humanitarian values. The State Department and USAID use diplomacy and foreign assistance programs to address U.S. government goals of creating an AIDS-free generation, ending preventable child and maternal deaths, and reducing the threat of infectious diseases. The U.S. government partners with multilateral institutions, donor nations, and other organizations to encourage and empower developing countries to build strong, sustainable health care systems. Expanding health care capacity abroad is essential to long-term development. Health is the largest component of U.S. development assistance.
U.S. investments that result in healthier people make for stronger, more prosperous, and more stable countries; they enhance international security and trade; and they ensure a safer, more resilient America. Despite successes in addressing health challenges in recent decades, in some places progress remains far too slow. Much remains to be done to strengthen health systems in developing countries and address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and maternal and child mortality. In 2012, 6.6 million children under the age of five died, many from preventable causes. Infectious, life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria are exacerbated by malnutrition and poor access to health services. Infectious disease outbreaks, whether naturally caused, intentionally produced, or accidentally released, remain among the foremost dangers to human health and the global economy. Many countries have limited capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to these threats.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The U.S. government has more than 10 years of experience in helping countries to rapidly expand HIV prevention, treatment, and care services through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR's current strategy, PEPFAR 3.0 - Controlling the Epidemic: Delivering on the Promise of an AIDS-Free Generation, showcases PEPFAR’s design to support the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)ambitious 90-90-90 global goals: 90 percent of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status; 90 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy; and 90 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression by 2020. This new focus requires a shift in business practices, pivoting to a data-driven approach that strategically targets geographical areas and populations where we can achieve the most impact for our investments. The PEPFAR 3.0 strategy makes clear that the United States' commitment to this goal will remain strong, comprehensive, and driven by science. Importantly, this framework emphasizes impact, efficiency, sustainability, partnership, and human rights as core agendas to create an AIDS-free generation.
In 2012, the U.S. government joined more than 175 countries and 400 civil society and faith organizations in pledging to end preventable child deaths worldwide by 2035, as part of the Call to Action for Child Survival. The Call to Action joins related efforts that have set ambitious goals to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, increase access to voluntary family planning, and accelerate improvements in malaria, nutrition, and water and sanitation. These renewed efforts have spurred strategic shifts in maternal and child health programming including: increasing efforts in those countries with the largest share of under-five deaths, focusing on reaching the most underserved populations, targeting the drivers of mortality through innovation and scalable interventions, and creating mutual accountability at all levels.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a jarring reminder of the need for a greater capability in all countries to rapidly detect and respond to new or re-emerging public health threats that “spill over” in humans from animal populations. The Global Health Security agenda is an effort between the U.S. government, other nations, international organizations and public and private stakeholders, to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats and to promote global health security as an international security priority. The State Department, along with other U.S. government agencies, contributes to global health security by strengthening policies related to dual-use research of concern.
The U.S. government will use its influence in multilateral and bilateral arenas to focus attention on accelerating achievement of U.S. global health objectives and the UN Millennium Development Goals. Continued diplomatic leadership on global health in the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda will remain a U.S. priority. Supported by the State Department and USAID, our diplomats and development professionals will promote country-owned health systems and encourage shared responsibility for financing health systems with partner governments, other donors, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Although U.S. positions on health in the Post-2015 Development Agenda have yet to be finalized, they will likely include a focus on creating an AIDS-free generation and ending preventable child and maternal deaths. The U.S. government is also considering incorporating new areas such as non-communicable diseases and a multi-sectoral focus on health system strengthening in the Post-2015 development goals.
Many external factors affect U.S. government efforts on country ownership and shared responsibility. A successful transition to country ownership depends on political stewardship by partner governments and the administrative and technical capabilities of numerous public and private institutions. Fiscal pressures on traditional donor countries will likely continue to negatively affect their ability to support multilateral initiatives. Steady economic growth in many regions, and particularly in Africa, will create opportunities for countries to direct more domestic resources toward their health sectors.
The U.S. government, through the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 and newly-signed Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2014, is committed to using its foreign assistance resources to help people and countries have reliable and sustainable access to an acceptable quantity and quality of water to meet their needs. USAID supports increased access to reliable and sustainable water supply and sanitation through funding for infrastructure development and through institutional and capacity development, strengthening of community-based systems, facilitation of private supply of products and services, improved management and governance, and mobilization of additional financing.
Priority Goal: Global Health
Statement:
Support the global effort to end preventable child and maternal deaths. By September 30, 2015, U.S. assistance to end preventable child and maternal deaths will contribute to reductions in under-five mortality in 24 maternal and child health U.S. Government-priority countries by 4 deaths per 1,000 live births as compared to a 2013 baseline.
Description:
USAID with its partners in the U.S. Government and the global community are committed to the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths. While many challenges remain, today, more than ever, we are equipped with the tools and knowledge to reach this goal. The health of mothers and children around the world is linked to improvements in maternal health, which inherently affect child health. Over the past two decades, there has been a nearly 50 percent reduction in maternal deaths, from 543,000 in 1990 to 287,000 in 2010. Meanwhile, the annual number of under-five deaths declined from 12.6 million in 1990 to 6.6 million in 2012. While under-five mortality is declining faster now than in the past two decades, with the annual rate of reduction more than tripling in 2005-2012 compared to the rate in 1990-1995, 18,000 children still die every day. The U.S. cannot act alone and in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal Four (Reduce Child Mortality) target by its agreed date of 2015, an additional 3.5 million children's lives above the current trend rate will need to be saved between 2013 and 2015.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Support the global effort to end preventable child and maternal deaths. By September 30, 2015, U.S. assistance to end preventable child and maternal deaths will contribute to reductions in under-five mortality in 24 maternal and child health U.S. Government-priority countries by 4 deaths per 1,000 live births as compared to a 2013 baseline.
Description:
USAID with its partners in the U.S. Government and the global community are committed to the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths. While many challenges remain, today, more than ever, we are equipped with the tools and knowledge to reach this goal. The health of mothers and children around the world is linked to improvements in maternal health, which inherently affect child health. Over the past two decades, there has been a nearly 50 percent reduction in maternal deaths, from 543,000 in 1990 to 287,000 in 2010. Meanwhile, the annual number of under-five deaths declined from 12.6 million in 1990 to 6.6 million in 2012. While under-five mortality is declining faster now than in the past two decades, with the annual rate of reduction more than tripling in 2005-2012 compared to the rate in 1990-1995, 18,000 children still die every day. The U.S. cannot act alone and in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal Four (Reduce Child Mortality) target by its agreed date of 2015, an additional 3.5 million children's lives above the current trend rate will need to be saved between 2013 and 2015.
Strategic Goal:
Promote the Transition to a Low-Emission, Climate-Resilient World while Expanding Global Access to Sustainable Energy
Statement:
Promote the Transition to a Low-Emission, Climate-Resilient World while Expanding Global Access to Sustainable Energy
Strategic Objectives
Statement:No Data Available
Description:
Addressing climate change successfully demands action at home and more intensive engagement with other countries. Domestically, by 2020, the United States plans to meet its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels.
Internationally, as a result of recent progress in negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the international climate regime now reflects pledges through 2020 by more than 80 countries constituting about 80 percent of global emissions, including the world’s major emitters, and holds countries accountable for their actions through regular and robust reporting and reviews. In December 2015, the 195 countries party to the UNFCCC are to conclude a new agreement addressing the global climate response in the post-2020 era. This will be a major milestone in the effort to combat climate change over the next two decades. Simultaneously, we will enhance engagement bilaterally, plurilaterally, and multilaterally to deliver results that will contribute to an ambitious and effective global response to climate change, through 2020 and beyond.
External factors that could affect our efforts include negotiating stances of other countries and domestic actions some countries take to combat climate change. The private sector plays a major role, as investment decisions such as the choice of technologies for new power generation and design of new cars and trucks can have a climate impact for years to come. Also, partnering with countries to encourage a low-emissions development path will be more successful when working with foreign governments that make combating climate change a priority.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
Through the President’s Climate Action Plan, the President’s Global Climate Change Initiative, and USAID’s Climate Change and Development Strategy, the United States has made low-emissions, climate-resilient sustainable economic growth a priority in our diplomacy and development. Our efforts involve two major areas of engagement: (1) lowering the atmospheric accumulation rate of greenhouse gases that cause climate change; and (2) helping societies anticipate and incorporate plans for responding to potential climate change impacts. The United States is leading efforts to address climate change through international climate negotiations while enhancing multilateral and bilateral engagement with major economies. It is also enhancing partnerships with other key countries and regions. The U.S. is focusing its efforts on actions that support a successful global approach to climate change, as reflected in discussions leading up to the Paris climate conference in 2015, and for subsequent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sessions. These efforts deliver results that contribute to an ambitious and effective global response to climate change to the year 2020 and beyond.
