Remarks of Jonathan N. Stivers as Delivered
Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia, USAID
Embassy of Australia
October 21, 2015

Thank you, President Arnold, for that kind introduction.  It is an honor to be here tonight.

USAID is proud to partner with The Asia Foundation in countries across Asia, from improving disaster management in Vietnam to their phenomenal contribution in enhancing the competitiveness of the Philippines.

With Australia, the United States has enjoyed a strong friendship and partnership for 75 years. Throughout Asia, we are proud to work with the Australians on issues of mutual interest, including

- improving early grade reading in the Philippines and India,

- improving health and food security in Burma, and

- strengthening the health care provided to mothers and children in Timor-Leste.

We are pleased to continue that spirit of collaboration with tonight’s discussion.

Indeed, it is a very timely discussion — and fitting location.

In just a few weeks we will mark the four-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s launch of the Asia-Pacific Rebalance, which was unveiled in a speech before the Australian Parliament in 2011.

I​n his remarks, the president underscored how the U.S.-Australia alliance will continue to be indispensable to our future — a future that will be greatly influenced by just how the Asia-Pacific region develops in the decades ahead.

How the Asia-Pacific develops.  That is a key foundation for the long-term success of the Asia-Pacific Rebalance.

- How a country develops can make the difference between economic growth that is lasting and economic growth that is fleeting.

- Between cities powered by clean, sustainable energy sources versus suffocating pollution in overwhelmed urban areas.

- Between a generation that grows up illiterate and malnourished, or one that is educated and healthy and breaks free from the cycle of poverty.

- Between an oppressed populace with no hope for the future, or one empowered to unlock its full potential.

While we must focus on solving immediate crises, it is essential that we address the root causes of poverty, conflict, and instability so that we can build a better future for humanity.

President Obama understands the stakes very well.  That is why he elevated inclusive development to a core pillar of our national security strategy, alongside diplomacy and defense.

Despite the current economic slowdown, the Asia-Pacific region is growing faster than any other on Earth.

Of the five countries projected to have the highest growth rates this year, four are in Asia: China, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

These countries will become stronger world leaders.  The decisions they make – both domestically and in the geo-political arena – are having profound ramifications for the future.

These decisions will impact the economy and jobs, the air we all breathe, the water we all drink, and whether there is conflict or peace.

I am here tonight to make the case that sustainable and inclusive development policies - that effectively partner with the people and governments in Asia - can help build peaceful, prosperous and just societies not only for Asia, but for Australia, the United States and the world.

We know this is possible.

In the speech to the Australian Parliament, President Obama contended that security and peace, shared prosperity, and fundamental rights for every human being were the key elements of the Asia-Pacific Rebalance.

I would like to discuss how development plays an indispensable role in advancing each of these three elements.

First, security is the foundation of peace and prosperity.

In an interconnected world, Asia’s security is America’s security.  Asia’s security is global security.

For decades, the U.S. has partnered with countries through our development initiatives to combat the root causes of insecurity that often have global repercussions including the rise of violent extremism. 

Extreme poverty and poor governance can create a fury of despair, leading to instability and conflict that cross borders and threatens regional and global security. 

Our development assistance directly promotes the security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region.

From Mindanao in the Philippines to Rakhine State in Burma, the U.S. is working to mitigate conflict and build more resilient countries by giving a voice to the marginalized, empowering the disenfranchised, and protecting the vulnerable.

President Obama’s initiatives on Global Health, Feed the Future, and Climate Change provide a framework for addressing some of the most destabilizing challenges faced in Asia.

These efforts complement additional USAID activities that address the spread of infectious diseases, profound human suffering, lack of economic opportunity, natural resource degradation, and weak systems of governance that fail to meet the needs of the people.

Throughout Southeast Asia, we are training public health officials to monitor and regularly test poultry for bird flu and other potential infectious diseases that will not know any borders.

We are introducing technology that is making a dramatic difference in the fight against multidrug-resistant diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria in the region.

In Indonesia, our development assistance has helped reduce multi-drug resistant TB mortality by over 80 percent in five years.

We’re helping to reverse the rapid destruction of one of the most biodiverse regions in the world resulting from commodity-driven deforestation, which affects everything from air quality to water supply.

In Cambodia, we have helped the country meet its Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child mortality way ahead of schedule and reduced HIV prevalence by more than 50 percent. 

This is paving the way for setting the ambitious goal of a zero incidence rate country for HIV/AIDS by 2020.

And across the Pacific Islands, we’re strengthening the resilience of more than 120 coastal communities to cope with more intense and frequent weather events and ecosystem degradation in the short term, and sea level rise in the long term.

​Second, President Obama spoke of economic growth in Asia that is broadly shared, sustainable and fair, as fundamental to the Asia-Pacific Rebalance.

