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In this section:
Agency Plays Pivotal Role in 19 Presidential
Initiatives
Agency Plays Pivotal Role in 19 Presidential Initiatives
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Students at the Kabwabwa Primary School in Lilongwe,
Malawi, who benefit from the Africa Education Initiative.
The initiative helps improve primary education by providing
teacher training, textbooks, other materials, and scholarships
for girls, and it addresses the impact of HIV/AIDS on
schooling and the education system.
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The Bush administration has created 19 Presidential Initiatives
that focus on international development—programs that
focus on health, education, free markets, economic growth,
good governance, the rule of law, and democracy. USAID leads
or participates in all 19 initiatives.
President Bush told Agency staffers Jan. 10 that USAID’s
efforts “to create jobs, promote markets, improve health,
fight HIV/AIDS, and help democracy take root are instrumental
to making the world a better place and to protecting the American
people.”
Brief descriptions of the 19 initiatives follow:
Health, sanitation, and nutrition are the focus of four
initiatives:
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief,
a five-year, $15 billion program, is the largest commitment
by a single nation to an international health initiative.
The U.S. government is working with international, national,
and local leaders worldwide to promote integrated prevention,
treatment, and care programs, with an urgent focus on 15 heavily
affected countries.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
is an international public-private partnership created to
increase available resources to fight three of the world’s
most devastating diseases. The United States is the Global
Fund’s largest single country donor.
The Initiative to End Hunger in Africa seeks to reduce
hunger in Africa by half by 2015, in keeping with the first
Millennium Development Goal of the United Nations. This program
has assisted the formation of 157 public and private partnerships
and improved access to knowledge, markets, and technologies
for its member organizations. The program has also provided
consultation to improve strategic planning and management.
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A plantain sorting facility in Nicaragua. The Central
American Free Trade Agreement improved the ability of
Central American countries to compete in the global
economy. Five countries received over $53 million in
training and technical assistance in FY 2004 to enable
their private sectors to compete more effectively.
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The Water for the Poor initiative accelerates and
expands international efforts to halve by 2015 the proportion
of people around the world who lack access to affordable,
safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Education is the focus of two initiatives:
The Africa Education Initiative increases access to
quality basic educational opportunities in Africa through
teacher training, textbooks, community support, and scholarships
for girls.
The Centers for Excellence in Teacher Training work
in Latin America and the Caribbean to improve the quality
of classroom reading instruction in grades 1–3. The initiative
targets poorer countries and disadvantaged communities. This
program has trained nearly 5,000 teachers in effective reading
instruction, helping over 225,000 children in Latin America
and the Caribbean learn to read and—more importantly—understand
what they read.
Economic growth is the focus of the following initiatives:
The initiative strengthens the ability of African
companies and businesses to expand regional and international
trade, improves the environment for business and trade, and
helps countries mainstream trade into their development agendas.
Under the Central American Free Trade Agreement initiative,
USAID partners with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
to provide technical assistance and training to build the
trade capacity of governments and the private sector in Central
America.
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Dr. Siddiqui, center, outside his clinic in Sahaspur
Village, India, which benefits from The Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The international
public-private partnership has dramatically increased
resources available to fight three of the world’s
most devastating diseases.effectively.
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The Digital Freedom Initiative promotes economic growth
by transferring the benefits of information and communication
technology to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The environment and energy issues are the focus of these
initiatives:
The Clean Energy Initiative works to increase access
to efficient and affordable energy services in underserved
areas and to promote cleaner transportation fuels and indoor
cooking and heating practices.
The Climate Change Program promotes climate-friendly
economic development and improves the resilience of vulnerable
populations and ecosystems.
The Congo Basin Forest Partnership mitigates deforestation
and biodiversity loss in key landscapes in the Congo Basin.
The President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging,
coordinated by the Department of State, assists developing
countries in their efforts to combat illegal logging—including
the sale and export of illegally harvested timber—and
corruption in the forest sector.
Other initiatives, some cutting across several categories
of development, include the following:
The Afghanistan Road Initiative is reconstructing
Afghanistan’s major highways and improving economic growth,
security, and political integration along the corridor linking
three of Afghanistan’s largest cities—Kabul, Kandahar,
and Herat. As a result of this initiative, travel between
Kabul and Kandahar now takes five to six hours, compared with
nine to 16 hours a year ago.
The Faith-Based and Community Initiatives reach out
to faith- and community-based organizations to increase their
knowledge of and access to U.S. government funding sources.
The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) establishes
a framework for realigning U.S. assistance programs to the
Middle East and North Africa. MEPI works cooperatively with
governments and people to promote key economic, political,
and educational reform issues and to reduce barriers to women’s
full participation in society.
The Trafficking in Persons Initiative seeks to assist
women and children who have been exploited. It combats trafficking
through prevention, protection, and prosecution.
Volunteers for Prosperity deploys highly skilled volunteers
in official U.S. foreign assistance programs that advance
health and prosperity. USAID is the interagency coordinator
for the initiative.
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) provides development
assistance to countries that rule justly, invest in their
people, and encourage economic freedom. The Threshold Program
was established for a limited number of countries that did
not qualify for MCA assistance but demonstrated a commitment
to undertaking the reforms necessary to improve policy performance
and eventually qualify for MCA assistance. USAID will implement
the program. MCA is administered by the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC), a new government corporation designed to
support innovative strategies and ensure accountability for
measurable results. A board of directors that oversees the
MCC is chaired by the Secretary of State, and USAID Administrator
Andrew S. Natsios is a member.
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