USAID Impact Photo Credit: Nancy Leahy/USAID

Archives for Asia

Home-based Garment Brand Links Women to Better Markets

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 16th 2010     

Customer Natasha De Sousa, a video producer, said "I was very impressed with the designs and the quality."

Women in Pakistan have strong embroidery and garment embellishment skills, passing local traditional styles and techniques from generation to generation.  Yet due to their limited mobility, these women have had to accept low compensation for their products at local markets or through sales to intermediaries who buy low and profit from resale in higher-value urban markets. Either way, village artisans earn only small amounts for their painstakingly elaborate creations.
Read how these women surpassed social and cultural restrictions to develop their product collections, learning in a hands-on environment how to expand their businesses with USAID support.
Key components of USAID’s economic growth program include creating jobs, improving the competitiveness of Pakistani small and medium enterprises, addressing agricultural policy, infrastructure and productivity constraints; and significantly increasing women’s access to microfinance.
The U.S. is working with the Government of Pakistan to promote the rule of law and equality under the law; build public awareness of the benefits of educating girls and of providing them with economic opportunity and health care as well as of the benefits of changing societal attitudes.

USAID Hosts Indian-Diaspora Workshop

Posted by  on Tuesday, June 8th 2010     

submitted by Matt Johnson

Indian-American Diaspora Event

USAID Mission Director to India, Erin Soto, meeting with some of the Indian diaspora. (photo by Jan Cartwright)

Mission Director Erin Soto, who heads USAID’s Mission in India, met yesterday afternoon in the Ronald Reagan Building with 33 members of the Indian American community. The dialogue was part of a day-long session to explore ways to enhance engagement and partnership between USAID and the Indian diaspora in our development efforts in India.

Soto noted that the Indian American community has much to bring, in terms of expertise, understanding, and resources, to development projects in India. She encouraged participants to network and to familiarize themselves with USAID’s budget cycle.

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Progress and Challenges in Fight Against Malaria in Mekong SubRegion

Posted by  on Monday, June 7th 2010     

USG Strategy for Malaria in VietnamWhile major progress has been made in the fight against malaria in the Mekong SubRegion covering the six countries of Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and China, the disease continues to be a major public health problem, according to the World Health Organization’s recent Mekong Malaria report.

USAID provides critical strategic support in the region to address three major challenges: monitoring and mitigation of emerging multi-drug resistant malaria; combating the distribution of counterfeit and sub-standard drugs; and assessing hard-to-reach and mobile trans-border populations.

Malaria is on the agenda of the Lower Mekong Initiative Infectious Diseases Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, June 17–18 where participants will examine integrated regional approaches to fighting infectious disease. President’s Malaria Initiative Coordinator, Rear Admiral (USN, retired) Timothy Ziemer, will open the conference and co-lead the U.S. delegation.

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This Week at USAID – June 7, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, June 7th 2010     

Currently leading the U.S. delegation to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Board meeting in Rome, today Administrator Shah meets with the Executive Director of WFP, Deputy Director Generals of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and the President of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Earl Gast will be sworn-in as the new USAID Mission Director to Afghanistan.

Several USAID officials will be speaking at the Women Deliver Conference at the Washington Convention Center. In addition, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health, Amie Batson, and the U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator, Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, will both speak at the Global Business Coalition on AIDS, TB and Malaria’s annual conference, also in Washington, DC.

USAID in the News

Posted by  on Monday, June 7th 2010     

Submitted by Jessica Scott

Administrator Shah took part in the first ever US-India Strategic Dialogue this week. The meeting included a host of senior leaders from both sides.  Dr. Shah discussed development as part of the complex relationship between the two countries.

The final 314 American troops from Operation Unified Response were airlifted from Haiti on Tuesday. Even as troops were being pulled out of the country, they continued to work with USAID and the UN in nine camps housing Haitians who lost their homes.  The Washington Post’s editorial page commemorated the transition with a lead editorial that mentions USAID in connection with the importance of continued U.S. involvement in Haiti’s recovery.  USAID officials who have been leading this effort, including Paul Weisenfeld and Christopher Milligan, attended the World Summit on the Future of Haiti.

