Impact Blog Team
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USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (2/28/2011–3/4/2011) March 1 The New York Times reports that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that USAID will be dispatching two teams to Libya’s borders in Egypt and Tunisia to assess the need for emergency assistance. Clinton also said the agency has set aside $10 million for humanitarian assistance and begun an [...]
Life Savers in Africa
Submitted by Ari Alexander, Director for the Center for Faith-based & Community Initiatives and the Senior Advisor of NGO Partnerships and Global Engagement at USAID. Thunderstorms took out the electricity. The conference proceeded without lights, microphones or air conditioning in 100 degree heat. Most of us would find ourselves understandably distracted and uncomfortable under such [...]
Helping the First Elections to Succeed
by Diman Simanjuntak Today I work at USAID/Indonesia as a development specialist in the Office of Democratic Governance. But during the popular uprising that led to the downfall of Suharto and the return of democratic government to Indonesia I was a student activist. After the popular, student led uprising in Indonesia – similar to what [...]
Strategic Investment Helps South Africa Scale Up HIV Treatment
By Diane Reynolds, South Africa country director of the Supply Chain Management System With 2009’s change in political leadership in South Africa, we’ve seen a rapid scale-up of HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and prevention services. After years of neglect, we have a 17.8 percent adult HIV prevalence rate and 5.33 million adults and 330,000 children who [...]
From the Field
By Cary Jimenez, USAID Zimbabwe In Zimbabwe, USAID is giving youth a voice in their communities. This month, the Young People Initiative was launched to empower youth and help them solve critical issues collaboratively. U.S. Ambassador Charles A. Ray spoke at the launch event, encouraging youth to “think outside the box” while at the same [...]
USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (2/22/2011–2/25/2011) February 23 CNN reports that USAID is sending a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to New Zealand in the wake of the 6.3-magnittude earthquake in Christchurch. February 23 AFP reports that in a written statement, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah offered his condolences to the people of New Zealand. “On behalf of [...]
“What Do Rising Food Prices Mean?”
About the Author: Robert D. Hormats serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs. Originally posted on Dipnote, the U.S. Department of State official blog. The United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization released figures this month showing that global food prices have risen 41 percent since June, primarily due to a [...]
USAID@50: Stories from the field
Tiana Razafimahatratra, a Foreign Service National working at USAID’s Madagascar misson, tells the story of her first days working with USAID. When I told my former colleagues from CARE that I had been recruited by USAID to join the mission in Madagascar as a Foreign Service National (FSN), their first reaction surprised me. It was [...]
Christchurch Earthquake Deployment
By Rebecca Gustafson, USAID/OFDA Press Officer with the New Zealand Earthquake response DART I started getting calls about the terrible earthquake in Christchurch almost immediately after it happened. It was clear that the devastation was great. My heart went out to those who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods, and I couldn’t help but wonder [...]
Fruit and Faith
Senior Advisor Ari Alexander is in Ghana and highlights one of his field visits to a farm program. Hello from Ghana where I had the privilege yesterday to observe the fruits of a great development success story in the Eastern Region of Ghana. A faith-based organization conceived, proposed, designed, and implemented a project to introduce [...]