The U.S. is building partnerships to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants and from deforestation. For example, the U.S. works to secure a global phase-down of hydro-fluoro-carbons through the Montreal Protocol. If implemented, this could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 90 gigatons of CO2 equivalent by 2050. The U.S. is also building capacity for countries to undertake low-emission development policies. This work includes assisting countries to increase their capacity for cross-sector planning and formulating sectoral policies for low-emissions growth. Other efforts aim to expand clean energy generation and transmission and to increase energy efficiency while phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption. This requires mobilizing public and private investments in cleaner energy, implementing enhanced land-use practices, and building public-private partnerships that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
The Department of State and USAID’s climate-smart agriculture efforts involve implementing technologies that increase climate resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. State and USAID are also working to promote sustainable land uses, which combine climate change mitigation and resilience with long-term growth. Additionally, State and USAID support adaptation planning processes in vulnerable countries and communities by developing support tools that use climate science and improve access to data. These integrate climate data into planning decisions. They also strengthen public participation in climate change planning, especially by women, vulnerable populations, indigenous groups, and minorities. State and USAID back actions that increase climate resilience with respect to water security, land management, disaster planning, financial risk management, and management of biodiversity and natural resources.
The United States supports bilateral and multilateral programs by working with the most vulnerable communities, least developed and developing nations, and the major greenhouse gas emitters. Among the programs and efforts to achieve their overall climate change objectives, State and USAID have chosen to highlight efforts to support Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) as a cross-cutting Agency Priority Goal. Through LEDS assistance, State and USAID seek to guide policy-makers in analyzing, formulating, and making policy decisions enabling them to develop along a lower emission pathway, which contributes to greenhouse gas reduction efforts. The main program for providing LEDS Assistance, the Enhancing Capacity for LEDS (EC-LEDS) program is a unique State and USAID partnership that blends their respective strengths in diplomacy and development. EC-LEDS stands as a key element of U.S. climate assistance, alongside their critical efforts including: (1) the Major Economies Forum; (2) Clean Energy Ministerial; (3) Climate and Clean Air Coalition; (4) Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA)2020; and (5) a range of multilateral funds, such as the Clean Investment Funds and funds focusing on adaptation such as the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund.
Priority Goal: Climate Change
Statement:
Enable economic growth concurrent with significant reductions in national emissions trajectories through 2020 and the longer term by supporting the development and implementation of low emission development strategies (LEDS). By the end of 2015, U.S. bilateral assistance under LEDS will reach at least 25 countries (from the previous baseline of 22 countries) and will result in the achievement of at least 45 major individual country milestones, each reflecting a significant, measureable improvement in that country’s development or implementation of LEDS. Also by the end of 2015, at least 1,200 additional developing country government officials and practitioners (from a baseline of 0) will strengthen their LEDS capacity through participation in the LEDS Global Partnership and that capacity will be meaningfully applied to 25 countries (from a baseline of 0).
Description:
The focus of this Agency Priority Goal (APG) is to enable economic growth concurrent with significant reductions in national emissions trajectories through 2020 and the longer term by supporting the development and implementation of low emission development strategies (LEDS). Specifically, this APG measures the progress of Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) and the multilateral Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP).
Through EC-LEDS, a multiagency U.S. Government team is working with partner countries to identify and advance effective economy-wide LEDS.
The LEDS Global Partnership is a multilateral platform for enhanced coordination, information exchange, and cooperation among countries and international programs working to advance low emission climate resilient growth that the U.S. State Department founded.
Low-emission, climate-resilient sustainable economic growth is highlighted as a U.S. diplomatic and development priority in the U.S. National Security Strategy, the President’s development policy, the President’s Climate Action Plan, and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.
Statement:
Promote Energy Security, Access to Clean Energy, and the Transition to a Cleaner Global Economy
Description:
The geopolitics of energy is being transformed, as traditional energy producers address the steeply rising demand from the developing world. Changes in production patterns, such as the Western Hemisphere becoming a larger fossil fuel producer, are altering the global dynamic. The viability of new energy technologies, such as new ways to produce natural gas, and the steep fall in the cost of renewables, are changing energy market trade and consumption patterns.
At the same time, worldwide nearly 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity and 2.7 billion do not have a safe way to cook food. Although Africa has abundant renewable and hydrocarbon potential, 69 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global demand for electricity will grow 70 percent by 2035, faster than any other final form of energy. Over 80 percent of this global growth will be in non- OECD countries, with China and India accounting for half.
State and USAID are committed to working with our global partners to establish commercially viable energy sectors that can attract investment to expand access to energy, increase the use of clean energy and energy-efficient technologies, and ensure responsible, transparent, and effective stewardship of energy resources. Global access to reliable, affordable energy is vital to our economic, environment, foreign policy, and development priorities. The Department of State and USAID join together our diplomatic and programmatic efforts to build sustainable, transparent, and predictable international energy markets that advance U.S. national interests, our environmental goals, and a strong global economy.
Our prosperity and that of our international allies and partners depend on global markets for traded energy commodities such as oil and natural gas. While we must protect our energy security today, we must also foster international cooperation toward a global clean energy and energy-efficient future.
Engaging developing nations, which will be the largest contributors to growth in global energy demand in coming decades, is essential to successful energy and climate diplomacy. Expanding access to modern, affordable sustainable energy can be a win-win solution for the climate, the global economy, and development. It can curb greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, spur economic growth, and lower energy costs, while attracting private investment to emerging economies to improve national and regional power networks. Strengthening energy sector governance, transparency, and accountability supports economic growth, improves democratic prospects, reduces the potential for resource-fueled conflict, and helps U.S. businesses compete and operate in resource-rich states.
An estimated $17 trillion is needed through 2035 to meet global electricity demand, according to the IEA. Renewables are expected to account for two-thirds of new investment in generation capacity. Transformative technologies and the integration of renewable energy will not only diversify global energy supplies and be critical to meeting the world’s growing demand for electricity, but also offer U.S. manufacturers expansive commercial opportunities. Investment opportunities in global power markets are enormous. We are working to ensure that American companies are well-positioned for these new markets, especially in the fast growing emerging economies. We will continue to work for stable and transparent policy and regulatory frameworks to enable investments in national and regional markets. These markets offer economies of scale for U.S. exports in energy efficient, alternative, and renewable energy technologies.
The main external factor that could affect our work is whether the private sector can make the needed investments in energy infrastructure. This depends to a large extent on governments putting in place a sound energy sector regulatory framework and investment climate, but it also depends on market conditions and the capital that companies can commit. On the diplomatic side, if countries decide not to engage with international energy organizations, it could complicate efforts to strengthen those organizations.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
To promote energy security, access to clean energy, and mitigate climate change by accelerating the transition to a cleaner global economy, State and USAID will support increased energy efficiency, better energy sector governance, improved energy access, stronger national and regional energy markets, and more public and private financing.
To make energy systems more efficient, commercially viable, and cleaner, State and USAID will support programs that enhance utility performance, reduce technical and commercial losses, and improve air quality. State and USAID will also support energy sector restructuring, increasing the global rate of energy efficiency, and expanding the contribution of renewable energy. This will require improved energy sector planning, including institutional capacity building, technical assistance and integrated resource planning. It will also require expanded collaborations and public-private partnerships with other countries in science, technology, and innovation in clean energy. This work further includes policy and regulatory enhancement and reform efforts to strengthen the investment climate for clean energy projects. State and USAID will also be responsive to changes in natural gas markets in order to increase global availability of this bridge fuel.
Gaining access to energy can transform lives, State and USAID will seek to increase access to reliable, affordable energy services for underserved rural and urban populations across the world. This will require accelerating development and scaling-up appropriate business and financing models for energy access. It also means supporting cross-sectoral development priorities, such as health, agriculture, and education.
