Asia
Picture of the Week: Deputy Administrator Steinberg Visits Asia
USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg visits Danang Airport where dioxin remediation project will be conducted. Photo Credit: USAID/Vietnam
As part of a three country trip to Asia, USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg attended the Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Manila, participating in the Development Partners Session. In the Philippines, he visited several USAID programs, including the launch of the Partnership for Growth Cities Development Initiative, the issuance of land titles to several Batangas residents, and the signing of the Bilateral Agreement with the Philippine government. Deputy Administrator Steinberg’s visit to Danang, Vietnam highlighted the USG’s commitment to remediation of Agent Orange dioxins, an important step in mending the painful legacy between our two countries. During a short stay in Japan, he engaged with experts at the Japan Institute of International Affairs on “The critical importance of U.S. – Japan development cooperation and the post-Busan development landscape.”
Picture of the Week
Ms. Le Thi Het (right) received a wheelchair from a USAID-funded project in Danang, Vietnam which enables her to get around. She is able to easily access a nearby community rehabilitation center supported by USAID where she has been able to strengthen her legs to operate a sewing machine and expand her business with her sister, Le Thi Thuong. Photo Credit: Richard Nyberg, USAID
New Teaching Methods and Resources Transform Indonesian School
The facilities were impeccable, the students were learning from enthusiastic teachers, and the school had the strong support of parents and its surrounding community. This is not a school in the United States, but rather the school I’m describing is the Sedati Gede 2 primary school, located in Sidoarjo district in the Indonesian province of East Java, where the Indonesian government has partnered with USAID. The school has 30 teachers and serves 746 students between the ages of 6 and 12.
Children interact with Assistant Administrator Biswal in a classroom at Sedati Gede 2 primary school. (Photo: USAID)
As part of its Decentralized Basic Education Program, USAID has partnered with the Indonesian government to help improve the school facilities, strengthen school management and accountability (for example, by bolstering parent committees), and enhance the teaching/learning process—all of which contribute to improved student learning.
Education has become a priority in the partnership between the U.S. and Indonesia governments. USAID’s Decentralized Basic Education Program began in 2005, and since that time has benefitted approximately 1,500 schools, 57,400 educators, and 480,000 students. Tools and approaches have been replicated by local government and donor agencies, greatly expanding the impact we have had with this program. By the end of 2011, there will be 26,170 schools replicating best practices from the program.
My first stop on this visit was the kindergarten facility. Principal Nur Abda’u and local education officials greeted me and led me to a cheerfully decorated classroom, where a USAID-supported Interactive Audio Instruction lesson was in progress. As part of their lesson, the children were excitedly playing an interactive game with a ball. I remarked to the principal that this is just the kind of nurturing, stimulating school that I would love to send my own children to. (more…)
USAID Helps Timor-Leste Usher In a New Era in Land Rights
You can’t go too fast on the narrow and winding road to Manatutu, about two and a half hours east of Dili. It is a magnificent road, at times taking you up the side of a hill, at times right by the beach. The views all along the way are astounding: the clear, azure waters of the Pacific, the miles of mangrove forest, and the small towns, one with a newly rebuilt school thanks to the U.S. Navy’s contingent of Seabees here.
Teams from USAID’s Ita Nia Rai (Our Land) project work with a local resident on his land claim in Ermera District. Across Timor-Leste, the teams have documented more than 50,000 claims covering almost all of the urban areas. Photo Credit: Charles S. Rice/USAID Timor-Leste
The town of Manatutu is nestled on the shore of the Pacific. In a large administration building by the main church, we attended a ceremony celebrating Ita Nai Rai (“Our Land”). This USAID-funded project has touched the lives of more than 50,000 families in the urban areas of all the country’s districts—and more 1,400 in Manatutu District. With an average family size of 5.8, that means that USAID funds have enabled nearly all of Timor-Leste’s 316,000 urban residents to stake a claim on their land.
Land issues in Timor-Leste are complex, as they are everywhere, and the government has yet to pass a comprehensive land law. But with USAID’s help, Timor-Leste is now taking this first step—to validate a landowner’s uncontested claim with an official certificate.
