Across our work at the U.S. Agency for International Development, from research and policymaking to implementation, we seek to embrace a culture of creativity – identifying, highlighting and celebrating new ideas, and working to apply transformational approaches and solutions to longstanding development challenges. Now, USAID is seeking the best ideas from the development community to continue fostering this exchange of ideas.
Between now and Jan. 8, USAID and Devex are offering international development professionals the exciting opportunity to have their say on some of the major international development challenges in the years to come, as well as potential solutions. In partnership with Devex, USAID is holding an essay contest to find five of the most interesting, innovative and insightful ideas for inclusion in an essay collection to be released in May 2012. The essays will be published alongside the ideas of some of the leading development thinkers of our time.
These essays are meant to provide a dialogue on development that incorporates fresh perspectives on the most pressing issues of our time, including democracy and development, pressures on the planet, new models for service delivery, linkages between security and development, and future trends for economic growth. (For more information about topics, please click here.) The publication will focus on where the world is going and how developing countries and their partners can best prepare for future changes.
Across these topics, we would like to get your ideas about how food security and health interact with other development issues. Other issues of interest include the relevance of science, technology and social media; the impact of development on gender and other marginalized groups, and larger questions of poverty and equity; and the impact of new development partners such as foundations, philanthropists and private business.
Do you have an original, innovative insight to help shape how some aspect of development practice is undertaken in the foreseeable future? Take a look at the rules, and then send us your thoughts!
About the author
Steve Radelet
Steve Radelet is the chief economist for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He served as senior advisor for development for the secretary of State in 2010 and was a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development from 2002 to 2010. He also served as an economic advisor to the president of Liberia from 2005 to 2009. A founding co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, Radelet worked as deputy assistant secretary of the treasury for Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
