I am in Busan as part of the US Delegation to the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. We are meeting in the cavernous Bexco Convention Center, in a city that was heavily bombed 50 years ago and sustained with American humanitarian aid for the recovery years after the Korean War. It is now […]
Archives for 2011
Can you hear her now? Putting mobile phones in women’s hands
In the late 1970’s one of the major findings on Madison Avenue, (then the world capital of advertising) was that women control over 80% of all consumer purchases in the U.S. This ‘shocking discovery’ changed who and how companies marketed their products. I was just entering the workforce then and thought, ‘ how in the […]
Managing HIV/AIDS Medicines and Supplies in Tanzania
Jay Heaver is the Director of Knowledge Sharing and Communications for SCMS (Supply Chain Management System). On a recent trip to Tanzania, I made several site visits in and around Mwanza, a beautiful city along Lake Victoria, about 1200 km from the capital of Dar es Salaam. My tour guide was Eric Shoo, one of […]
The Economic Effects of Abuse Against Women
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Bangladesh to visit a USAID-supported project, the Cost of Violence Against Women. As we drove along the crowded streets of Dhaka, I noticed something very peculiar – there were only men everywhere I looked. Once I arrived at the hotel I was greeted by Julia Ahmed, the […]
USAID to work with New Department of State Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
We are in the midst of a new era of political and social transitions around the globe. These transitions, as with many of the problems of the developing world, often involve conflict and crisis. The Department of State has launched the new Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. This new bureau will be an important […]
16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence: What Do You Know About Gender Based Violence?
As USAID launches its observance of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence (November 25th-December 10th), we hope to dispel myths. We want everyone to understand that gender based violence is more than simple physical violence. We want our whole community to appreciate the fact that men are a significant share of the […]
Improving Teachers’ Pay, Investing in the Future
The end of 2010 was marked by teachers’ strikes in Kyrgyzstan, as the nation’s educators took to the streets to protest their miserable wages. The average monthly salary was $75 despite the fact that, by Kyrgyz law, the minimum teacher’s salary should be no less than the average national salary of $144 per month. International […]
International Education Week: Partnering to Improve World Literacy
Arne Duncan is the U.S. Secretary of Education Today, the global community faces an economic crisis that has many people around the world feeling tenuous about the future. World leaders are grappling with how to handle rising debt and shrinking funds. Yet despite this uncertainty, one thing is certain: education is still the light shining […]
USAID in the News
Weekly Briefing (11/14/2011 – 11/18/2011) November 14: CNN’s Security Clearance blog reports that five former U.S. Secretary of States wrote a joint letter to Congress addressing the importance of foreign aid. In the letter, former Secretaries Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger write that, “now is not the time for […]
New FEWS Data – Updated 11/18/2011
Moving Forward The facts are hard to fully grasp: across the Horn of Africa, there are 13.3 million people in crisis – more than the populations in the cities of Los Angeles and New York combined. And the crisis is the worst in Somalia, a country gripped by two decades of conflict. Somalis, primarily women […]