The USAID-Funded FIRMS Initiative is helping bridge the gap between Pakistani mango farmers and European consumers.  Pakistan exports a relatively small percentage of its mango production.  Under the FIRMS program, farmers are being trained in the best ways to pick, sort, grade, and package the

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USAID Support to Girls’ Education Helps Break Cycle of Poverty in Pakistan

Posted by  on Monday, June 7th 2010     

Students celebrate at a new school built through USAID assistance from the American people

In many households in Pakistan, poverty and tradition prevent millions of school age children access to quality education.

Low attendance rates, inadequate infrastructure, and poorly trained teachers perpetuate theseserious gaps in education.  Despite these challenges, education is a top priority for families. Read the fact sheet.

USAID/Pakistan is making schooling more accessible to girls so to help them become pillars of Pakistan’s future progress. When girls attain higher levels of education, they are more likely to improve household living standards, have smaller and more sustainable families and their children are less likely to be malnourished. In short, they are better equipped, empowered and inspired to break the cycle of poverty.

At the Interaction Forum in Washington, D.C. on June 2, USAID Administrator Dr. Raj Shah said “Girls’ education is one of the most valuable interventions that can be made to improve long-term social outcomes.” Read his remarks here.

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Rebuilding Communities in Pakistan

Posted by  on Saturday, June 5th 2010     

By Zack Taylor

Khana Mohri buffalo milk producers, primarily men, developed a dairy association with USAID support. The association provides training and veterinary support to its members, and stores its milk in a chiller bought through the USAID project.

On October 8, 2005, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and AJK, killing 74,000 people and injuring 70,000. In the years since the devastating earthquake, reconstruction of the region has been an important component of the development portfolio at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Pakistan.

Read more about efforts to rebuild lives and livlihoods of the families and communities who live in this remote, mountainous province in Pakistan.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the U.S. government mobilized all of its available resources. Military helicopters transported survivors out of destroyed cities and brought in thousands of tons of relief materials such as food, medical services, clothing, and tents in collaboration with the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Heavy machinery moved debris to search for victims and set the stage for rebuilding.

The close teamwork of Pakistani and U.S. governments, along

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Measured Marriage: For One 15-year old, a Chance to Finish Childhood from USAID

Posted by  on Friday, June 4th 2010     

Due in large measure to USAID-provided health messages provided to a member of the local Village Council and leader in her community, 15-year-old Bakhtawar will be able to finish school - and growing up - before she is married.

Kanjeer, Pakistan – Bakhtawar was a good student in the fifth grade at a small school located in a Southern Pakistan village.

She enjoyed learning, laughing with her friends, and spending time with her family. But one evening, as she sat nervously in a chair beside her parents at the local meeting hall, she knew that everything about her childhood was coming to an end. No more school, no more girlfriends, no more fun.

At 15, Bakhtawar was about to become engaged to be married. Read her story here!

The impacts of early marriage are substantial not

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USAID – The Week Ahead

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 2nd 2010     

June 2:  Administrator Shah will be the keynote speaker at the Interaction Forum 2010, which is being held at the  Washington Convention Center.  Several other USAID officials will speak on topics such as food security and the response to the Haiti earthquake.

June 3:  Administrator Shah will give brief remarks at the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue being held at the State Department.  These remarks will propose concrete ways to further U.S.-India cooperation on common priority issues.

June 3-8: Administrator Shah will lead the U.S. Delegation to the World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Board Meeting in Rome, Italy.  It is anticipated that 3,000 people from 36 member states will be in attendance.

New Estimates Document Decline in Mortality for Children Under 5

Posted by  on Friday, May 28th 2010     

By developing and implementing high-impact, evidence-based interventions, delivered at low cost, USAID programs reduced newborn mortality by 16 to 42 percent in 11 these countries. With USAID support, counties as diverse as Nepal, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Afghanistan have reduced under-five mortality by 25 percent in 5 to 7 years.

Death rates in children under 5 are dropping in many countries at an accelerated pace, according to a new report in ‘The Lancet’ based on data from 187 countries from 1970 to 2010. Worldwide, 7.7 million children are expected to die this year down from the 1990 figure of 11.9 million.

Global child survival programs have focused on reaching increased numbers of children with basic health interventions, which scientific research and field programs have demonstrated to reduce the susceptibility of children to serious illnesses. Vaccines, vitamin A supplements, better treatment of diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria, more education for women, reduced numbers of high risk and closely spaced births, and AIDS medicines in high-HIV prevalence countries are among the factors that have helped lower death rates. USAID has supported much of

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