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From the Field

Posted by  on Tuesday, September 7th 2010     

In Liberia, to celebrate International Literacy Day USAID’s Core Educational Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) is launching a writing contest across all 266 schools they support. Students will compete to write short, original stories built around a positive, inspiring, and unifying theme, and the winning stories will be published and distributed to students across the country to show the importance of literature by Liberian authors.

This is all part of our larger effort along side the Ministry of Education to rebuild the education system after the civil conflict years in which rebel factions frequently targeted schools as places to recruit soldiers.

In the Dominican Republic, we are holding a Digital Journalism Workshop as part of our support to tourism clusters in nine different provinces in the DR.   USAID is sponsoring this workshop with the support of a group of journalists who specialize in tourism area.  The goal is to educate Dominicans on how to more effectively market their many desirable tourism destinations.

In Lebanon, we are opening the American Community School (ACS) Outdoor Education and Nature Center.  This center will enable approximately 1,000 ACS students to re-connect with nature, create awareness on ecological and environmental issues, and establish a networking/exchange program with schools in the area.  The center will be utilized throughout the year to enrich students’ knowledge, raise their respect for nature, and build their personality to become responsible and rely on themselves.

From the Field

Posted by  on Monday, August 30th 2010     

Submitted by Abby Sugrue

In Zambia we re-launched the Safeplan Family Planning Pill through our Partnership for Integrated Social Marketing program (PRISM).  The new Safeplan pack will be available at registered outlets including clinics, pharmacies and retail shops across the country.  Oral contraceptive pills, like Safeplan, are a safe, convenient and effective way for women to accurately and reliably control their reproductive lives and thereby improve their health.  USAID is working with the Ministry of Health and the private sector to improve access to high quality, affordable modern contraceptives throughout the country.

In Paraguay we are collaborating with the Millenium Challenge Corporation, which is donating software to the Ministry of Health to handle distribution and logistics of medicines in the country.  For the first time, the Ministry of Health will have software that will help avoid corruption by properly tracking and distributing medicines.

In Cambodia we are collaborating closely with the Department of Defense to assist in the planning of a series of pandemic flu preparedness exercises.  This is part of a national workshop focused on refining collaborative civilian-military provincial response plans in Cambodia.

This Week at USAID – August 30, 2010

Posted by  on Monday, August 30th 2010     

Wayne Nilsestuen will be officially sworn-in as Mission Director-Designate to Bolivia, and Jim Barnhart will be officially sworn-in as Mission Director-Designate to Lebanon.

USAID’s Mark Ward, Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, will speak at Brookings as part of a panel discussion on challenges the Pakistani government and the international community face in the flood response.

USAID’s Carol Chan, Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, will brief about key developments in the Pakistan flood response at the State Department’s daily press briefing.

Former Afghan Aid Chief Reflects on Career in Foreign Assistance

Posted by  on Wednesday, August 25th 2010     

After 14 months heading the largest USAID office in Agency history—in Afghanistan— Bill Frej stepped down from a long career in foreign assistance this summer. “We have completely transformed the aid program and made agriculture the number one priority,” said Frej in an interview in Washington.

Although Frej admitted to many challenges in delivering large amounts of foreign assistance in a war zone, the aid veteran is replete with success stories. Frej counts the mass enrollment of girls in schools as one of USAID’s major accomplishments in Afghanistan, explaining that U.S. assistance helped increase countrywide school enrollment from 400,000 children—only boys—in 2001 to 6.5 million today, 40 percent of them girls.

Frej said he recently travelled three hours by jeep to visit a USAID program in a village in Bamiyan at 10,000 feet. He was struck to see children, boys and girls, being taught to read, write and even speak English by a trained teacher in such an isolated place. “USAID and our development partner, Aga Khan Trust, were the first development organizations to visit this village,” he said.

Frej also points to major healthcare improvements as a result of U.S. government aid activity. “I’ve been to 28 of the 34 provinces and in almost every visit, seen midwives training. [Afghanistan] had the highest mortality rate of mothers and children in childbirth in the world and it has been completely turned around,” he said. Frej called Afghanistan one of the best success stories “anywhere in the developing world” in terms of gains in mother-child health. “USAID has a great deal to be proud of.”

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.

Helping Shelter Haiti

Posted by  on Monday, August 23rd 2010     

The humanitarian community in Haiti has funds for the construction of more than 118,000 transitional shelters over the coming months for those who lost their homes in the country’s devastating earthquake earlier this year. Medair, an international NGO, is one of many partners receiving funding from USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to build such shelters.

Three hundred fifty bundles of pre-treated timber, weighing about 2 tons each, are carefully unloaded from the vessel to the dock using on-board cranes. It took 48 hours of continuous working to disembark all the materials. Photo copyright Emma Le Beau/Medair.

