USAID Impact Photo Credit: Nancy Leahy/USAID

Archives for Sub-Saharan Africa

This Week at USAID – June 14, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, June 14th 2010     

Currently in Dakar, Senegal, Administrator Shah will speak at the opening ceremony of a regional food security investment forum hosted by ECOWAS.  The two Deputies of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative, Ambassador William Garvelink, Deputy Coordinator for Development; and Ambassador Patricia Haslach, Deputy Coordinator for Diplomacy; are also part of the U.S. delegation attending this important regional meeting.

USAID has several officials speaking at the Global Health Council’s Annual Conference, which is being held all week in Washington, DC.  Officials will speak about a range of topics related to the work of USAID’s Global Health Bureau and President Obama’s Global Health Initiative. 

On Wednesday, Administrator Shah will join Secretaries Clinton and Vilsack at the announcement of the 2010 World Food Prize winners.  The World Food Prize recognizes the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. 

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Partnering with West African Countries to Fight Global Hunger

Posted by  on Monday, June 14th 2010     
Partnering with West African Countries to Fight Global Hunger

Administrator Shah adresses the Opening Session of the CAADP/ECOWAS High Level Event

Food security is the order of business this week.  I’m here at the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) / Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) high level event in Dakar, Senegal for its review of national and regional investment plans in agriculture for West African countries. President Obama pledged $3.5 billion for agricultural development and food security over three years and a central part of that approach includes investing in country-owned plans. The United States is making a significant contribution to support the country plans for several West African countries at this review.

Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, renews our commitment to invest in combating the root causes of chronic hunger and poverty.  In Senegal, where

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USAID Responds to Polio Outbreak in Tajikistan

Posted by  on Sunday, June 13th 2010     

More than 500 million children are vaccinated each year, including in the most difficult access places in the world.

Tajikistan is experiencing its first importation of wild poliovirus into the country in 12 years and the first case in the WHO European Region since it was certified as polio free in 2002. As of June 9, 2010, there are 183 confirmed cases of polio, including 3 deaths, in Tajikistan – out of 288 total polio cases confirmed worldwide(compared to 1604 for the same time period in 2009). For each confirmed case, there are hundreds of silent infections.

USAID is working closely with the United Nations (U.N) and countries to address this outbreak. Tajik authorities plan to conduct the next round of vaccination for children ages 6 to 15 during June 15-19. The global polio eradication effort is at a critical point in time.  Since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988,

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Football Brings Hope To South Africa

Posted by  on Friday, June 11th 2010     

submitted by Saba Hale

Nike created a “monolithic temple for football” in South Africa to give “inspiration and aspiration to the local community.”

This week Nike celebrated the grand opening of their soccer center in Soweto, South Africa. The training facility was a gift to the communities of Soweto and Johannesburg. Andy Walker, the designer, said he wanted to create a “monolithic temple for football” to give “inspiration and aspiration to the local community.”

Nike hopes that this facility will provide the youth of Soweto a safe place to come together through soccer and inspire them to reach their full potential, not only as athletes but in their lives.  The center houses two USAID-associated project groups – Grassroots Soccer, an NGO that coaches children in football, and Right to Care.  Additionally, it has integrated both HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment on site.

We hope this state-of-the-art facility creates a legacy for future generations. The center promotes the best quality of soccer – a unifier of people and communities. The facility’s lights shine though Soweto brightening once darkened corners.

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Dr. Jill Biden Visits USAID Programs in South Africa

Posted by  on Friday, June 11th 2010     
Dr. Jill Biden at the Mapetla Day Care Centre in Soweto

Dr. Jill Biden at the Mapetla Day Care Centre in Soweto

submitted by Themba Mathebula, Development Outreach Communications Assistant, USAID South Africa

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, visited the Mapetla Day Care Centre in Soweto, on her arrival in South Africa yesterday. The centre is supported by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID. Mapetla Day Care provides care and early education for 102 orphans and vulnerable children, including life skills development and preparation for primary school.

During her visit, Dr. Biden met the ecstatic children and staff. The centre’s principal Thabo Baloyi said “I’m very humbled to have met the U.S Second Lady and appreciate the support from the American people through USAID.” The U.S. Second Lady also met Kami, the HIV-positive muppet from Takalani Sesame, South Africa’s version of Sesame Street. USAID’s education program had supported development of Takalani Sesame for South Africa. South Africa was the first country to adapt Sesame

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Dr. Jill Biden visits a USAID sponsored school for girls in Kenya

Posted by  on Thursday, June 10th 2010     

A great video over at Whitehouse.gov highlights the travels of Dr. Jill Biden in Kenya and her visit to a girls school helping to give young women a brighter future.

Increasing the Involvement of Men in Women’s Health

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 9th 2010     

In male dominated cultures, USAID programs are helping to decrease maternal deaths by encouraging men to become involved in pregnancy and childbirth matters. Pictured: a man and child in Pakistan.

Reducing maternal deaths by 75 percent throughout the world by 2015 will take the involvement of men in countries where it matters most. Many of the countries where USAID works are male dominated cultures. To improve maternal health outcomes for women in developing countries, men must be equal partners since they are the decision makers about health care in the family. These decisions include determining family size, timings of pregnancies, and whether women have access to health care for themselves and their children. USAID-supported programs make special efforts to emphasize men’s shared responsibility and promote their active involvement in responsible parenthood, sexual and reproductive health. This means reaching out to community elders, leaders, and religious groups – entreaties that could be rejected because of traditional cultural values and perceptions that maternal health is the responsibility of women only.

In Pakistan, USAID is building on the efforts undertaken by the Government to create a cadre of religious leader master trainers to conduct roll out trainings in family planning and reproductive health, and maternal and child health, and gender issues consistent with and supported by the teachings of Islam.

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Stories of economic growth in Africa

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 2nd 2010     

Economic growth is critical to reducing poverty and building a better future. The African Growth and Opportunity Act was signed into law 10 years ago to support free markets and growing economies throughout Africa, and USAID has been building on AGOA by supporting entrepreneurs, promoting exports, and creating trade networks. And the results have been incredible. Success stories throughout Africa—from fair-trade cotton farmers in Senegal to a blooming flower market in East Africa—illustrate how trade improves lives. Read a brand-new collection of stories from the field here: http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/initiatives/SuccessStoriesCompendium-2010.pdf

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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Lancet Series Puts Spotlight on Global Tuberculosis Efforts

Posted by  on Friday, May 28th 2010     

On May 19th, ‘The Lancet’ released a special series on tuberculosis, which includes a series of papers and comments highlighting the need for new tools, the threat posed by drug-resistant strains, results of current control efforts and other issues about TB worldwide http://www.thelancet.com/series/tuberculosis. While treatment strategies saved six million lives and 36 million cases of the disease were successfully treated between 1995 and 2008, TB remains a severe global public health threat. TB remains second only to HIV among infectious killers worldwide today and is the third leading cause of death among women aged 15-44.

The Lancet series also focused on the broader issues that contribute to the spread of the disease. The

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