USAID Releases Development Report on Public-Private Alliances

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) today issued a major report to highlight and
inform the development community about a unique business model used to
solve development challenges. The report, entitled "The Global
Development Alliance: Public- Private Alliances for Transformational
Development," was commissioned by USAID Administrator Andrew S.
Natsios. It draws on the expertise of countless development
professionals and partners to introduce the Global Development
Alliance (GDA) approach to businesses and nonprofits interested in
improving the lives of people in the developing world, and to present
several of the innovative public-private alliances formed under the
GDA standard.

Launched in 2001 by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and
Administrator Natsios, USAID introduced the GDA to bring together the
public and private sectors to address problems more effectively than
either could accomplish alone. The GDA mobilizes the ideas, efforts
and resources of governments, businesses and civil society by forging
alliances to stimulate economic growth, develop businesses and
workforces, address health and environmental issues, and expand access
to education and modern technology. USAID has provided more than $1.1
billion for almost 300 public-private alliances to date, and leveraged
over $3.7 billion in partner contributions. Due to these remarkable
successes, GDA was named the inaugural winner of the Lewis & Clark
Award for Innovation in Collaborative Governance and recognized as a
finalist for the prestigious Ash Institute Innovation in American
Government Award from Harvard University's Kennedy School of
Government.

"USAID has now developed alliances with hundreds of businesses,
foundations, faith-based organizations and nonprofit groups that we
had not worked with previously," said USAID Administrator Andrew S.
Natsios. "The Global Development Alliance has already shown impressive
results. This report highlights our successes that will hopefully
bring new partners to USAID, and serves as a resource for development
professionals."

The GDA report is divided into three parts. The first presents a broad
overview of the shifting dynamics in development resources and the
unique approach, applied through the GDA business model, which USAID
utilizes to take advantage of that shift. The second part is a
compilation of 22 alliance case studies, used to highlight the
successes of some of GDA's nearly 300 alliances. The case studies will
also provide development practitioners with a resource for alliance
building in the field. The final part looks forward to the potential
and future of public-private partnerships.

"The GDA approach enables alliance partners to bring their strongest
assets to bear to address jointly defined development challenges,
thereby achieving together a solution that would not be possible for
any individual partner," Director of the Office of Global Development
Alliances, Dan Runde, said. "This report will provide professionals an
in-depth look into this GDA approach and the necessity for USAID's
continued collaborative efforts."

The full report can be found on USAID's Global Development Alliance
web site, http://www.usaid.gov/gda. SOURCE U.S. Agency for
International Development