When President Obama took office, he made global development a core pillar of America's foreign policy -- and for good reason.
When children cannot go to school, or businesses lack reliable roads or electricity, that holds back entire economies. Where poverty and despair take root, conflict, instability, and violent extremism can flourish. Fragile and failing states can incubate or exacerbate a wide range of threats that spill across borders -- from pandemics to nuclear proliferation, human trafficking to climate change.
To President Obama, global development is not "charity." In an increasingly interconnected world, it's a crucial investment in the security and prosperity of us all.
Over the last eight years, the Obama administration has confronted some of the most daunting development and humanitarian challenges in modern history.
The President has helped reshape the U.S. approach to development by partnering with countries, global coalitions, and the engines of American innovation: corporations, foundations, universities, NGOs, and faith-based communities.
Under this leadership, we've produced real outcomes in the lives of millions of people:
We've helped over nine million farmers, food producers, and rural families adopt innovations to improve productivity, helping boost incomes by more than $800 million.
Through President Obama's Power Africa initiative, we've supported 4,300 megawatts worth of projects that are expected to generate over five million new connections to electricity.
Tens of millions more boys and girls are in school.
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