State and USAID will also promote improved energy sector governance on the national level and internationally through the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Strengthening national and regional energy markets is another key step toward reaching this objective. State and USAID will contribute by advancing Presidential initiatives in Asia, the Americas, and Africa to deploy clean energy and expand cross-border trade in electricity. One initiative is Power Africa, which aims to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa, initially focusing on six countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. We will also encourage international financial institutions and private sector companies to invest in power sector investments in sub-Saharan Africa. This requires mobilization of public and private sector finance. State and USAID will push for transparent and streamlined processes for due diligence, tendering, and procurement to accelerate power projects to reach financial close. State and USAID will also work for enhanced access to credit and risk mitigation.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Enable economic growth concurrent with significant reductions in national emissions trajectories through 2020 and the longer term by supporting the development and implementation of low emission development strategies (LEDS). By the end of 2015, U.S. bilateral assistance under LEDS will reach at least 25 countries (from the previous baseline of 22 countries) and will result in the achievement of at least 45 major individual country milestones, each reflecting a significant, measureable improvement in that country’s development or implementation of LEDS. Also by the end of 2015, at least 1,200 additional developing country government officials and practitioners (from a baseline of 0) will strengthen their LEDS capacity through participation in the LEDS Global Partnership and that capacity will be meaningfully applied to 25 countries (from a baseline of 0).
Description:
The focus of this Agency Priority Goal (APG) is to enable economic growth concurrent with significant reductions in national emissions trajectories through 2020 and the longer term by supporting the development and implementation of low emission development strategies (LEDS). Specifically, this APG measures the progress of Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) and the multilateral Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP).
Through EC-LEDS, a multiagency U.S. Government team is working with partner countries to identify and advance effective economy-wide LEDS.
The LEDS Global Partnership is a multilateral platform for enhanced coordination, information exchange, and cooperation among countries and international programs working to advance low emission climate resilient growth that the U.S. State Department founded.
Low-emission, climate-resilient sustainable economic growth is highlighted as a U.S. diplomatic and development priority in the U.S. National Security Strategy, the President’s development policy, the President’s Climate Action Plan, and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.
Strategic Goal:
Protect Core U.S. Interests by Advancing Democracy and Human Rights and Strengthening Civil Society
Statement:
Protect Core U.S. Interests by Advancing Democracy and Human Rights and Strengthening Civil Society
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Strengthen and Protect Civil Society, Recognizing the Essential Role of Local Capacity in Advancing Democratic Governance and Human Rights
Description:
For more than 200 years, the State Department has focused its diplomatic engagement on other governments – and done so successfully. But since the late 20th century, international relations have not been about ties between governments. The growth of new democracies, shifts in culture, rise of the middle class worldwide, and advances in technology have resulted in the diffusion of power from governments to citizens. Even in autocratic societies, leaders must increasingly respond to the opinions and actions of their people. Today, international relations are increasingly about the links between societies rather than governments.
Civil society can be a catalyst for social, political, and economic progress. Civic groups mobilize people and resources to fight disease and hunger. They work to strengthen rule of law and promote accountability and transparency. They are also critical to economic development, because in our global economy, trade and investment flow to countries that give citizens the freedom to create and develop new ideas. Labor organizations are essential to set a floor on labor standards in a globalized marketplace. Strong civil societies uphold universal human rights and provide care to victims. Political systems that protect universal rights are more stable, successful, and secure. For the United States, strengthening and protecting civil society is not just a matter of good global citizenship; it is a more effective and efficient path to advancing key foreign policy objectives.
In September 2013, President Obama launched a “Stand with Civil Society” agenda aimed at bolstering civil society throughout the world and pushing back on the growing restrictions on it. As part of this agenda, the White House established an interagency process to coordinate overarching U.S. government policy on opening and safeguarding civic space.
The State Department and USAID continue to make efforts to strengthen and protect civil society, promote participatory and inclusive political processes, and increase connections between Americans and people around the world – through efforts ranging from public service and educational exchanges to increased commerce and public-private partnerships. As a matter of policy, we oppose restrictions on civil society and engage when governments try to stifle civic activism. Through USAID and State programming, we strengthen the legal environment for civil society, promote politically engaged and informed citizenries, help develop open and sustainable media sectors, and support independent and democratic trade or labor unions. We integrate religious engagement as a crucial element of our bilateral and multilateral efforts to promote religious tolerance, in line with the NSS Strategy for Integrating Religious Leader and Faith Community Engagement into U.S. Foreign Policy. We use technology and multi-stakeholder engagement to advance Internet freedom and strengthen civil society’s ability to serve, advocate, and organize. And we provide civil society, independent media organizations, bloggers, and advocates with mentoring, tools, and techniques to enhance their advocacy skills, bolster their information technology capabilities, and protect their security, both online and offline. At a time of budget austerity and growing restrictions on foreign assistance, we also work to foster domestic philanthropy abroad and address legal impediments to charitable giving.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The State Department and USAID have developed new capabilities and partnerships that expand our capacity for engagement with civil society, and implement programs and policies to foster vibrant civic ecosystems worldwide. USAID is also working with local grassroots civil society organizations in an effort to increase local capacity.
The State Department is enhancing its people-to-people exchange programs and elevating youth issues as a policy priority. The State Department’s youth policy led to the creation of a Special Adviser on Global Youth Issues and an Office of Global Youth Issues, and has exponentially expanded our outreach to young people around the world via direct engagement by diplomatic posts, exchange programs, virtual classrooms, and social media. Through these efforts, the United States is building ties to young professionals and emerging leaders in a global economy.
The Department of State engages a full range of tools, including diplomacy, foreign assistance and public-private partnerships, to optimize the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as a vehicle to support civic participation and make government more responsive, effective, and accountable.
The U.S. government also funds a broad range of technical assistance programs supporting civil society, including programs that track and monitor legislation that restricts the work of civil society in more than 40 countries. The Department works through the Community of Democracies to coordinate diplomatic responses to actions, including pending legislation abroad, that threaten civil society or could increase restrictions on the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression, online and offline. We also work multilaterally to provide targeted technical assistance to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and partner with 18 other governments and foundations through the Lifeline. Embattled CSOs Assistance Fund to offer emergency financial assistance when civic groups are threatened.
Defending Internet freedom is a central component of U.S. support for civil society, both through diplomatic efforts and the expenditure of over $120 million in programming funds to date. For example, the United States supports the Digital Defenders Partnership, which provides emergency assistance for activists, bloggers, citizen journalists, and common citizens who have been harassed, threatened, or arrested for exercising their human rights online. This Partnership has also invested millions to strengthen civil society’s capacity to advocate for laws and policies that facilitate unfettered Internet access. We support the development of technologies for activists in highly repressive environments and provide training to protect activists in these environments from harm. In developing countries, we strengthen civil society role in Internet policymaking and support their participation in global Internet governance. The Department of State and USAID will continue to strengthen civil society by providing training and offering tools for success while also working with partners in the philanthropic community to encourage domestic philanthropy and volunteerism abroad.
External factors, including competing U.S. geopolitical priorities, budgetary constraints on our foreign assistance, austerity measures by partner governments, and a lack of political will from like-minded partners to engage systematically, could impede our progress in advancing this objective.
Statement:
Promote and Protect Human Rights through Constructive Bilateral and Multilateral Engagement and Targeted Assistance
Description:
Secretary Kerry has said, “Human rights are quite simply the foundation for a free and an open society. And history shows us that countries whose policies respect and reflect these rights are far more likely to be more peaceful and more prosperous, far more effective at tapping the talents of their people, far more capable of being innovative and moving rapidly and innovatively in the marketplace, and they are better long-term partners.” The National Security Strategy affirms that our human rights policy is guided by the principle, enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that all people are “born free and equal in dignity and rights” and the fact that nations that embrace these values for their citizens are ultimately more successful than those that do not.
The United States works to promote and protect universal human rights worldwide, including an individual’s right to be free from slavery and involuntary servitude, to speak one’s own mind, to assemble without fear, to believe or not to believe in a religion, and to choose his or her own leaders. Those rights also include dignity, tolerance, and equality among all people, including ethnic and racial minorities; religious minorities; women; youth; indigenous persons; displaced persons; stateless persons; persons with disabilities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Internationally recognized labor rights are enshrined in the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
We are working with international partners to reverse the troubling trend of increasing restrictions on the freedoms of association and assembly, especially restrictions on civil society organizations, and to combat violence against religious minorities. We are broadening and diversifying multi-stakeholder initiatives that provide support for civil society organizations and human rights defenders, especially those under threat.
Through our partnerships with governments, civil society, human rights defenders, and the private sector, the State Department and USAID seek: the repeal or non-enforcement of discriminatory laws around the world; the adoption of inclusive, rights-respecting legal frameworks in societies in transition; enhanced respect for human rights and accountability within security forces, including the prevention of and response to gender-based violence; justice and accountability for gross human rights violations and atrocities; accountability for perpetrators of human trafficking, including forced labor, sex trafficking, and child soldiering, and protection of victims; and workers’ rights, including combating the worst forms of child labor and discrimination. We will continue our focus on advancing the ability of people worldwide to exercise freely their universal human rights through new technologies, safely, and without fear of retribution. We will also continue to work with civil society and business partners to promote responsible business conduct in ways that reinforce our human rights objectives.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
Secretary Kerry has said, "Human rights are quite simply the foundation for a free and an open society. And history shows us that countries whose policies respect and reflect these rights are far more likely to be more peaceful and more prosperous, far more effective at tapping the talents of their people, far more capable of being innovative and moving rapidly and innovatively in the marketplace, and they are better long-term partners." The National Security Strategy affirms that our human rights policy is guided by the principle, enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that all people are "born free and equal in dignity and rights" and the fact that nations that embrace these values for their citizens are ultimately more successful than those that do not.
