Rajiv

Shah of USAID is Documented@Davos Transcript Documented@Davos 2012 {MUSIC PLAYING] RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Thanks for tuning in to our Documented at Davos video coverage. We're here at the World Economic Forum. My name is Randi Zuckerberg, and I'm thrilled to be joined here today by Dr. Rajiv Shah of USAID. Thank you so much. RAJIV SHAH: Hi. Thank you for having me. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Now, is this your first Davos? RAJIV SHAH: No. This is not. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: So what is-- we're trying to give everyone out there a little taste of what it's like. So what are some of your thoughts and what you're most excited for this week? RAJIV SHAH: Well, when I first started coming to Davos, I thought it was entirely about corporate leaders coming together to talk about the economy. And of course, one key issue that's related to global economic performance is the plight of the world's most vulnerable and poorest people. And I have just been very impressed over the last few years with how much activity and action there is around those types of issues, whether it's health, food, security for vulnerable populations-- excuse me-- or helping communities protect themselves from climate change and build more resilience in the face of adversity. And it's been a great venue to meet with corporate leaders to build new partnerships, and to try some really experimental and novel things that can help improve the lives of millions of people. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: It's definitely exciting. Especially with some of the huge issues that you're working on tackling, it's really essential that the private sector, the public sector, government, all comes together to work on these. Now, you're very active right now in the women and children health and survival. What are some of the initiatives that you're working on? RAJIV SHAH: Well, the big one is our effort to really set a new global vision for what's possible in saving the lives of children who die under the age of five. Today, and it's extraordinary to even process what this means, but more than seven and a half million kids die every year around the world under the age of five. And almost all of those deaths are easily preventable.

Kids can sleep under malaria bed nets. We can vaccinate kids with new and cheap vaccines. We can make sure kids get vitamin A supplements, or we give mothers resuscitation devices so their babies can breathe when they're born. Simple, cost-effective things like that, we think, can say five or six million kids' lives a year. And we're trying to build as many partnerships and as much support for that type of a global effort as possible. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: So what does a successful Davos look like for you when you leave here on Sunday? RAJIV SHAH: Well, two things. One is we've been working hard on a series of corporate partnerships to expand access to the very things I talked about. And we're building towards a major child survival summit in June in Washington, DC. So one definition of success for us is getting more partners, especially private sector partners. You can go to parts of Somalia where there's very little governance, very little government, very little donor presence. But Coca-Cola is there. And you can buy a Coke in a rural kiosk. That's why we need those types of corporate partners working with us on these goals and objectives, because they have reach, and they have the ability to solve problems in really tough parts of the world that's very unique and necessary. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: And you mention that hunger is another issue that's really top of your radar. Earlier today, we actually connected with Josette from World Food Program and had a great conversation about her work in the Horn of Africa. What are some of your new developments there? RAJIV SHAH: Well, Josette's a great anti-hunger crusader and warrior. She's done amazing things. One of them is a partnership that we launched with partners here at Davos with Swiss Re, the big reinsurance company, to help offer pastoralists and very, very poor farmers in the Horn of Africa insurance. And it seems highly unlikely that a big company like that can help do that, but they have helped us do that. And we have reached thousands of farm households in pastoral communities with insurance products, so that this summer, when there was this devastating drought and millions of people were going hungry, there were thousands of families that were receiving payments from the insurance industry because they had bought very low-cost, rainfall indexed weather insurance. And those are the types of solutions that we think can reach 500,000, a million, two million people. And if we can reach that kind of scale through these continued partnerships, the next time there's a major crisis, hopefully we won't have so many people that go hungry.

 RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Absolutely. Now, final question. We've been asking everyone what their Davos moment over the years has been. I'm sure you've had a run in with a world leader or something that's really been exciting to you. What's yours? RAJIV SHAH: Well probably-- a couple of years ago, we were launching-- I was in a different role. I was with the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation, and we were launching a program called Project Red to get companies to sell products that were branded Red and raise money for the Global Fund and for the fight against AIDS. And we had put together a little event at a bar one evening. And it was lightly attended. There were very few people. And then, all of a sudden-- I forget exactly who, but Tony Blair, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates, and Queen Rania walked in, all chatting with each other. And the place came alive, and we thought, maybe this Red effort will really work. And then right behind them was Bono. So it's a place that can generate a lot of energy for creative new ideas. Some of the ideas work. Some of them don't. But that's the point. We need as much innovation, creativity, and partnership in tackling these challenges of hunger, of child survival, of meeting basic human needs around the world, as we do to tackle the big financial challenges that are usually the things of Davos headlines. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Well, it's been great connecting with you today. I believe you have a Twitter handle where people can follow your experiences? RAJIV SHAH: I do. It's @rajshah, so at R-A-J-S-H-A-H. Or you could follow as at @usaid. USAID is the federal government's development agency and is trying to pioneer many of these public-private partnerships to make the world a better place. RANDI ZUCKERBERG: Perfect. So make sure that you follow Dr. Shah through his experiences at Davos. You can also follow the #davosdocs for all of our interview coverage. And if you want to reach out to me with a comment, you can leave me a Facebook message or tweet me @randizuckerberg. Thanks so much. [MUSIC PLAYING]