As we pulled into the parking lot, people, as they are wont to do before big ceremonies in Timor-Leste, were milling about, sitting on chairs arranged in front of a dais, listening to music. (Bob Marley was on, “No Woman, No Cry.”) The formal agenda said that the ceremony was to start at 9:30, and I was anxious that we shouldn’t be late. But the relaxed atmosphere showed that it was more flexible than I anticipated. (Gradually, I am learning that in Timor-Leste I have to be able to “feel” whether or not I am going to be late. In this case, I should have known that the festivities would not begin exactly on time.) (more…)
New Partnership with Islamic Bank Marks Step Forward for Indonesian Women and USAID
Eid Saeed! This week Muslims around the world have been celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. And low-income women in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, have another reason to celebrate.
U.S. Ambassador for Indonesia Scot Marciel (left) and Bank Mulamalat President Director Arviyan Arifin shake hands at the signing ceremony. Photo Credit: USAID/Indonesia
As a result of a new USAID loan guarantee signed on August 23, they can now apply for microfinance loans through Bank Muamalat, the country’s oldest Islamic bank. This $1.15 million agreement is USAID’s first-ever finance guarantee program with a Islamic financial institution worldwide.
What is Islamic banking? It means that the bank uses Islamic guidelines for approving financing for applicants with a goal to achieve social and economic justice. For example, the charging of interest is prohibited by the Koran. So rather than charging profit-motivated interest as a typical bank would, Bank Muamalat’s microloans will be a funding type known as mudaraba, in which the microentrepreneurs and the bank share both the profit and risk.
The loans are available to applicants of any religious affiliation, but the fact that they are compatible with Islamic principles will help reach the low-income women who have been hardest to reach with traditional microfinance programs. Microloans will allow these women to start or expand businesses, helping to increase their incomes and improve living conditions for themselves and their families.
The finance guarantee agreement builds on President Obama’s speech in Cairo , which called for deeper engagement with the Muslim world. It is also a prime example of the type of how USAID partners with established in-country institutions to leverage existing resources and knowledge.
Partnering with Diaspora Groups for Asia’s Development
Nisha Desai Biswal is Assistant Administrator for the Asia Bureau
Asia is a dynamic region experiencing impressive but uneven growth while still grappling with the challenges of improved governance and sustainability. It is a region of opportunity and innovation where governments, civil society, and the private sector are increasingly partnering with international donors to tackle development challenges.
And no one is better aware of the development challenges facing Asia, nor the opportunities and innovations that can help address these challenges, than the diaspora community in the United States and around the world. Diaspora communities are becoming an increasingly important factor in helping their countries of origin, whether it be through remittances, through technical assistance, or through trade and investments via small and medium businesses.
As an Indian American, I know firsthand the important role that diaspora communities play in development. Asian countries are prominent on the Migration Policy Institute’s list of the top 15 diaspora groups. Remittances sent back home to these countries are a powerful force for development. I have seen this throughout the world, including in the town I was born in, in Gujarat, India, where much of the investment in public and private infrastructure was financed through remittances.
Asian diaspora communities tend to be close-knit, and they maintain strong ties to family and friends in their countries of origin. Their robust networks, familiarity with the culture and language, and strong interest in seeing the impact of assistance makes them especially valuable partners for us at USAID.
In USAID’s Asia Bureau, we have organized events to facilitate dialogue between the U. S. Government and Asian diaspora groups. Last year, we held events with members of the Indian and Vietnamese diasporas in the United States. The goals of these events were to listen and hear these groups’ ideas, thoughts, and concerns, and to give them information about how their tax dollars are being spent to assist their countries of origin. The events also detailed ways diaspora groups could partner with USAID, generating possible future partnerships with the U.S. Government.
We are exploring new and exciting ways to partner with Asian diaspora groups to support development efforts on the continent. For example, in Nepal, we’ve begun consultations on a Diaspora Collective Fund. The Fund will operate like a mutual fund and will direct contributions from the Nepalese diaspora into investments that will benefit the country’s development.
Moving forward, we would like to increase our work with diaspora groups and systemize this contact.
By working together, we can build on each other’s strengths and help ensure that our assistance is focused and coordinated, accelerating development and increasing the impact obtained with each taxpayer dollar.
