The U.S. Department of State Office of Global Partnerships (S/GP), along with Concordia and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business Institute for Business in Society, have opened the application process for the sixth annual P3 Impact Award, which honors exemplary public-private partnerships (P3s) from around the world.

The P3 Impact Award was created by the three partners in 2014 to recognize and honor best practices of public-private partnerships that are improving communities in the most impactful ways. Finalists from past years have been highlighted in special features of the Darden School’s thought leadership website, Ideas to Action. The 2018 winner was Kosmos Innovation Center, a partnership between DAI Global, Kosmos Energy, and Ghana’s Meltwater Entrepreneurship School of Technology. Kosmos Innovation Center harnesses the power of technology-savvy youth to bring innovation into priority development sectors by providing business training, mentorship, and other resources for young Ghanaian entrepreneurs.

This year’s finalists will receive the following: tickets to attend and participate in a Strategic Dialogue at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City from September 22-24, 2019, with P3 Impact Award judges and a live audience of esteemed industry leaders; promotion of the partnership’s excellence in publicity and other media coverage, including social media campaigns; a feature in the Darden School’s Ideas to Action website; and the opportunity to be featured as partnership thought-leaders, mentors, speakers, and/or case studies via the U.S. Department of State’s Boldline P3 Accelerator.

The winning partnership for the 2019 competition will be announced at the Concordia Annual Summit. Along with receiving the same benefits as the other finalists, the winning partnership will receive recognition on the main stage at the Concordia Annual Summit; a scholarship to attend a week-long Executive Education course at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business; and the opportunity to be subject of a case study published by Darden Business Publishing.

Applications are being accepted through April 19, 2019, and will be reviewed by an independent panel of judges. Judges will review the applications based on the partnership’s measurable impact, economic and social benefits, financial effectiveness, innovation, and scalability. Finalists will then be selected and notified in June.

Full criteria and application instructions can be found at https://www.concordia.net/partnerships/awards/p3impactaward/.

For further information, please contact the Office of Global Partnerships (S/GP) at partnerships@state.gov or visit https://p3impact.secure-platform.com/a. For media inquiries, please contact Anita Ostrovsky at OstrovskyA@state.gov.

Follow @GPatState and #P3Impact on Twitter or S/GP on Facebook for updates.

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The U.S. government applauds Maldives’ commitment to advance justice sector reform, good governance, rule of law, transparent public financial management, anti-corruption, growth of civil society, responsible infrastructure development, and education. We welcome the opportunity to deepen engagement with Maldives in support of common priorities and a shared vision for the Indian Ocean region, and today announced the intent to work with Congress to provide $9.75 million in new funding for public financial management, rule of law, governance, civil society strengthening, and vocational training. To date, our expanded outreach and assistance to Maldives encompasses:

Governance

• U.S. Department of the Treasury collaboration with the Government of Maldives to initiate assistance on debt strategy and domestic debt management.
• Initiation of a USAID program-based budgeting pilot with Maldives’ Ministry of Finance to promote public financial management best practices.

Development

• Initiation of a Development Objectives Assistance Agreement to facilitate sustained collaboration between Maldives and USAID.
• USAID-administered civil society youth and women’s economic and social empowerment programs.
• Continued USAID programming to improve management of coral reef ecosystems and build Maldives’ economic, social, and environmental resilience.

Security

• $7 million to support maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and military professionalization.
• Conclusion of a memorandum of agreement on the implementation of a $2 million program to enhance aviation security in Maldives.
• Ongoing upgrades to passenger screening systems at Maldivian ports of entry.

Rule of Law

• Deployment of a U.S. Department of Justice short-term legal advisor to support capacity building at Maldivian criminal justice institutions.
• Deployment of a U.S. Department of the Treasury team to assess Maldives’ technical assistance needs related to combatting financial crimes.

Education

• Ongoing panels, film screenings, workshops, and volunteer activities through the American Center in Malé that encourage Maldivian youth to develop their entrepreneurship skills and engage on community issues, including environmental concerns.
• Plans for five International Visitor Leadership Program exchanges in the next year.

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The below is attributable to Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino:‎

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo welcomed Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid to Washington today. They discussed their common interest in deepening bilateral ties between the United States and Maldives, and their shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Foreign Minister Shahid underscored the importance of his government’s reform efforts to the vitality of Maldives’ democracy and future prosperity. Secretary Pompeo expressed strong support for the U.S.-Maldives partnership, announcing the intent of the State Department to work with Congress to provide $9.75 million in additional assistance for Maldives. He hailed the signing of a memorandum of understanding to enhance aviation security and an intent by USAID to facilitate sustained collaboration with Maldives. The Secretary also noted that the United States is cooperating with Maldives to share best practices in the areas of debt strategy, public financial management, and combatting financial crimes. The Secretary welcomed the Government of Maldives’ commitment to judicial reform, transparency, and rule of law.

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Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States. She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States. We continue to strongly advise all U.S. citizens not to travel to Syria.

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The text of the following statement was issued jointly by the Governments of the United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

The members of the Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States) are alarmed about the escalating conflict around Yei, which represents a flagrant breach of the December 2017 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and the September 2018 revitalized peace agreement. These military actions, and the trading of blame, must stop.

We are particularly disturbed that fighting by all parties in the Yei area has severe humanitarian consequences for the local population. Thousands of South Sudanese have been displaced and fled across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent days to escape fighting and violence against civilians, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees has confirmed.

This renewed violence risks undermining the peace agreement and lowers confidence of the Troika and other international partners in the parties’ seriousness and commitment to peace at a critical time of the pre-transitional period of the revitalized peace agreement.

We are concerned that if the situation escalates, the progress made in implementing the peace agreement will be irrevocably set back. In addition, if violence against civilians continues unchecked, it could fuel further cycles of violence and atrocities.

All parties — the Government of South Sudan, the SPLM-IO, and National Salvation Front — must end the violence immediately in line with commitments they made in the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. Namely, they must ensure the safety of civilians and their freedom of movement, and guarantee safe routes for civilians to leave conflict areas. The parties must allow unrestricted access to Yei and the surrounding area for the UN Mission in South Sudan, the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, as well as all humanitarian actors, to enable them to effectively carry out their roles.

Regional leadership will be essential to securing progress on this matter. We urge the region to respect the UN Arms Embargo and to hold those responsible for violations of the peace agreement and Cessation of Hostilities Agreement to account in line with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) statement of 31 January that called for all parties to “cease hostilities and military preparations immediately.” The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) has a central role in holding the parties to these agreements accountable to their commitments. We urge IGAD to appoint a credible and empowered R-JMEC Chair as a matter of urgency.

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