The United States works to promote and protect universal human rights worldwide, including an individual's right to be free from slavery and involuntary servitude, to speak one's own mind, to assemble without fear, to believe or not to believe in a religion, and to choose his or her own leaders. Those rights also include dignity, tolerance, and equality among all people; including ethnic and racial minorities, religious minorities, women, youth, indigenous persons, displaced persons, stateless persons, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Internationally-recognized labor rights are enshrined in the 1998 International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
The U.S. government is working with international partners to reverse the troubling trend of increasing restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association and assembly, civil society organizations, and violence against religious minorities. The U.S. government is broadening and diversifying multi-stakeholder initiatives that provide support for civil society organizations and human rights defenders, especially those under threat.
In September 2013, President Obama launched Stand with Civil Society, a global call to action to support, defend, and sustain civil society amid a rising tide of restrictions on its operations globally. Working in partnership with other governments, the philanthropic community, and multilateral initiatives, the U.S. government has focused on three lines of effort over the past year: (1) promoting laws, policies, and practices that foster a supportive environment for civil society in accordance with international norms; (2) coordinating multilateral, diplomatic pressure to push back against undue restrictions on civil society; and (3) identifying innovative ways of providing technical, financial, and logistical support to promote a transparent and vibrant civil society. The U.S. government is the largest supporter of civil society in the world, with more than $2.7 billion invested to strengthen civil society since 2010.
Through U.S. partnerships with governments, civil society, human rights defenders, and the private sector, the Department of State and USAID seek: (1) the repeal or non-enforcement of discriminatory laws around the world; (2) the adoption of inclusive, rights-respecting legal frameworks in societies in transition; (3) enhanced respect for human rights and accountability within security forces, including the prevention of and response to gender-based violence; (4) justice and accountability for gross human rights violations and atrocities; (5) accountability for perpetrators of human trafficking – including forced labor, sex trafficking, and child soldiering – and protection of victims; and (6) workers' rights, including combating the worst forms of child labor and discrimination. The U.S. government will continue its focus on advancing the ability of people worldwide to exercise freely their universal human rights through new technologies, safely, and without fear of retribution.
The U.S. government will also continue to work with civil society and business partners to promote responsible business conduct in ways that reinforce our human rights objectives.
Statement:
Encourage Democratic Governance as a Force for Stability, Peace, and Prosperity
Description:
The United States supports the expansion of democracy abroad because countries with freely elected, accountable governments contribute to a freer, more prosperous, and peaceful world. Democracies are our strongest partners on security, trade, energy, and the environment, in peace and conflict. Our support for democratic ideals supplies a lifeline for individuals striving for change, and is our greatest strength in combating violent extremism. Democratic governments work with the United States to build consensus and solve problems on the global stage. Their respect for the pluralism of ideas, inclusiveness, and vibrant civil societies leads to innovation and entrepreneurship that benefits all.
The United States works to promote and institutionalize the foundations of democratic accountability around the world – free and fair electoral processes, strong legislatures, rights-respecting constitutions and legal frameworks, civilian control of militaries, a vibrant private sector, and a robust civil society with independent NGOs and labor unions, and a free and independent media – online and off. Democratic accountability also requires accountable civilian police, independent and fair judiciaries, commitment to proactively investigate and prosecute human rights violators, including human traffickers, and humane corrections systems. Through diplomacy and development, we seek to end impunity and foster greater accountability of institutions and leaders to the people and the law. We promote fiscal transparency to improve accountability and citizens’ understanding of economic governance and fiscal policy choices. We encourage governments to pursue anti-corruption measures and thereby build accountability and support for democracy.
The United States works to build and sustain the capacity for all members of society, including women and under-represented groups, to participate fully in the democratic process and in the strengthening of democratic institutions. We encourage consensus building, and we promote the right of individuals, NGOs, and other civil society organizations to peacefully exercise their rights of expression, association, and assembly.
We support the leadership of emerging democracies as they assume a more active role in advancing basic human rights and democratic values in their regions and globally. In nascent or fragile democracies, we support governments and civil society as they build and strengthen institutions necessary for democratic development, rule of law, and delivery of tangible improvements for their people. And in closed or restrictive societies, we support civil society, particularly human rights defenders and independent media.
The State Department and USAID work in concert with those seeking democratic outcomes and make clear that we cannot have the same close relationship with those who deny their own people’s voice. We will make clear that all people should have a say in how they are governed, that governments should be the collective power of the citizenry, and that leaders draw their legitimacy from those they govern. And we will emphasize the importance of including all members of society regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, caste, disability, or sexual orientation. We reaffirm our commitment to encourage democratic governance as a force for stability, peace, and prosperity.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
Only the people of a nation can truly bring about sustainable democracy. U.S. senior officials engage publicly and privately with citizens in countries eager for progress and those burdened by non-democratic forms of governance. The U.S. government pushes back on attempts to dismantle democratic institutions, and works with like-minded governments such as: the United Nations (UN), particularly the Human Rights Council; the UN General Assembly Third (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs) Committee; and the UN Special Rapporteurs. The U.S. government also engages regional mechanisms such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Organization of American States; and intergovernmental organizations like the Community of Democracies to advance democratic ideals and to deter backsliding by governments. Working with U.S. implementers and directly with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), U.S. programs build the capacity of government institutions and officials pressing for democratic progress and transparency, and empower citizens and NGOs. The U.S. government works to ensure that civil society continues to demand government accountability, transparency, and services, and engages in their respective political systems. The U.S. government promotes fiscal transparency to improve accountability and citizens’ understanding of economic governance and fiscal policy choices. The U.S. government supports rigorous program evaluations to identify promising, effective democratization strategies and to conduct needs assessments and other research to guide program decisions. U.S. rapid response funds and flexible foreign assistance funding mechanisms allows the United States to intercede as unforeseen backsliding or opportunities arise.
Many factors could affect achievement of these goals. Democratic progress can take decades, and setbacks are common. It is difficult to quantify our impact in accomplishing our diplomatic objectives or our medium to longer-term programmatic impact, because success may not be apparent for years and is often the result of the efforts by many contributors. There will be voices that challenge and impede our multilateral democracy and human rights efforts.
In the short-term, authoritarian non-rights-respecting governments may oppose the U.S. public stance or describe U.S. engagement with opposition parties or civil society as interference. These governments may balk at democracy-building measures and threaten to delay agreements or progress on other priorities, be they security, political, or economic priorities. Consistent engagement is necessary for success.
Strategic Goal:
Modernize the Way We Do Diplomacy and Development
Statement:
Modernize the Way We Do Diplomacy and Development
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Enable Diplomats and Development Professionals to Influence and Operate More Efficiently, Effectively, and Collaboratively
Description:
Twenty-first century diplomatic and development challenges demand innovative approaches to create transformational solutions. In an era when information is disseminated instantaneously worldwide, our ability to engage quickly and effectively with the multitude of stakeholders, customers, and audiences is a core competency for our high-performing, motivated professionals. To meet these challenges also requires a flexible, nimble and efficient support platform for our professionals who are representing the United States around the world.
President Obama announced his commitment to attaining an unprecedented level of transparency and excellence in government, which is reflected in his second-term Management Agenda. The State Department and USAID, in support of this Agenda, are spearheading new efforts to engage with the public, modernize information systems, streamline administrative processes, and ensure the prompt release of information to the public, while remaining cognizant of protecting our partners working in closed societies and other sensitive environments. Several of our initiatives involve management innovations in an environment that encourages us to continuously improve our processes and procedures. These apply evidenced-based planning; acquisition and assistance reform; enhanced information technology platforms; and procedures for the strategic allocation, alignment, and assessment of our resources. Other initiatives involve creating new approaches to diplomacy and development that embrace the power and role of individual citizens and publics as critical to achieving shared goals or for countering the influence of extremist and violent individuals and groups. In meeting all of these challenges, State and USAID are committed to ensuring that we use our resources in the most effective and focused ways possible while also adhering to U.S. government statutes and regulations and embracing the highest ethical and professional standards.
