Editing Extreme poverty (section)

====USAID====
[[File:USAID-Identity.svg|thumb|right|USAID logo]]
[[File:USAID Urban Search and Rescue team Fairfax County (4285327426).jpg|thumb|right|USAID Urban Search and Rescue team Fairfax County performs search and rescue operations in Haiti, 17 January 2010.]]
The US Agency for International Development ([[USAID]]) is the lead US government agency dedicated to ending extreme poverty. Currently the largest bilateral donor in the world, the United States channels the majority of its development assistance through USAID and the [[United States Department of State|US Department of State]]. In President Obama's 2013 [[State of the Union]] address, he declared, "So the United States will join with our allies to eradicate such extreme poverty in the next two decades&nbsp;... which is within our reach." In response to Obama's call to action, USAID has made ending extreme poverty central to its mission statement.<ref>USAID. [http://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/mission-vision-values "Mission Statement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616022916/http://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/mission-vision-values |date=16 June 2014 }}, 2014.</ref> Under its New Model of Development, USAID seeks to eradicate extreme poverty through the use of innovation in science and technology, by putting a greater emphasis on evidence based decision-making, and through leveraging the ingenuity of the private sector and global citizens.<ref>USAID. [http://issuu.com/usaid/docs/usaidannualletter2014 "Annual Letter"], 2014.</ref>

A major initiative of the Obama administration is Power Africa, which aims to bring energy to 20 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. By reaching out to its international partners, whether commercial or public, the US has leveraged over $14 billion in outside commitments after investing only US$7 billion of its own. To ensure that Power Africa reaches the region's poorest, the initiative engages in a transaction based approach to create systematic change. This includes expanding access to electricity to more than 20,000 additional households which already live without power.<ref>USAID. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130726192143/http://www.usaid.gov/powerafrica "Power Africa"], 2014.</ref>

In terms of specific programming, USAID works in a variety of fields from preventing hunger, reducing HIV/AIDS, providing general health assistance and democracy assistance, as well as dealing with gender issues. To deal with [[food security]], which affects roughly 842 million people (who go to bed hungry each night),<ref>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/2013/en/ "The State of Food Insecurity in the World"], 2013.</ref> USAID coordinates the [[Feed the Future Initiative]] (FtF). FtF aims to reduce poverty and under-nutrition each by 20% over five years. Because of the [[President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]] (PEPFAR) and a variety of congruent actors, the incidence of AIDS and HIV, which used to ravage Africa, reduced in scope and intensity. Through PEPFAR, the United States has ensured over five million people have received life-saving antiviral drugs, a significant proportion of the eight million people receiving treatment in relatively poor nations.<ref>USAID. [http://www.usaid.gov/endextremepoverty "End Extreme Poverty"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208132112/https://www.usaid.gov/endextremepoverty |date=8 February 2019 }}, 2014.</ref>

In terms of general health assistance, USAID has worked to reduce maternal mortality by 30%, under-five child mortality by 35%, and has accomplished a host of other goals.<ref>USAID. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120611085133/http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health "What We Do: Global Health"], 2014.</ref> USAID also supports the gamut of democratic initiatives, from promoting human rights and accountable, fair governance, to supporting free and fair elections and the rule of law. In pursuit of these goals, USAID has increased global political participation by training more than 9,800 domestic election observers and providing civic education to more than 6.5 million people.<ref>USAID. [http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/democracy-human-rights-and-governance "What We Do: Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714033957/http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/democracy-human-rights-and-governance |date=14 July 2014 }}, 2014.</ref> Since 2012, the Agency has begun integrating critical gender perspectives across all aspects of its programming to ensure all USAID initiatives work to eliminate gender disparities. To do so, USAID seeks to increase the capability of women and girls to realize their rights and determine their own life outcomes. Moreover, USAID supports additional programs to improve women's access to capital and markets, builds theirs skills in agriculture, and supports women's desire to own businesses.<ref>USAID. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120624082134/http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment/fostering-womens-leadership "What We Do: Fostering Women's Leadership"], 2014.</ref>