While economic growth gives way to the markets of the future, the broadly-shared growth promoted by development helps lift up the poorest of the poor.

It drives global goals of ending extreme poverty, ending preventable maternal and child deaths, or letting all girls learn.

We are all safer and stronger at home when fewer people around the world face destitution and when our trading partners are flourishing.

That is why we are now working with many partners to put ending extreme poverty at the center of a new global sustainable development agenda that will mobilize action for the next 15 years.

Our development assistance targets the quality of growth to include benefits to the most vulnerable people, promotes environmental responsibility, and ensures the rule of law and a free and fair market economy. 

In the Philippines, we are forming a stronger partnership on disaster preparedness and our development assistance has resulted in unprecedented economic growth, improved credit ratings and strengthened competitiveness.

In Vietnam, the U.S. government including USAID, are providing assistance to promote the critical implementation of Trans-Pacific Partnership-related reforms.

Education is key to economic growth.

We know that increasing the average level of higher education in a country by just one year can add half a percentage point to gross domestic product.

We also know that enabling women and girls to delay, space, and limit their pregnancies leads to lower health care costs, keeps more girls in school and for more years, and ensures more women in the workforce.

This dedication to broadly shared and sustainable economic growth fuels our growing efforts to fight human trafficking.   An estimated 11.7 million people in the Asia-Pacific are trapped in conditions of forced labor including human trafficking.

It is essential that we focus not only on law enforcement, but on the root causes of trafficking – poverty, lack of educational opportunity, lack of access to health care, gender discrimination, and racial inequality.

It is only through sustainable and inclusive development policies that lift up the most vulnerable people that we can effectively stamp out this plague on humanity.

Which leads directly to the third element of the Asia-Pacific Rebalance: universal human rights.

For development to be successful in the long-term, it must be buttressed by good governance.

We know from experience that a lack of pluralism, transparency and democracy exacerbates instability and violent extremism, suffocates inclusive economic growth, and is inconsistent with the advancement of human rights.

In order to effectively fight poverty, it is essential to address the underlying structural problems with governance that hold back many developing countries from realizing their potential.

Solutions to challenges will ultimately come from the people of the region and our best chance in promoting lasting change is to empower the reformers by helping them build resilient, democratic institutions that are transparent and accountable to the people.

Central to these initiatives is the recognition that civil society is a key pillar in any healthy democracy.

Across Asia and the world, our development assistance advances the universal rights of all people, including women, and marginalized communities and ethnic groups, to live with dignity, with security, with opportunity.

In places like Burma and Cambodia, we work to build an independent media and boost the capacity of civil society to advocate on behalf of citizen needs.

In established democracies such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste, civil society is tackling the challenges of accountability, transparency and building stronger government institutions that can more effectively improve the lives of their people.

USAID’s Model of Development

At USAID, our mission is to partner to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies, while also advancing our own security and prosperity.

In the world today, citizens wield power to shape the direction of their country through business, science, education and humanitarian endeavors.

As part of this, USAID has transitioned to a model of development focused on creating partnerships with the private sector, universities, diaspora groups and others who share our values.   

If the old model of development was hiring a contractor to build a road, the new model is partnering with engines of innovation, corporations, foundations and universities to help nations build innovation economies and real democratic societies that are connected to our own.

Today, about 40 percent of USAID's resources are devoted to this new model and with USAID’s new emphasis on building local capacity, it will only increase over time.

Our partnership with India is at the forefront of USAID’s new model of development.

Despite a time of budget constraint, the total value of U.S. development programs has increased in India by leveraging funding for the U.S. and Indian private sectors, Indian philanthropists, and the Indian diaspora​. ​

Together, our partnerships in India will leverage more than $6 for every $1 the United States invests in areas such as water and sanitation, health and agriculture.

In addition, a stronger emphasis on regional approaches to development challenges is a key element in this new model of development.

We are a partner with regional institutions such as ASEAN and APEC to streamline customs clearance procedures, increase transparency and lower costs for businesses.

These efforts will allow increased trade that supports jobs and business opportunities in the United States and ASEAN — our fourth largest export market.

Development is the linchpin to lasting security, shared prosperity and guaranteeing universal human rights.

In this 21^st century, development is the linchpin to lasting security, shared prosperity and guaranteeing universal human rights.

We know that the century ahead will be largely written in Asia.   

Development plays a vital role in giving the people of the Asia-Pacific the tools to shape a future that is secure, prosperous and more just. 

In just a few years, the U.S. has taken major steps forward, but there is much more to be done in this administration and in future administrations.

Thank you all for your commitment to the future of the Asia Pacific region and we at USAID look forward to our work together for a brighter future. 

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