It is well-documented that contraception has multiple individual, national and global health and development benefits, including reductions in maternal and child mortality and maternal to child transmission of HIV, and increased opportunities for women in the workforce and global economy. World Contraception Day, commemorated every year on September 26, highlights the growing need for improved [...]
Archives for September, 2011
From the Field
In Batticaloa, Sri Lanka we held a friendly cricket tournament between youth from the East and South to mark International Peace Day. In Jaffna, Sri Lanka we opened a collection center and distributed “freezer trucks” to farmers as part of USAID’s public-private alliances program. This hand over of equipment, tools and grants will improve productivity [...]
Combating Stereotypes: Lessons from the Aloun Farms Human Trafficking Case
This is a guest blog from Wayne C. Tanaka, Esq, Legal Consultant at the Pacific Survivor Center and Dr. Nicole Littenberg, Medical Director at the Pacific Survivor Center. Views are not of USAID. As global awareness about human trafficking grows, haunting images start to emerge in anti-trafficking campaign ads, documentaries, websites, and popular media portrayals. [...]
USAID at 50: Improving Health Services in Ethiopia
To commemorate USAID’s 50th anniversary and the concentrated efforts to improve health in Ethiopia, USAID co-sponsored the 2011 annual Every One Campaign Race to raise awareness about maternal and infant mortality rates within the country. While Ethiopia has some of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world, USAID and its partners are [...]
The Important Role of Women in Feeding the World’s Population
In this Feed the Future video, narrator Matt Damon discusses the importance of increasing food production around the world and notes the importance of equipping women with the right tools, training, and technology to see as much as a 30 percent increase in food production. Feed the Future is the U.S. global hunger and food [...]
All Hands on Open Data: Mapping the Famine
The Horn of Africa’s Last Famine?
Guest blogger Sam Dryden is the Director of Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This post was originally published as an op-ed in the September 15, 2011 edition of The Globe and Mail. For more information on the crisis in the Horn of Africa and how to get involved in the relief [...]
MDG Countdown 2011: Celebrating Success and Innovations
On Wednesday, September 21, USAID and UK development agency DFID co-hosted, “MDG Countdown 2011: Celebrating Successes and Innovations.” The event highlighted several game-changing programs and policies of countries that have made significant progress towards achieving the MDGs. Along with Secretary Mitchell and Administrator Shah, featured speakers included: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson, The Elders [...]
USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (9/19/2011 – 9/23/2011) September 19: The Huffington Post reports that at Mashable’s Social Good Summit, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah launched a new public engagement effort to raise awareness about the devastating famine in the Horn of Africa. Known as the FWD Campaign (Famine, War, Drought), the campaign aims to increase awareness and [...]
