Statement on the nomination of Mark Green for USAID administrator

WASHINGTON — President Trump today nominated Ambassador Mark Green as administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development. In reaction, The ONE Campaign’s executive director for North America, Tom Hart, said:

“ONE enthusiastically welcomes President Trump’s nomination of Mark Green for USAID administrator. Ambassador Green has a long history of thoughtful leadership on America’s development assistance strategy and would make a strong USAID administrator. His leadership will be particularly important and tested as he grapples with the unprecedented cuts proposed to USAID in the President’s budget and the consideration of a consequential departmental reorganization.

“If confirmed, Ambassador Green would take charge of USAID at a critical time in the fight against extreme poverty. Four countries are now facing famines, and 20 million people are slowly starving to death. The world has cut extreme poverty by more than half over the last 15 years, but there are still 767 million people living on less than $1.90 per day. The number of people suffering from chronic hunger has been halved, as well, but 3 million children still die from malnutrition each year. We are tantalizingly close to getting ahead of the AIDS epidemic, but AIDS-related illnesses are still the leading cause of death for women ages 15 to 44, globally. We fought-back Ebola, but the regional health systems that can prevent the next epidemic from reaching our shores are still in development. The United States has launched an ambitious new effort to expand Africa’s energy grid, but more than 600 million people on the continent still lack reliable access to electricity.

“Ambassador Green should continue the bipartisan efforts to modernize the United States’ foreign assistance programs, expanding the impact of Americans’ generosity. He should start by making girls and women a priority, not only because they are disproportionately affected by in extreme poverty, but because they are the key to ending it for everyone.

“In the face of proposed cuts and a possible departmental reorganization, he needs to be a strong advocate for the work of this agency. Foreign assistance makes America safer, helps creates jobs here in America, and is simply the right thing for the strongest and most successful country on earth to do.

“ONE and its 2.5 million American members are eager to work with Ambassador Green to resist these proposed cuts, win the fight against extreme poverty, and stop the spread of preventable diseases.”

ONE is a policy and advocacy organization of nearly 8 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, ONE was co-founded by U2 lead singer Bono to raise public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and other preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programs.