Washington — The U.S. Agency for International Development has shifted its approach to aid, prioritizing innovation and entrepreneurship, investing directly in partner governments and local organizations, and focusing on countries with the most need and best chances of success, said Rajiv Shah, the agency's administrator.
"With this new approach, we are better positioned to address the challenges of our time and move past the false choices that have held us back," Shah told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York March 7. By 2015, USAID will channel 30 percent of its aid funds to local governments -- a higher percentage than any other development agency, he said.
...