USAID Administrator Heralds the Work of Faith-Based Organizations

Yesterday at the International Food Aid and Development Conference being held in Kansas City, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah called a special meeting of faith-based organizations, saying that these groups are important to the “whole of government” effort the United States is undertaking to combat hunger and poverty. At the meeting, faith-based organizations working on these issues gave Shah valuable feedback on how food assistance programs can be improved.

Faith-based organizations are often the first source of assistance when people are hungry. Feedback on the results of U.S.-funded food security programs from groups working overseas—important partners in implementing these programs--is essential to drive forward initiatives such as USAID’s Feed the Future. Those based in the United States, including Bread for the World, have constituents who remind Congress that the federal budget is a moral document that shouldn’t be balanced on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Shah said that every $1 spent by the U.S. government on food assistance leverages another $4 from donors such as the World Food Program.  He said that every night nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry and that 3.5 million children under 5 die every year from nutrition-related illnesses.  Sudden dramatic spikes in food prices in 2007-2008 drove nearly 100 million additional people into hunger.  With today's high food prices, nearly 44 million people do not have access to safe and nutritious food.  

The International Food Aid and Development Conference continues this week.  Its theme, “Food Aid:  Results that Matter to Hungry People,” reflects the efforts being made by government, the private sector, and the donor community to improve the quality, nutritional value, and timeliness of delivery of the U.S. food aid provided to vulnerable populations overseas.