Last week, Medair unloaded construction materials for 800 transitional shelters — a fraction of the total they plan to build — in Jacmel, south of Port-au-Prince. Medair is planning to build 4,500 t-shelters in the Jacmel area, benefiting 27,000 people. Here’s a dispatch from Emma Le Beau, Field Communications Officer for Medair Haiti, about the excitement that this delivery brought to Jacmel and the direct impact of our work on the lives of Haitians affected by the earthquake:

“As our cargo ship approached Jacmel at dawn, local fishing boats rowed ahead of the boat to steer it clear of a treacherous sandbar. When the ship berthed, we began unloading the cargo with the aid of two 35-ton cranes, four forklifts, seven flatbed trucks, and the logistical support of shipping agent Kuehne and Nagel and Haitian partner Hogarth. The flatbed trucks made it over the mountains from Port-au-Prince with only one flat tire among them.

“The cranes operated throughout the night to unload 1,331 tons of cargo from the ship, including timber and galvanized iron sheeting. Because of widespread deforestation in Haiti, we chose to import the pre-treated timber to keep local trees in place.

“From the port, trucks loaded with the ship’s materials made nearly 200 runs to the Medair warehouse. When they arrived, Medair teams of technical officers, carpenters, logisticians, and community mobilizers, who have been in place since January, were there to greet them. Now that more materials are in place, they’ll be able to scale up the speed of their construction and build more shelters for Haitian families in need in hard-to-reach mountain villages near Jacmel.

“The shelters, designed to resist hurricane force winds, seismic risks and heavy rainfall, are solid structures with foundations of reinforced concrete. They take about three days to build and are finished with a wrapping of plastic sheeting and solid windows and doors. Many families will likely choose to upgrade this type of shelter into a permanent home by replacing the plastic sheeting with stone walls.

The Rossamund family, whose home was made dangerously unsafe by the earthquake, has already received a new shelter and is enjoying living in safer and dry housing. Monsieur Rossamund told Medair staff: “If I had not received this help, I would need to sell all my animals to pay for the materials to rebuild my home.” By keeping his animals, his family can continue to have a livelihood, food, and insurance for the future.”

USAID – From the Field

Posted by  on Monday, August 23rd 2010     

In Indonesia we are hosting the second annual Ramadan outreach program to teach Indonesian youth about America’s religious diversity. The program aims to reach out to youth between the ages of 15-25. American officers from the Jakarta mission and Indonesian student exchange alumni will speak during the 3-week program.  There will be 40 events throughout the greater Jakarta metropolitan district, including presentations and discussions at education centers such as Islamic boarding schools, high schools, universities, and religious youth communities.

In Ghana we celebrate the launch of Life Choices Family Planning Initiative to increase the use of family planning services and commodities, and to address the social and behavioral barriers to using contraceptives.  The launch of the initiative is a part of media campaign to raise public awareness and generate national and local coverage for the initiative.  The campaign will include a docudrama focusing on consequences of unintended pregnancy, male involvement, and managing side effects and interpersonal communications among peers.  This initiative is possible through a USAID partnership with the Ghana Health Service and technical assistance from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs.

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.

USAID – From the Field

Posted by  on Monday, August 16th 2010     

Submitted by Abby Sugrue

In Jordan sponsoring and supporting several Iftars throughout the country in celebration of Ramadan.  Iftars are the late dinner celebrations at the end of a long day of fasting and are a culturally relevant way to express gratitude to volunteers and partners and to celebrate the successes of the Mission’s projects.  One Iftar, hosted by USAID partner INJAZ, will be aimed at volunteers who enabled a successful high school student mentoring program.  Additional youth-focused Iftars will be held throughout the month is Amman and Aqaba. 

In Morocco a youth outreach conference for Ramadan.  Over 1,400 young people are expected to participate in a full week of activities created to connect youth to employment opportunities and grow their entrepreneurship skills so they can turn their ideas into productive projects – whether personal, social or commercial.  There will also be a closing ceremony for participants, which will be covered by area reporters and bloggers.

In Tanzania a textbook delivery ceremony.  USAID is working with South Carolina State University  (SCSU) and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training  (MOEVT) to develop and produce textbooks and learning materials through USAID/Washington’s Textbooks and Learning Materials Program.  Over a three year period, the university will produce 2.25 million secondary science and math textbooks and other learning materials for mainland Tanzania.  SCSU has produced its first tranche of 800,000 textbooks and 37,000 teacher’s guides.  The textbooks include important messages about HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention as well as other critical life-skills and are designed in collaboration with MOEVT staff who also receive training so that they can update the content locally as needed.

USAID – From the Field

Posted by  on Monday, August 9th 2010     

Submitted by Abby Sugrue.

In Honduras the signing of USAID’s new bilateral assistance agreement for the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI).  This agreement supports youth and communities that are vulnerable to crime, violence, gangs, and drug trafficking by providing them with vocational skills, safe alternatives to gangs, better governance, and improved infrastructure.  

In Bangladesh the launch of Parliament of Bangladesh Budget Analysis and Monitoring Unit (BAMU).  The “Promoting Governance, Accountability, Transparency, and Integrity (PROGATI)” program implemented BAMU and will provide fiscal analysis and other services as required by the Members of the Parliament to facilitate their oversight of national budgets and monitoring of government expenditures.

In Senegal a graduation ceremony for an Investigative Journalism course. As part of the USAID program on Decentralization, Governance and Transparency, and in light of upcoming elections in 2012, this course is intended to strengthen the transparency and integrity with which reporters practice their profession.

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