Across Asia, Reaching out a Hand in Support of Development
Crossposted from the White House Blog
In 1954, South Korea was still reeling from the devastation of the Korean War. Its economy was poorer than 2/3 of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa and its people had an average life expectancy of 54 years.
In that same year, the International Cooperation Association—USAID’s precursor—developed a partnership between the University of Minnesota and the National University in Seoul. “The Minnesota Project” as it came to be called, facilitated an exchange of medical professors during a critical period of the country’s reconstruction.
The alumni of the Project went on to found hospital departments, build nursing schools, conduct open heart surgeries and kidney transplants. Continued US assistance helped construct Korean hospitals and medical schools. And today, South Korea has six times as many physicians as it did in 1954, many of them who now practice here in the U.S.
Throughout our history, USAID has worked closely with Asian countries, Asian diaspora groups and Asian organizations to help support development and humanitarian assistance missions on the continent.
In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan last month, we immediately activated our response teams, delivered nuclear emergency kits and held regular calls with Japanese-American NGOs to hear their thoughts and concerns.
We’ve also begun consultations for a Diaspora Collective Fund in Nepal. Modeled after a mutual fund, contributions from the Nepalese diaspora can be channeled into productive investments for the country’s development.
In 25 countries across Asia, from Kazakhstan to Papua New Guinea, we work to support the success of emerging economies and help address the challenges of hunger and poverty. We do this not just by extending a helping hand, but sharing the hope of the American Dream to people around the world—the mother who eats less so her children can eat more, the girl who risks her life to get an education, the entrepreneur who beats the odds to create a small business that employs his neighbors.
I remember seeing that dream at work in a remote village in South India. When I was in medical school, I volunteered in a poor tribal community. There in a one-room schoolhouse where children who didn’t speak our language and who didn’t enjoy our freedom from hunger and disease could look up on the wall of their classroom and find inspiration in the portraits of their heroes—Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru—and USAID’s founder John F. Kennedy.
With perseverance, innovative approaches and the support of diaspora communities, we can ensure these children grow up in a safer, freer, more prosperous world.
Dr. Raj Shah is the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID Commemorates National Freedom Day and Advocates to Combat Human Trafficking
On February 1, 1865 President Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery and sent it to the States for ratification. February 1st was later established as National Freedom Day. A very complex form of “modern slavery” currently pervades across society and affects men, women and children. Through human trafficking, individuals and families are entrapped in complicated schemes of debt bondage that may continue from one generation to the next, and countless numbers are forced into some form of sexual slavery, where victims are coerced into prostitution and humiliating, often brutal situations that result in physical and psychological trauma. USAID continues to be committed to not only preventing trafficking but protecting and assisting victims, and strengthening the capacity of governments to prosecute and convict traffickers.
Radiohead, one of the world's top bands, is a part of the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign, a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and MTV to raise awareness about human trafficking. The collaboration takes the Asia MTV EXIT campaign to a global audience, reaching as many as 560 million households worldwide.
Today, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah will attend the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 authorized the President to establish the President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF), a cabinet-level task force to coordinate federal efforts to combat human trafficking. The PITF is chaired by the Secretary of State and meets at least once a year.
USAID assistance works to prevent trafficking, protect and assist victims and strengthen the capacity of governments to prosecute and convict traffickers. This direct anti-trafficking assistance is reinforced by USAID programs that support economic development, good governance, education, health and human rights. As part of that assistance, USAID has partnered with MTV having some of the biggest stars of popular music and culture lend their voices in the fight.
Below are links of our work with respect to Human Trafficking through our Women in Development office and partnership with MTV’s EXIT End Exploitation and Trafficking Campaign.
When Lights Come Back on, New Asia Training Center Glows Green
By: Kelly Ramundo
Thirty-one floors up on the Bangkok skyline, on December 14, aid veteran Jim Bednar was in the middle of a touching reflection on his decades of Foreign Service when the lights went out. It was exactly 7:00pm, and Bednar had just been sworn in as Mission Director to Sri Lanka, his ceremony taking place at a USAID-veteran-studded side event during the Asia Region Mission Directors’ Conference.