Reflecting a new model, we seek to apply the transformative power of science, technology, innovation, and partnerships to deliver more cost-effective, sustainable results. Applying technological advances is a common element of the activities directed at achieving this goal’s objective. Improving customer service and coping with a projected 40 percent increase in passport applications through a new electronic application process; furthering sustainability of USAID development investments through a diversified partner base of local organizations, U.S. small businesses, and other high-impact partnerships; introducing interactive communications platforms for engagement beyond the state and to share more information with the public through innovative technologies, and creating training opportunities to keep our professionals and their families safe and secure. These exemplify efforts where State and USAID are changing the ways that we do business.
At a time when changes in technology, demography, and political discourse are giving citizens around the world unmatched power to affect their societies and U.S. interests, the President has called upon the Department and USAID to understand and forge stronger relationships with foreign publics and emerging leaders. Modernizing diplomacy and development requires the Department and USAID’s commitment to becoming more efficient, effective, transparent, and flexible organizations and to finding innovative approaches to advance U.S. interests and enhance our national security.
Strategies for Achieving the Objective
The Department of State and USAID are pursuing several courses of action to achieve this objective. They will continue to explore balanced, smart, and lean approaches to addressing joint management issues. The Joint Management Board, which was a direct result of Government Accountability Office recommendations, will continue to find ways to drive efficiency into our overseas operations and reduce operating costs. The Department and USAID will continue to adopt balanced, smart, and lean methodologies for continuously improving core business processes, including the completion of joint vouchering efficiencies by September 30, 2014. The Department and USAID will also leverage learning from each other to advance efficiency and effectiveness in their contributions to the achievement of Federal Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goals.
USAID and the Department will enhance their effectiveness by implementing new technology solutions. These are geared to improving the provision of American citizens services, streamlining and simultaneously enhancing the scrutiny given visa applicants, reducing operating costs, boosting collaboration, improving security and countering extremist threats, and broadening engagement opportunities. By applying existing and new analytical tools and data sources, USAID and the Department are aiming to strengthen their staffing and operations through identifying opportunities for more cost-effective procurement processes and foreign assistance management.
Another focus of the Department’s efforts involves transitioning its engagement activities from ones which tended toward engagements that involved limited, exclusive, and direct contacts to an approach based on a culture of openness. This has resulted in the expanded use of digital communications platforms such as social media, digital video conferencing, smart phone applications, and similar means that allow the Department to reach directly to people and that open up its public engagement to all who are interested, not just the limited audience that can be invited to attend our events in person.
Innovations at USAID make it possible to deliver results on a larger scale while simultaneously pursuing more strategic, focused, sustainable, and results-oriented approaches that maximize the impact of our development dollars. Evidence-based planning and increased operational efficiency and effectiveness are among the factors accounting for the impressive improvements in performance and results.
USAID is also promoting sustainable development through building high-impact partnerships. USAID is collaborating with and directly supporting host governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia, all of which serve as engines of growth and progress for their own nations. USAID is using, strengthening, and rendering accountable local partners so they can sustain their own development. These and other efforts have made it possible to identify and scale up innovative, breakthrough solutions to hitherto intractable development challenges. For USAID, the power of science, technology, innovation, and partnerships are all being applied to the goal of delivering more effective, cost-efficient results for sustainable global development.
Priority Goal: Excellence in Consular Service Delivery
Statement:
Through September 30, 2015, maintain a 99% rate of all passport applications processed within the targeted timeframe and ensure 80% of nonimmigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of the date of application.
Description:
The mission of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to provide consular operations that most efficiently and effectively protect U.S. citizens, ensure U.S. security, facilitate the entry of legitimate travelers, and foster economic growth. Two core functions of this mission are the provision of passports and visas. Demand for passport and visa documents is inherently unpredictable in the long term, and this variability can greatly affect workload planning efforts. This is true especially with regard to the current Congressional discussion surrounding comprehensive immigration reform and the potential challenges the Department would face in implementing any reform legislation. While the proposed reforms would have a major impact on consular operations and workload, CA will work closely with Congress, the Administration, and its interagency partners to be sure it has the human and financial resources to implement any changes to U.S. law efficiently and effectively.
Domestically, the Department supports a significant presence across the country to respond to the consular service needs of the U.S. public. Most notably, this presence consists of 28 passport agencies and centers and a network of more than 8,441 public offices managed by other federal, state, and local government agencies/offices that are designated to accept passport applications. The number of valid passports in circulation has doubled in the past decade. Approximately 114 million U.S. citizens, or 37 percent of the population, have valid passports. In FY 2013, CA issued 13.5 million passport book and card products, a 3.1 percent increase over FY 2012. A potential impending surge in passport renewal applications represents a rising challenge to the achievement of this performance goal. Based on analysis of renewal application trends, passport renewal rates are expected to increase significantly from previous years, beginning in FY 2017.
With Executive Order 13597 issued in January 2012, CA needed to increase its visa processing capacity in Brazil and China by 40 percent and ensure that 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applicants worldwide are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of an application. In FY 2013, CA processed 10.7 million nonimmigrant visa applications and issued 9.2 million nonimmigrant visas, a 3.6 percent increase over the previous year, while working through extraordinary increases in visa demand in key markets such as a nearly 38 percent increase in Colombia. Currently, more than 80 percent of applicants worldwide, on average, are interviewed within three weeks of submitting their applications, a significant change over the 70% in early FY 2012.
Providing Excellence in Consular Service Delivery provides additional benefits toward the achievement of the Department’s goals. The Department’s efforts facilitate the travel of 67 million visitors to the United States each year, who, according to the Department of Commerce’s 2012 United States Travel and Tourism Statistics, spent $166 billion, an average of $2,478 per visitor. An estimated 1.2 million jobs in the United States are supported annually by international travel. In addition to the economic benefits, the visa issuance process is the front-line of ensuring U.S. security through the visa interview process, which can eliminate applicants desiring to travel to the U.S. for illegitimate purposes.
Priority Goal: USAID Procurement Reform
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, USAID will reduce procurement administrative lead time (PALT) by 40 percent from the 2009 baseline of 513 calendar days, increase percentage of program funding going directly to local partners to 30 percent, and meet or exceed the prime contract acquisition dollars obligated to U.S. small businesses worldwide by 10 percent from the FY 2013 baseline of 8.2 percent.
Description:
As a cornerstone of its USAID Forward reform agenda, USAID has begun a critical shift in the way we administer our assistance, placing a greater emphasis on public-private partnerships, channeling funding to local governments and organizations that have the in-country knowledge and expertise to create sustainable positive change, and expanding our partner base. USAID is also focused on streamlining the procurement process, building new partnerships, and institutionalizing our reforms.
USAID is committed to work in full partnership with local governments and organizations and tailoring its approaches accordingly. The Agency’s Local Solutions initiative will focus on the following:
- Convening partners from across local organizations with which USAID has partnered – whether these are governments, civil society, the private sector, donors, or implementing resource partners to identify development challenges;
- Connecting these stakeholders with innovative products, processes, or policies to address these challenges; and
- Contextualizing and scaling up these solutions within local systems.
In so doing, the Agency will support sustainable development results and allow cooperative and mutually accountable relationships to grow. These relationships – between USAID and partner country stakeholders, as well as among these stakeholders are critical to the development of resilient societies that can deliver results to their citizens.
The Agency collaborates with these stakeholders by investing in projects and programs in these countries through its procurement process. In 2012, USAID obligated $13.9 billion through acquisition and assistance mechanisms. Given the important role that procurement plays in enabling USAID to carry out its mission around the world, it is critical that the Agency’s acquisition and assistance processes operate efficiently and effectively to achieve our development objectives. In 2009, the average time for USAID to award a contract in originating in Washington was 513 calendar days. This delay in lead time for awarding contracts resulted in a delay in program implementation. Therefore, reducing the time it takes to make an award is a critical priority for the Agency.
Small businesses are vital to the U.S. economy and provide critical resources that contribute to the mission of USAID. By expanding opportunities for U.S. small businesses, we energize the U.S. economy and leverage a greater diversity of experience and expertise in our development objectives. U.S. small businesses make up a majority of U.S. businesses, and USAID partners with these businesses to increase innovation and provide new approaches to our programs.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Through September 30, 2015, maintain a 99% rate of all passport applications processed within the targeted timeframe and ensure 80% of nonimmigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of the date of application.
