In a post in USAID’s “IMPACTblog,” Alex Thier, assistant to the USAID administrator for policy, planning, and learning, writes about an event held in New York this week hosted by USAID and the U.K.’s Department for International Development, titled “MDG Countdown 2013: Girls and Women Transforming Societies.” He says, “Elevating the political, social, and economic status of women and girls is a central and indispensable element of global progress towards creating a more prosperous, peaceful, and equitable world, and ending extreme poverty within our lifetime.” Tuesday’s “event in New York City illustrates how women’s leadership in grassroots advocacy, local solutions and the power of technology can steer the global community on the path to meeting our MDG goals and advancing gender equality and female empowerment in the post-2015 framework,” he concludes (9/24).