USAID Impact Photo Credit: Nancy Leahy/USAID

Archives for Humanitarian Assistance

U.S. Dispatches Airborne Assistance and Materials for Israel’s Wildfires

Posted by  on Saturday, December 4th 2010     

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Government, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is immediately dispatching U.S. Department of Defense aircraft to aid in the suppression of the raging wildfires in Israel.

Three U.S. Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-130 Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) aircraft will depart the United States for Israel this weekend to conduct fire suppression operations in support of the Government of Israel. In addition, two U.S. European Command C-130 aircraft carrying 20 tons of fire retardant will depart Ramstein Air Base in Germany to arrive over the weekend to further aid in fighting the wildfires.

These aircraft are in addition to the commercial aircraft chartered by USAID to deliver 45 tons of Fire-Troll fire retardant and 12,000 liters of WD881 Class A foam. Through its partnership with the U.S. Forest Service’s Disaster Assistance Support Program, USAID is also deploying a team of experts join with their Israeli counterparts to help combat the fires.

The United States stands prepared to provide additional assistance should it be necessary.

For more information about US assistance in the wake of the wildfires in Israel, please visit www.usaid.gov.

Women’s Garden Reopens in Kabul

Posted by  on Thursday, November 4th 2010     

As featured in Dipnote

By: Abby Sugrue

U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry joined senior Afghan officials, including the Minister of Women’s Affairs, the Mayor of Kabul, the Governor of Kabul province, and members of parliament, to celebrate the reopening of the Women’s Garden in Kabul on November 3, 2010.

The garden, once a sanctuary, was destroyed during the Afghan civil war. During the paralyzing restrictions of the Taliban era, women and girls were unable to enter the park, and it became a garbage dump.

Now that the historic Women’s Garden has reopened its doors, the eight-acre enclosure provides the women of Kabul a safe space to participate in a range of recreational and educational activities. The garden hosts gym and sports classes, vocational training, literacy classes, and serves as a place to socialize. It is also home to the provincial Directorate of Women’s Affairs.

The reconstruction project was led and implemented by the Director of Women’s Affairs, Ms. Karima Salik, who had played in the garden as a young girl before it was destroyed. The Women’s Garden was rehabilitated through USAID’s Food Insecurity Response for Urban Populations (FIRUP) and the Local Governance and Community Development (LGCD) programs, with CARE International acting as the implementing partner for FIRUP, and DAI as the implementer for LGCD. Fifty percent of the laborers who rebuilt the garden were women.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Dr. Husnbanu Ghazanfar, Minister of Women’s Affairs said, “Over the last 30 years this garden turned into a ruin but with the assistance of the U.S. government and other international donors, the garden has a new life now. More than ever, it is both a place to relax and to learn.”

Acknowledging the dedicated work and leadership of Ms. Salik, and the tremendous efforts of Minister Ghazanfar, Governor Zabihullah Mujadadi, Mayor Mohammad Yunus Nawandish, and the entire Provincial Development Committee for their efforts to advance the rights of women, Ambassador Eikenberry noted, “Today marks a new day — and the hope that Afghan women can again have a garden of their own in Kabul. While this Garden heralds the strength of Afghan women, it is my hope that it will also be seen as a symbol of the United States government’s — and, for that matter, the whole international community’s — support for a lasting friendship and partnership with all Afghans.”

Video Highlights Civilian-Military Coordination of Task Force Mountain Warrior

Posted by  on Friday, October 22nd 2010     

As featured in Dipnote

Posted by Dante Paradiso

State Department officers, USAID development experts, and representatives from several other U.S. government agencies serve alongside the U.S. military throughout Afghanistan as part of our efforts to integrate civilian and military operations, including with Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), with combat battalions, Provincial Reconstruction Teams, and District Support Teams.

BCT Task Force Mountain Warrior’s area of operations covered the four eastern Afghanistan provinces of Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar and Laghman, and the BCT was deployed from June 2009 to June 2010. Task Force Bastogne replaced the Task Force Mountain Warrior team, but many civilians under Chief of Mission authority remain in the area, providing valuable continuity.

In March 2010, Time.com embedded with Task Force Mountain Warrior and produced a video that reflects the work of the Brigade Senior Civilian Representative and other State Department Officers in Kunar province over the past year. The video shows the integrated nature of the Task Force’s work and the important role that civilians are playing on the front lines, working hand-in-hand with their military colleagues.

