Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for the Christensen Institute, Efosa Ojomo explains how the USAID DIV program is investing in innovators to eliminate global poverty and promote longterm, sustainable prosperity. 

· How are investments by the USAID DIV program addressing poverty? How can other aid programs from wealthy countries follow the USAID DIV model and catalyze global development? 

· Learn how design thinking is helping with efforts to end poverty.

If the U.S. funded international development projects like venture capital investments, we might begin to see vast improvements in global prosperity, which would result in significant poverty reduction.

There’s no time like the present, especially when you consider that the budget for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was slashed by more than 30% to $15.4 billion in 2018. If more countries go the way of the United States and slash their foreign aid budgets, this could lead to significant setbacks for many poor countries. As such, development professionals must become more impactful with their dollars. The USAID Development Innovation Ventures (USAID DIV) program, which funds local innovators with the potential to scale their innovations so that it can impact millions of people, provides a compelling example of a framework that has the potential to fast-track the development process in many poor countries.

Read the full article about eliminating global poverty by Efosa Ojomo at the Christensen Institute.