Description:
The mission of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to provide consular operations that most efficiently and effectively protect U.S. citizens, ensure U.S. security, facilitate the entry of legitimate travelers, and foster economic growth. Two core functions of this mission are the provision of passports and visas. Demand for passport and visa documents is inherently unpredictable in the long term, and this variability can greatly affect workload planning efforts. This is true especially with regard to the current Congressional discussion surrounding comprehensive immigration reform and the potential challenges the Department would face in implementing any reform legislation. While the proposed reforms would have a major impact on consular operations and workload, CA will work closely with Congress, the Administration, and its interagency partners to be sure it has the human and financial resources to implement any changes to U.S. law efficiently and effectively.
Domestically, the Department supports a significant presence across the country to respond to the consular service needs of the U.S. public. Most notably, this presence consists of 28 passport agencies and centers and a network of more than 8,441 public offices managed by other federal, state, and local government agencies/offices that are designated to accept passport applications. The number of valid passports in circulation has doubled in the past decade. Approximately 114 million U.S. citizens, or 37 percent of the population, have valid passports. In FY 2013, CA issued 13.5 million passport book and card products, a 3.1 percent increase over FY 2012. A potential impending surge in passport renewal applications represents a rising challenge to the achievement of this performance goal. Based on analysis of renewal application trends, passport renewal rates are expected to increase significantly from previous years, beginning in FY 2017.
With Executive Order 13597 issued in January 2012, CA needed to increase its visa processing capacity in Brazil and China by 40 percent and ensure that 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applicants worldwide are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of an application. In FY 2013, CA processed 10.7 million nonimmigrant visa applications and issued 9.2 million nonimmigrant visas, a 3.6 percent increase over the previous year, while working through extraordinary increases in visa demand in key markets such as a nearly 38 percent increase in Colombia. Currently, more than 80 percent of applicants worldwide, on average, are interviewed within three weeks of submitting their applications, a significant change over the 70% in early FY 2012.
Providing Excellence in Consular Service Delivery provides additional benefits toward the achievement of the Department’s goals. The Department’s efforts facilitate the travel of 67 million visitors to the United States each year, who, according to the Department of Commerce’s 2012 United States Travel and Tourism Statistics, spent $166 billion, an average of $2,478 per visitor. An estimated 1.2 million jobs in the United States are supported annually by international travel. In addition to the economic benefits, the visa issuance process is the front-line of ensuring U.S. security through the visa interview process, which can eliminate applicants desiring to travel to the U.S. for illegitimate purposes.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, USAID will reduce procurement administrative lead time (PALT) by 40 percent from the 2009 baseline of 513 calendar days, increase percentage of program funding going directly to local partners to 30 percent, and meet or exceed the prime contract acquisition dollars obligated to U.S. small businesses worldwide by 10 percent from the FY 2013 baseline of 8.2 percent.
Description:
As a cornerstone of its USAID Forward reform agenda, USAID has begun a critical shift in the way we administer our assistance, placing a greater emphasis on public-private partnerships, channeling funding to local governments and organizations that have the in-country knowledge and expertise to create sustainable positive change, and expanding our partner base. USAID is also focused on streamlining the procurement process, building new partnerships, and institutionalizing our reforms.
USAID is committed to work in full partnership with local governments and organizations and tailoring its approaches accordingly. The Agency’s Local Solutions initiative will focus on the following:
- Convening partners from across local organizations with which USAID has partnered – whether these are governments, civil society, the private sector, donors, or implementing resource partners to identify development challenges;
- Connecting these stakeholders with innovative products, processes, or policies to address these challenges; and
- Contextualizing and scaling up these solutions within local systems.
In so doing, the Agency will support sustainable development results and allow cooperative and mutually accountable relationships to grow. These relationships – between USAID and partner country stakeholders, as well as among these stakeholders are critical to the development of resilient societies that can deliver results to their citizens.
The Agency collaborates with these stakeholders by investing in projects and programs in these countries through its procurement process. In 2012, USAID obligated $13.9 billion through acquisition and assistance mechanisms. Given the important role that procurement plays in enabling USAID to carry out its mission around the world, it is critical that the Agency’s acquisition and assistance processes operate efficiently and effectively to achieve our development objectives. In 2009, the average time for USAID to award a contract in originating in Washington was 513 calendar days. This delay in lead time for awarding contracts resulted in a delay in program implementation. Therefore, reducing the time it takes to make an award is a critical priority for the Agency.
Small businesses are vital to the U.S. economy and provide critical resources that contribute to the mission of USAID. By expanding opportunities for U.S. small businesses, we energize the U.S. economy and leverage a greater diversity of experience and expertise in our development objectives. U.S. small businesses make up a majority of U.S. businesses, and USAID partners with these businesses to increase innovation and provide new approaches to our programs.
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FY16-17 Agency Priority Goals
An Agency Priority Goal is a near-term result or achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within approximately 24 months that relies predominantly on agency implementation as opposed to budget or legislative accomplishments. Click below to see this agency's FY16-17 Priority Goals.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Improve visa and passport customer service and processing speed in support of the travel and tourism sector of the U.S. economy, while preserving the integrity of passport and visa adjudication processes.
Through September 30, 2017, process 99 percent of all passport applications within published timeframes and ensure 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of the date of application.
Description:
The mission of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to provide efficient and effective consular services to protect U.S. citizens abroad, ensure U.S. security, facilitate the entry of legitimate foreign travelers, and foster economic growth. Two core functions of this mission are the adjudication of passport and visa applications. Demand for passports and visas is subject to unpredictable factors, and this variability affects workload planning.
Domestically, the Department supports a significant presence across the country to respond to the consular service needs of the U.S. public. This presence consists of 29 passport agencies and centers and a network of more than 8,000 public offices managed by other federal, state, and local government agencies/offices designated to accept passport applications. Approximately 126 million U.S. citizens, 38.6 percent of the population, have valid passports; this number has almost doubled in the last decade. In fiscal year (FY) 2014, CA processed 13.3 million passport applications, a 4.6 percent increase over FY 2013. An expected surge in passport renewal applications represents a rising challenge to the achievement of our passport-related performance goal. Based on analysis of renewal application trends, passport renewal rates increased by 14.8 percent in FY 2015, and are expected to increase further through FY 2017.
Executive Order 13597, issued in January 2012, required CA to increase visa adjudicating capacity in Brazil and China by 40 percent and ensure that 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applicants worldwide are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of an application. In FY 2015, CA adjudicated more than 13 million NIV applications, a 13.5 percent increase from FY 2014, while working through extraordinary increases in visa demand in key markets, including a 50 percent increase in China. Adjudications of NIV applications grew by more than 86 percent from FY 2009 to FY 2015. Even with this growth, in FY 2015, more than 92.5 percent of applicants worldwide, on average, were interviewed within three weeks of submitting their applications, a significant change from 70 percent in early FY 2012.
In calendar year (CY) 2014, the Department’s efforts facilitated the travel of 75 million visitors to the United States, who, according to the Department of Commerce’s 2014 United States Travel and Tourism Statistics, spent $220.6 billion, an average of almost $3,000 per visitor. An estimated 1.1 million jobs in the United States are supported by international travel. In addition to the economic benefits, the visa adjudication process puts CA at the front line of U.S. border security, as consular staff vet individuals who seek to travel to the United States.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Increase access to market information for U.S. businesses looking to export.
By September 30, 2017, the Department of State will increase the number of Direct Line calls and webinars by 20 percent and increase the average number of participants on the calls by 10 percent over the FY2015 baseline to provide U.S. companies with tactical, on-the-ground information critical to market access and decision-making.
Description:
President Obama announced the National Export Initiative (NEI) in his 2010 State of the Union. This initiative aimed to renew and revitalize our efforts to promote American exports abroad. Exports have been a key driver in our nation’s economic growth. The United States has added 1.6 million new jobs since 2009 solely due to exports. Jobs related to exports pay up to 18 percent higher than jobs not related to exports. Earlier this year, the Department of Commerce released a report showing that U.S. goods and service exports supported more than 11.7 million jobs in 2014 – a new record. In May 2014, the Administration announced the launching of NEI/NEXT: a new customer service-driven strategy with improved information resources that will ensure American businesses are fully able to capitalize on expanded opportunities to sell their goods and services abroad. This initiative will build on the success of the NEI.
Today, a small percentage of America’s 30 million companies export their goods or services. Of the U.S. companies that do export, two-thirds export to only one country. Increasing this number, even by a small percentage, could have a big impact on the U.S. economy. EB has been a leading player in the U.S. government’s efforts to shape opportunities of American businesses overseas and one of our signature efforts is the "Direct Line" program.