You can watch their video here.

Substations enable full-time police presence in some camps in Haiti

Posted by  on Wednesday, October 13th 2010     

Written by Steffani Fields, protection program manager for USAID Haiti

On a recent hot and sunny day in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a group of military personnel from U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), staff with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Treasury went to Tabarre Isa camp armed with buckets of blue and white paint and paintbrushes. Their mission is  to work with camp residents to paint a newly constructed police substation. The structure enables U.N. Police (UNPOL) and Haitian National Police (HNP) to have a full-time presence in the camps, and it provides crime victims, especially women and children, a safe refuge where they can report crime.

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USAID Assistance in Pakistan

Posted by  on Saturday, October 9th 2010     
By Mark Ward

Day in and day out, the men and women of the United States Agency for International Development provide development assistance throughout the world, in environments that are not always safe.

I have been in the Foreign Service with USAID for 24 years and currently have the honor of leading the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance. Thursday I returned from Pakistan where I saw USAID’s team and the NGOs we support on the ground providing hope to millions of Pakistanis after the floods that devastated
20 percent of the country.

The United States Government, through USAID, requires the NGOs we fund to ”brand” the assistance they provide to people in need with the Agency’s handshake logo and the words “from the American people” in local languages. Branding is not just required by law; it ensures transparency when America provides aid. We believe that the people we help have a right to know where their assistance is coming from.

In fact, many Pakistani people often criticize USAID for not being more aggressive when it comes to branding our aid. The USAID handshake is an enduring symbol of America’s support for Pakistan, well known by many who saw it as children when the Agency was a major contributor to important infrastructure projects, including dams and hydro power plants that provided millions with crucial transportation links and power. During my visit last week, Pakistani NGOs urged me to better make our efforts known to the flood-affected victims, so they are able to appreciate that no country is doing more to help them than the United States. The U.S government , through USAID is the largest overall donor in Pakistan, and it is important that we are able to communicate those efforts to the people we are helping.

At the same time, USAID is highly sensitive to the risks of branding in environments where one’s association with foreigners can turn a humanitarian worker into a target. We are in constant contact with security personnel in country; and where the security risks warrant it, we will continue to grant waivers to the branding requirement for certain areas and limited periods of time.

For example, in Pakistan today, I have granted waivers for NGOs working in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. But Pakistan is a vast country and not a monolith. In other parts of the country ravaged by the floods, where security has not been an issue, we continue to require branding on our aid.

Weighing the balance between carrying out our mission with transparency and ensuring the security of our workers and our NGO partners in the field is a constant challenge. We welcome the opportunity to work with all of our implementing partners to ensure that we get the balance right.

COUNTDOWN TO THE MDG SUMMIT: USAID’s Rajiv Shah: “We Need Results”

Posted by  on Wednesday, September 15th 2010     

As featured in Ministerial Leadership Initiative’s blog

Part two of the 8-part series In the Driver’s Seat: A Series on Country Ownership of Health Programs. Dr. Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 31, 2009. He spoke with John Donnelly earlier this month.

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah visits a pomegranate orchard. Arghandab district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, 4/10/2010, Photo Credit: Bruce Huffman/USAID


Q: What does country ownership mean?

A: I think it primarily means the country owning and defining the set of priorities in terms of what they want to accomplish in the health sector. It will vary country by country and vary based on disease, and it will vary on different country governments and their prioritization of health problems. It’s fundamentally about saying in the last decade that there’s been this huge growth in global health, with a lot of the work being done by NGOs, contract partners, and foundations that sometimes operate outside the dialogue and engagement with the host country. If we are going to achieve progress at a higher level, and ensure that countries sustain these achievements, then we need to make this whole system of donor-supported global health activities fit within a country’s own set of aspirations for global health. We’ve now seen a lot of different models for countries to express their priorities. The ones I prefer are inclusive of civil society and other groups within those countries.

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USAID Eases Hardships of Haiti’s Earthquake Survivors

Posted by  on Tuesday, September 14th 2010     

After the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, an estimated 1.5 million people were displaced from their homes. Approximately 100,000 earthquake survivors fled Port-au-Prince to Haiti’s Central Plateau.

While the area was one of the country’s poorest regions even before the earthquake, it’s seen an influx of survivors who’ve come to live with family and friends, straining already limited resources.

