
In celebration of Women’s History month, USAID interviews Grace Abou-Jaoude Estephan, Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering at the Lebanese American University. Read more >>
James Fleming is the Division Director for Asia, Latin America, and Europe, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. In this next Pounds of Prevention installment, we travel to Indonesia to look at how the country’s disaster management readiness has evolved in recent years. Against the backdrop of a powerful earthquake and aftershock recently occurring off the [...]
Originally posted in The Miami Herald It’s been two years since one of the most deadly natural disasters of the modern era devastated one of the poorest countries in the world. Even with an unprecedented international response in partnership with the Haitian government, the sheer scale of the 7.0 earthquake—which killed 230,000 people and displaced [...]
If you’ve been following the aftermath of last week’s massive earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan you’re probably wondering how you can help. Millions are affected, recovery will be protracted and difficult. Besides the initial, tragic effects of the disaster, millions of people in Japan still have no running water or power. Lines spanning city [...]
“The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial. The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy.” -President Barack Obama As part of the American effort to assist the [...]
When the Ministry of Education building collapsed in last year’s earthquake, people scrambled to pull colleagues from the rubble. Employees quickly returned to work in donated shelters, with little time to mourn the loss of their friends, family and colleagues. Among those killed around Haiti were 38,000 students, 1,347 teachers and 180 education personnel. More [...]
By Rebecca Gustafson, USAID/OFDA Press Officer with the New Zealand Earthquake response DART I started getting calls about the terrible earthquake in Christchurch almost immediately after it happened. It was clear that the devastation was great. My heart went out to those who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods, and I couldn’t help but wonder [...]
January 11: The Washington Post published a story that while many lives were saved after the Haiti earthquake, one year later, many Haitians remain impoverished. However, USAID’s $19 million cash for work program employed 350,000 people after the earthquake. January 11 : AP and The Seattle Times wrote that the Gates Foundation and USAID have [...]
With 2011 on the horizon, USAID looks at back at its accomplishments in 2010. Among them: Supported the game-changing CAPRISA study, which in July provided the first ever proof of concept that a vaginal microbicide could safely and effectively reduce the risk of heterosexual transmission of HIV from men to vulnerable women. Science Magazine recently [...]
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 [...]