The Direct Line program provides a unique opportunity for American businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, to engage directly via teleconference or webcast with U.S. Ambassadors overseas at our 270 Embassies and Consulates in over 190 countries. Small and medium enterprises (SME) operating in a high-speed global marketplace need answers to their questions quickly. Quick access to accurate information is the cornerstone of Direct Line program. It is important to note that U.S. business, particularly SMEs, face considerable hurdles to enter overseas markets. This information will provide U.S. companies with tactical, on-the-ground information critical to market access and decision-making.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Combat global climate change by supporting the transition to high-performing, low-carbon economies.
By September 30, 2017, U.S. government partnerships with developing countries to refine and implement their low emission development strategies (LEDS) will result in achievement of 100 (from a baseline of 46) major milestones which contribute to significant, measureable progress toward achieving domestic and international contributions to global greenhouse gas reductions. At least 4,000 developing country government officials and practitioners (from a baseline of 2,000) will strengthen their LEDS capacity through participation in the LEDS Global Partnership (GP), and that capacity will result in strengthened LEDS policies or measures in 24 countries (from a baseline of 0).
Description:
The focus of this Agency Priority Goal (APG) is to enable economic growth in developing countries in a manner that supports their long term transition to a low greenhouse gas emissions economy, thereby enhancing their ability to contribute to the global effort to address climate change. The U.S. Government (USG) will accomplish this by supporting the development, refinement and implementation of country-driven low emission development strategies (LEDS) and international and domestic climate change mitigation commitments.
LEDS is both a development and a diplomatic priority. The USG's development agenda is supported by work on LEDS, which promotes long-term, sustainable, low emission economic growth. The USG's diplomatic agenda is supported by LEDS, as it is the foundation for enabling developing countries to better understand and prioritize their options in order to determine which development and mitigation goals they can achieve to contribute to the international effort to address climate change. An effective global effort to reduce GHG emissions in turn benefits the U.S. by reducing climate related risks.
This APG focuses on measuring the progress of the Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) program and the multilateral LEDS Global Partnership. Through EC-LEDS, a multiagency U.S. Government team is working with partner countries to advance effective country-driven, economy-wide LEDS that support national development and economic growth objectives by scaling up clean energy capacity; increasing the area of land under improved management; and advancing other actions that significantly reduce projected emissions from a "business as usual" pathway and monitor progress. The LEDS Global Partnership is an international community of practice for enhancing coordination, information exchange, and cooperation among countries and international programs working to advance low emission, climate-resilient growth. The U.S. worked with other donor countries and technical leaders to launch this Partnership in 2011.
This APG will also aim to capture progress of complementary U.S.-supported climate change programs that contribute to LEDS objectives in developing countries, including the major outcomes of programs that seek to incorporate climate change mitigation.
Low-emission, climate-resilient economic growth is highlighted as a U.S. diplomatic and development priority in the President’s Climate Action Plan, the U.S. National Security Strategy, the President’s Development Policy, and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. Promoting low emission, climate-resilient development is a central pillar of the President’s Global Climate Change Initiative and is at the core of USAID’s Climate Change and Development Strategy.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Increase food security in Feed the Future initiative countries. By September 30, 2017, 10 out of 19 Feed the Future-focus countries will exhibit reductions of 10 percent or greater in the prevalence of poverty or stunting in their zones of influence, compared to the 2011-2012 baseline study results.
Description:
Nearly 800 million people in the world suffer from chronic hunger; the vast majority live in developing countries. In addition, the world’s population is projected to increase to nine billion by 2050. This population increase and changes in diets will require at least a 60 percent increase in global food production, without adversely affecting the environment. Investments in global agriculture and nutrition are the key to addressing these issues.
Improving food security has risen to prominence as a global development goal in recent years due to factors such as food price spikes, increasing poverty rates, and social unrest related to poverty and hunger. To address this challenge, President Barack Obama called upon global leaders in 2009 at the G-8 L’Aquila Summit to unlock the potential of agricultural development as the key to reducing hunger, extreme poverty and malnutrition. President Obama’s leadership at L’Aquila helped spur commitments from other donors, totaling more than $22 billion, as well as new and expanded financial commitments in host countries.
Feed the Future emerged from this commitment as the center of U.S. Government efforts to end global hunger, poverty and malnutrition. Led by USAID, Feed the Future leverages the expertise and programs of 10 additional U.S. Government departments and agencies to work in partnership with host-country governments, businesses, smallholder farmers, research institutions and civil society organizations to promote a comprehensive approach to global food security and nutrition.
With an emphasis on smallholder farmers, particularly women, Feed the Future aims to reduce the prevalence of poverty and the prevalence of stunted children under five years of age by an average of 20 percent, in the areas where USAID works.
Feed the Future will continue to support the U.S. Government’s aim to promote inclusive economic growth, reduce extreme poverty, and improve food security, as outlined in the State Department-USAID Joint Strategic Plan and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.
The momentum created by President Obama’s commitment at L’Aquila has helped inspire a series of related development efforts centered around inclusive, collective global action. For example, it helped pave the way for the 2010 establishment of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, an innovative multi-donor trust fund that to date has allocated about $1.4 billion to 25 low-income countries to help boost agricultural productivity.
And in 2012, recognizing the critical role of the private sector in sustainable agricultural transformation, President Obama, African leaders and other G-8 members announced the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition to significantly expand responsible private-sector investment in African agriculture and nutrition. National governments made specific policy commitments to improve the enabling environment for responsible private sector investment. As a result, more than 200 global and African companies have committed to invest $10.2 billion to benefit 8.7 million smallholders through sourcing or services.
Collectively, these and other efforts are reducing hunger and poverty, improving nutrition, building a strong foundation for continued economic growth, and promoting resilient communities.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Support the global effort to end preventable child and maternal deaths. By September 30, 2017, U.S. assistance to end preventable child and maternal deaths will reduce under-five mortality in 24 Maternal and Child Health U.S. Government-priority countries by three deaths per 1,000 live births as compared to a baseline of 2015.
Description:
USAID with its partners in the U.S. Government (USG) and the global community are committed to the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths. While many challenges remain, today more than ever, we are equipped with the tools and knowledge to reach this goal. Child deaths nearly halved from 1990 to 2013, saving an estimated 100 million child lives. Maternal deaths decreased by 45 percent over the same period. Between 2001 and 2013, malaria mortality rates decreased globally by 47 percent and by 54 percent in Africa alone. Estimates indicate that more than four million global malaria-related deaths were averted, primarily in children under five in Africa. Rates of modern contraceptive use have increased from 12 percent in 1990 to 31 percent in 2013 in the countries with the largest USAID-supported programs, enabling healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, which could lower child deaths by 25 percent and cut maternal deaths by 30 percent. USAID reduced stunting, caused by a lack of essential vitamins and nutrients during early years and by frequent illness that robs growing bodies of the capacity to utilize available nutrients, from 55.6 percent in 1990 to 37.7 percent in 2014 in its 19 nutrition-focus countries.
To continue progress on these issues, USAID focuses its work to end preventable child and maternal deaths in 24 high burden countries around the world. These 24 countries account for approximately 70 percent of maternal and child deaths and 50 percent of the global unmet need for family planning. USAID selected these countries because of the magnitude and severity of child and maternal deaths, high country commitment, and the greatest potential to leverage U.S. Government programs, as well as those of other partners and donors.
By analyzing the causes of child and maternal death and the current coverage of life-saving interventions, USAID has identified the investments that will have the greatest impact. In the Acting on the Call report, released in June 2014, USAID developed a plan of action for the 24 priority countries. These plans quantified the potential impact on lives saved if USAID scaled high impact interventions at rates previously achieved by countries with similar characteristics (so-called “best performers”). This information allows the global community to sharpen implementation of these high-impact interventions and align investments for maximum efficiency.
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FY14-15 Agency Priority Goals
An Agency Priority Goal is a near-term result or achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within approximately 24 months that relies predominantly on agency implementation as opposed to budget or legislative accomplishments. Click below to see this agency's FY14-15 Priority Goals.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Through September 30, 2015, maintain a 99% rate of all passport applications processed within the targeted timeframe and ensure 80% of nonimmigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of the date of application.
Description:
The mission of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to provide consular operations that most efficiently and effectively protect U.S. citizens, ensure U.S. security, facilitate the entry of legitimate travelers, and foster economic growth. Two core functions of this mission are the provision of passports and visas. Demand for passport and visa documents is inherently unpredictable in the long term, and this variability can greatly affect workload planning efforts. This is true especially with regard to the current Congressional discussion surrounding comprehensive immigration reform and the potential challenges the Department would face in implementing any reform legislation. While the proposed reforms would have a major impact on consular operations and workload, CA will work closely with Congress, the Administration, and its interagency partners to be sure it has the human and financial resources to implement any changes to U.S. law efficiently and effectively.