To ease the hardships in the Central Plateau, USAID partner Mercy Corps is providing immediate financial assistance through cash-for-work programs for both the displaced earthquake survivors and the families who took them in.

With USAID/OFDA support, Mercy Corps is providing livelihood opportunities to 2,000 people per week in the Central Plateau. An additional 20,000 people are on track to benefit from the cash-for-work program.

These projects give a member of each household 30 days of employment on a community-selected project geared at improving infrastructure or agricultural production, such as rehabilitating roads, farmland or irrigation systems. Some have used their salary and tools from the programs to start more sustainable small businesses.

Under USAID’s Food Security Program in Haiti, Mercy Corps will also provide food vouchers to 100,000 in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite region. This new initiative provides grants, cash or vouchers to buy desperately needed food.

In the town of Mirebalais, Mercy Corps employs Haitians to clear debris from canals and other public spaces to mitigate flooding during hurricane season. Watch a video on this important program.

View photos of Mercy Corps’ work in Mirebalais on Facebook and Flickr.

Tragedy and Hope in Kalam

Posted by  on Monday, September 13th 2010     

Submitted by Richard Zack Taylor

Bhan, Pakistan: As the eldest of five siblings with a father working overseas, 10-year-old Olfata had a lot of responsibility helping to look after her four younger brothers and sisters, while lending a hand on her extended family’s potato farm and apple orchard in mountainous north of the country.

Seema, Olfata holding Sidiqa, and Faisal have been affected by the floods in Pakistan, but are receiving help. Photo Credit: USAID/Pakistan

One day in late July, she heard shouting and yelling coming from neighbors up the river:  her village was directly in the path of a flash flood just minutes away. She tried to remain calm, and helped gather up her brothers and sisters and a basket full of apples, the first objects of value she could find.

Amid a great tumult in the village, Olfata was shepherding the little ones to higher ground when a panicked stray dog lunged toward her, toppling the apples and sending her siblings Seema, 9, Fozia, 7, and five-year-old Faisal in various directions while she clung to 16-month-old  Sadiqa with her free hand.

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Flying Over Swat Showed me the True Scope of the Disaster

Posted by  on Wednesday, August 25th 2010     

Shortly after arriving in Pakistan on Tuesday, I met with retired General Nadeem Ahmed, the chairman of Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.  As the general took me up in a military helicopter to inspect the once-beautiful but ravaged Swat valley, we spoke openly and candidly about the true extent of the damage wrought by the floodwaters.

Dr Shah and Nadeem Ahmed in helicopter

PAKISTAN, In flight : US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Rajiv Shah (R) and Chairman of The Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Nadeem Ahmed (L) sit in a helicopter as they view a flooded area of The Swat Valley on August 24, 2010. The United States and other countries worldwide have now pledged a total of more than 700 million dollars towards flood relief in Pakistan, a senior US official said. Photo credit: Farooq Naeem / AFP

As was clearly visible in areas where the waters had receded, the real work to bring Pakistan back to life has yet to start.  As far as the eye could see, foundations and buttresses supported nonexistent houses and bridges, power lines lay hopelessly tangled on the ground, and roads destroyed and washed away.  A layer of mud coated the landscape like brown paint and the normally sparkling, turquoise Swat river has become a river of mud.  As I look around me, it is obvious that Pakistan faces the biggest challenge in its 64-year history.

As I convene my senior staff tonight, we will fine-tune a plan that top USAID officials have been formulating since the scope of the disaster became apparent.  Throughout the flight, General Nadeem pointed out schools and medical centers that are still standing that were built with the help of USAID.  One thing is clear, though, which is that the United States intends to show itself as a friend and committed partner of Pakistan for many years to come.

World Humanitarian Day: Response Coordinator Reflects on Progress Made in Haiti

Posted by  on Friday, August 20th 2010     

Yesterday was World Humanitarian Day, a day when we remember the millions of people experiencing conflict, natural disasters, sickness and extreme poverty and the people committed to saving their lives, relieving suffering and empowering those who are struggling make a better life.

At USAID, we have a long history of extending a helping hand to people overseas recovering from disaster and are continuing to respond to humanitarian needs. We support Pakistanis affected by the epic flooding in the country’s south and west. And since January 12, our aid workers and partners have worked hard to help the people of Haiti build back better after the earthquake.

Watch a video featuring Response Coordinator Skip Waskin and learn about humanitarian aid efforts in Haiti.

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