But it was not a power outage that plunged the group into darkness, though rolling blackouts may be commonplace in many of the countries where USAID works. It was, instead, the automatic “lights out” system kicking in at the new joint USAID-State Asia Regional Training Center, or ARTC, the state-of-the-art facility that was receiving its first outside guests for a soft introduction to the premises.
USAID Assistant Administrator for Asia Nisha Desai Biswal and RDMA Mission Director Olivier Carduner cut the ribbon at the introduction ceremony for the new joint USAID-State Asia Regional Training Center, or ARTC, in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo Credit: Nipattra Sanguannuan/USAID
The roughly 50 invitees, among them Assistant Administrator for Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, and Embassy/Bangkok Charge d’Affaires Judith Cefkin, had just received a presentation on the ARTC’s unique features and the painstaking design process the building went through in order to secure recognition as a minimal-carbon-footprint premises. Knowing the drill, they began waving their arms in delight to trip the sensors so the ceremony could continue.
It was, in a sense, the most apt anecdote for an evening dedicated to USAID’s effort in Asia to “walk the walk” as a green leader, not only as the Agency works to encourage fast growing and high-polluting countries such as China towards environmental awareness and eco-friendly policies, but also in how it approaches its own facilities and operations.
“Very importantly,” said Regional Development Mission for Asia (or RDMA’s) Supervisory Executive Officer Mike Trott, “we wanted to play our part, but also serve as an example in the hope of spurring more use of green technologies in the fast-growing Asia region.” Trott was critical in pushing for both the training center and RDMA’s main office installation– located a few floors down in the new Athenee Tower– to adhere to the strictest green standards. (more…)
Supporting a Sustainable Economy in Northern Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, USAID is supporting activities that increase economic opportunities, enhance respect for human rights, strengthen rule of law, improve responsive governance, and foster political reconciliation. In recent years Sri Lanka has gone through major transitions. More than two decades of fighting prevented Sri Lanka from reaching its potential. The goal of this work is to help members of all ethnic groups rebuild their local communities, find jobs, and participate in the country’s development.
Our USAID Mission in Sri Lanka has recently forged four new business alliances with Sri Lankan private companies, under USAID’s Public/Private Alliance (PPA) Program. These partnerships are expected to create 10,000 full-time jobs in northern Sri Lanka. By helping to create jobs, USAID is assisting communities who have suffered through decades of conflict to have sustainable income and increased business opportunities.
Participants at work in a mobile training center for construction craftsmen in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
An alliance between USAID and a Sri Lankan construction consortium will establish seven mobile training centers for construction craftsmen in the Northern Province. Training will be provided to 5,000 people over a period of six months including three months of on-the-job training.
Another alliance has been established with a leading garment textile firm in Jaffna which manufactures and exports denim textiles. This alliance will create 1,800 full-time jobs over three years.
To help young people affected by conflict get jobs, build greater capacity and fill workforce gaps, USAID is teaming with leading English language training companies to establish professional IT and English skills development training centers in each of the five districts in the Northern Province. Courses in Business Process Outsourcing and English Language Skills will be offered at no charge to over 3,000 under- and unemployed students who will then participate in on-the-job training programs with private firms. This program will be working with the marginalized population in Jaffna who have, for the last 26 years of conflict, not been exposed to even basic IT technology.
USAID is working with a major garment manufacturer to expand its operations to northern Sri Lanka. This alliance is expected to initially employ 750 full-time staff and market its finished apparel to international clothing firms. Emphasis will be placed on supporting widows, single mothers, and families with disabled members.
“I am confident these new alliances together with the previously established alliances will be significant catalysts to spur development in the North,” says USAID Sri Lanka Mission Director Rebecca Cohn.
Addendum: The USAID-supported project in northern Sri Lanka to provide IT training to under- and unemployed Sri Lankans affected by the country’s long conflict, will not include training in Enterprise Java. USAID’s partner in the project, a Sri Lankan company, initially requested to teach Enterprise Java to students that may qualify. However, after conducting due diligence, the partner found that the training programs must focus on fundamental computer skills, as the majority of prospective trainees lacked even basic experience with computers. Thus, training provided under the USAID-funded project will focus exclusively on building basic IT competencies. The reference to “Enterprise Java” in the Embassy’s press release was inadvertently included as a holdover from initial discussions.