Domestically, the Department supports a significant presence across the country to respond to the consular service needs of the U.S. public. Most notably, this presence consists of 28 passport agencies and centers and a network of more than 8,441 public offices managed by other federal, state, and local government agencies/offices that are designated to accept passport applications. The number of valid passports in circulation has doubled in the past decade. Approximately 114 million U.S. citizens, or 37 percent of the population, have valid passports. In FY 2013, CA issued 13.5 million passport book and card products, a 3.1 percent increase over FY 2012. A potential impending surge in passport renewal applications represents a rising challenge to the achievement of this performance goal. Based on analysis of renewal application trends, passport renewal rates are expected to increase significantly from previous years, beginning in FY 2017.
With Executive Order 13597 issued in January 2012, CA needed to increase its visa processing capacity in Brazil and China by 40 percent and ensure that 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applicants worldwide are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of an application. In FY 2013, CA processed 10.7 million nonimmigrant visa applications and issued 9.2 million nonimmigrant visas, a 3.6 percent increase over the previous year, while working through extraordinary increases in visa demand in key markets such as a nearly 38 percent increase in Colombia. Currently, more than 80 percent of applicants worldwide, on average, are interviewed within three weeks of submitting their applications, a significant change over the 70% in early FY 2012.
Providing Excellence in Consular Service Delivery provides additional benefits toward the achievement of the Department’s goals. The Department’s efforts facilitate the travel of 67 million visitors to the United States each year, who, according to the Department of Commerce’s 2012 United States Travel and Tourism Statistics, spent $166 billion, an average of $2,478 per visitor. An estimated 1.2 million jobs in the United States are supported annually by international travel. In addition to the economic benefits, the visa issuance process is the front-line of ensuring U.S. security through the visa interview process, which can eliminate applicants desiring to travel to the U.S. for illegitimate purposes.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Enable economic growth concurrent with significant reductions in national emissions trajectories through 2020 and the longer term by supporting the development and implementation of low emission development strategies (LEDS). By the end of 2015, U.S. bilateral assistance under LEDS will reach at least 25 countries (from the previous baseline of 22 countries) and will result in the achievement of at least 45 major individual country milestones, each reflecting a significant, measureable improvement in that country’s development or implementation of LEDS. Also by the end of 2015, at least 1,200 additional developing country government officials and practitioners (from a baseline of 0) will strengthen their LEDS capacity through participation in the LEDS Global Partnership and that capacity will be meaningfully applied to 25 countries (from a baseline of 0).
Description:
The focus of this Agency Priority Goal (APG) is to enable economic growth concurrent with significant reductions in national emissions trajectories through 2020 and the longer term by supporting the development and implementation of low emission development strategies (LEDS). Specifically, this APG measures the progress of Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) and the multilateral Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP).
Through EC-LEDS, a multiagency U.S. Government team is working with partner countries to identify and advance effective economy-wide LEDS.
The LEDS Global Partnership is a multilateral platform for enhanced coordination, information exchange, and cooperation among countries and international programs working to advance low emission climate resilient growth that the U.S. State Department founded.
Low-emission, climate-resilient sustainable economic growth is highlighted as a U.S. diplomatic and development priority in the U.S. National Security Strategy, the President’s development policy, the President’s Climate Action Plan, and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, USAID will reduce procurement administrative lead time (PALT) by 40 percent from the 2009 baseline of 513 calendar days, increase percentage of program funding going directly to local partners to 30 percent, and meet or exceed the prime contract acquisition dollars obligated to U.S. small businesses worldwide by 10 percent from the FY 2013 baseline of 8.2 percent.
Description:
As a cornerstone of its USAID Forward reform agenda, USAID has begun a critical shift in the way we administer our assistance, placing a greater emphasis on public-private partnerships, channeling funding to local governments and organizations that have the in-country knowledge and expertise to create sustainable positive change, and expanding our partner base. USAID is also focused on streamlining the procurement process, building new partnerships, and institutionalizing our reforms.
USAID is committed to work in full partnership with local governments and organizations and tailoring its approaches accordingly. The Agency’s Local Solutions initiative will focus on the following:
- Convening partners from across local organizations with which USAID has partnered – whether these are governments, civil society, the private sector, donors, or implementing resource partners to identify development challenges;
- Connecting these stakeholders with innovative products, processes, or policies to address these challenges; and
- Contextualizing and scaling up these solutions within local systems.
In so doing, the Agency will support sustainable development results and allow cooperative and mutually accountable relationships to grow. These relationships – between USAID and partner country stakeholders, as well as among these stakeholders are critical to the development of resilient societies that can deliver results to their citizens.
The Agency collaborates with these stakeholders by investing in projects and programs in these countries through its procurement process. In 2012, USAID obligated $13.9 billion through acquisition and assistance mechanisms. Given the important role that procurement plays in enabling USAID to carry out its mission around the world, it is critical that the Agency’s acquisition and assistance processes operate efficiently and effectively to achieve our development objectives. In 2009, the average time for USAID to award a contract in originating in Washington was 513 calendar days. This delay in lead time for awarding contracts resulted in a delay in program implementation. Therefore, reducing the time it takes to make an award is a critical priority for the Agency.
Small businesses are vital to the U.S. economy and provide critical resources that contribute to the mission of USAID. By expanding opportunities for U.S. small businesses, we energize the U.S. economy and leverage a greater diversity of experience and expertise in our development objectives. U.S. small businesses make up a majority of U.S. businesses, and USAID partners with these businesses to increase innovation and provide new approaches to our programs.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Increase food security in Feed the Future initiative countries. By September 30, 2015, increase the number of farmers and others who have applied new technologies or management practices to eight million, from a corrected base of five million in 2012.
Description:
Approximately 840 million people in the world remain hungry today, and 98 percent of them live in developing countries. In addition, the world’s population is projected to increase to nine billion by 2050. This population increase and changes in diets will require at least a 60 percent increase in global food production, all in a world that will have less arable land and less access to water under changing climate patterns.
Improving food security has risen to prominence as a global development goal in recent years due to factors such as food price spikes, increasing poverty rates, and social unrest related to poverty and hunger. At the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, in July 2009, global leaders—including President Obama—agreed to take significant action to improve food security through agricultural development and reforms to the way the international community approaches food security. The U.S. committed at least $3.5 billion and other countries committed over $18 billion through 2012. In May 2012, at the Camp David G-8 Summit with African heads of state and corporate and G-8 leaders, President Obama again led global food security efforts by launching the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition for Africa, a shared goal to achieving sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raising 50 million people out of poverty by 2022.
The Feed the Future initiative is the U.S. Government’s contribution to the global effort launched by President Obama at L’Aquila. Feed the Future works with the global community, strengthening coordination with other donors and stakeholders, to:
- Advance comprehensive, country-led strategies that focus on accountability and improving the productivity and market access of small-scale producers, particularly women, who make up the majority of small farmers in developing countries;
- Catalyze private sector economic growth, finance, and trade with necessary investments in public goods as well as policy, legal, and regulatory reforms;
- Use science and technology to sustainably increase agricultural productivity;
- Protect the natural resource base upon which agriculture depends;
- Build resilience and help to prevent recurrent food crises in vulnerable regions; and
- Invest in improving nutrition for women and young children as a foundation for future growth.
Feed the Future is well-positioned to support the U.S. Government’s aim to promote inclusive economic growth, reduce extreme poverty, and improve food security, as outlined in the State Department-USAID Joint Strategic Plan.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Support the global effort to end preventable child and maternal deaths. By September 30, 2015, U.S. assistance to end preventable child and maternal deaths will contribute to reductions in under-five mortality in 24 maternal and child health U.S. Government-priority countries by 4 deaths per 1,000 live births as compared to a 2013 baseline.
Description:
USAID with its partners in the U.S. Government and the global community are committed to the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths. While many challenges remain, today, more than ever, we are equipped with the tools and knowledge to reach this goal. The health of mothers and children around the world is linked to improvements in maternal health, which inherently affect child health. Over the past two decades, there has been a nearly 50 percent reduction in maternal deaths, from 543,000 in 1990 to 287,000 in 2010. Meanwhile, the annual number of under-five deaths declined from 12.6 million in 1990 to 6.6 million in 2012. While under-five mortality is declining faster now than in the past two decades, with the annual rate of reduction more than tripling in 2005-2012 compared to the rate in 1990-1995, 18,000 children still die every day. The U.S. cannot act alone and in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal Four (Reduce Child Mortality) target by its agreed date of 2015, an additional 3.5 million children's lives above the current trend rate will need to be saved between 2013 and 2015.
