Head of USAID to step down in February

The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will step down in February after five years, the agency announced Wednesday.

Rajiv Shah, who has been at the center of the Obama administration’s fight against global poverty since 2009, has been admired across party lines as he sought to reshape the agency’s embattled reputation with smarter spending.

Shah said he was leaving the agency with “mixed emotions” and praised President Obama for reinvigorating the agency’s mission.

{mosads}”We have delivered meaningful results — from fighting hunger, to educating girls, to tackling climate change, to fighting for civil society and democratic values,” he wrote in a statement.

Shah was known on Capitol Hill for focusing on private businesses for USAID projects instead of relying on massive U.S. contractors whose efforts were often mired in red tape. Last year, he launched a monthslong external review of every dollar spent by the agency.

This year, he has also also been at the forefront of the country’s overseas response to Ebola, testifying at multiple hearings before Congress.

The administrator has hinted at his future political aspirations, but told Foreign Policy on that he is “not prepared now to talk about my next steps.”

“I will continue to stay focused during the transition in ensuring that USAID remains a results-oriented, evidence-based humanitarian enterprise,” he said.

Shah’s departure was first reported on Dec. 8 by The Washington Post.

In a statement Wednesday, President Obama said the administrator would be missed, touting his focus on ending poverty and “political and economic reform in closed societies”

“To be sure, his tasks have never been easy — responding to natural disasters, epidemics, and famine, to name just a few examples,” Obama said in a statement.

“But Raj, the son of proud Indian immigrants, has embodied America’s finest values by proactively advancing our development priorities.”

The agency has run into some controversy under Shah’s leadership for programs in Cuba, including contractors who tried to use hip hop to spur youth dissent against the government.

USAID defended the program, which was unearthed in a report from The Associated Press last week, as a way to strengthen civil society “in places where civic engagement is suppressed.”