USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah was the sole panelist in front of the bi-partisan Commission on Wartime Contracting Friday to explain how the Obama administration was reforming USAID programs, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“My goal is to transform the whole agency to make it more nimble,” Shah said.
The set of reforms, dubbed “USAID Forward,” will “increase accountability, vigilantly fight fraud, waste and abuse and work more closely with local entities,” according to Shah.
Shah said increasing more qualified personnel and undergoing projects that are effective and sustainable were both areas of concern for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shah made news earlier in the week after charging that the GOP budget proposal would “lead to 70,000 kids dying” during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
Shah is seeking $59.5 billion in funding for his agency, a 22 percent increase from the current 2010 levels.