GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
In this section:
Beleaguered Nepal Gets Natsios Support
Berger Gets Iraq Economic Aid Contract
Banks Concerned About Debt
Indonesia Getting Major Aid Programs
Cambodian Finance Aid Signed
Fight Against Corruption Urged
Uganda HIV Surge Linked to War
$100 Million for Abstinence War
Ambassador Pascual Rolls Out New U.S. Office
for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Stabilization at State
Department
Beleaguered Nepal Gets Natsios Support
KATMANDU, Nepal-As this Himalayan kingdom struggles with
a Maoist insurgency, the head of the U.S. aid program visited
the country in a show of support.
"USAID has been a steady and reliable development partner
to Nepal for over 50 years," said USAID's Administrator
Natsios at a press conference Oct. 8.
"We currently provide approximately $40 million per
year in development assistance. This assistance includes quick
impact programs that provide strategically targeted economic,
governance, and humanitarian assistance in areas suffering
from the conflict."
Natsios visited the Terai, Nepal's southern plain, which
became Nepal's food basket after USAID helped eradicate malaria
in 1960s.
The Agency is still investing 60 percent of its budget on
health programs to increase the voluntary use of family planning,
improve maternal and child health, reduce transmission of
HIV in high-risk groups, monitor infectious disease, and address
the psychological needs of children in conflict. Additional
funds are being used to increase agricultural and forest production,
protect natural resources, encourage hydropower development,
strengthen democracy, improve rule of law, and combat trafficking
of women and children.
It was the first time a USAID administrator had visited Nepal.
Berger Gets Iraq Economic Aid Contract
The Agency announced a $188 million contract with The Louis
Berger Group Inc. to assist Iraq's interim government in stimulating
the economy through private-sector growth, employment-generating
activities, and vocational and technical training programs.
The U.S.-based firm will help restructure and privatize state-owned
enterprises, develop capital markets, formulate trade policy,
and build business management skills. The firm will also help
micro, small, and medium businesses.
A separate $88 million award was made to Berger for vocational
education. The firm will also provide experienced personnel,
equipment, and funding to assist the Iraq Ministry of Labor
and Social Affairs to run existing vocational and employment
centers.
The three-year contracts were competitively bid, and are
part of U.S. government reconstruction assistance to Iraq.
Banks Concerned About Debt
International efforts to lighten the debt burden on the world's
poorest countries are not providing the expected level of
relief, according to the latest annual progress report by
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The cost of topping up relief to reach this level-estimated
last year at $860 million-is now expected to be more than
$2 billion, the report says.
Last year's report estimated that countries entering the process
would spend $2.4 billion servicing their debts last year.
Instead they spent $2.8 billion-an average of 15.2 per cent
of government revenues and higher than the expected 14.6 per
cent.
The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) was set
up eight years ago with the aim of eliminating $100 billion
of the debt of the poorest countries. About a third of the
debt has been cancelled, and some estimates suggest HIPC countries
still have about $90 billion in debt.
Indonesia Getting Major Aid Programs
JAKARTA, Indonesia-Some $468 million in U.S. development
assistance will go to Indonesia over the next five years,
mostly administered by USAID for programs in education, health,
water, nutrition, and the environment.
Under the Education Initiative, announced by President Bush
in October 2003, the United States will provide $157 million
to improve basic education in public and private schools.
Under another program, the United States will provide $236
million, along with $75 million in food assistance, to improve
the quality of basic human services related to health, water,
and nutrition delivered to Indonesians most in need.
Cambodian Finance Aid Signed
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia-USAID, the International Finance Corporation
(IFC), and Cambodia's largest bank, Canadia, signed Sept.
20 two agreements aimed at strengthening the country's financial
sector.
IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, will provide
Canadia with a loan of up to $5 million to expand its mortgage
operations and a $600,000 technical assistance project, funded
by IFC and Canadia Bank, aimed at strengthening effective
financial services in Cambodia.
USAID signed a $5 million Micro and Small Enterprise Development
Initiative agreement with Canadia, under which the Agency
will provide 50 percent guarantee coverage of up to $5 million
on loans that the bank will provide to small and microfinance
businesses.
Fight Against Corruption Urged
Developing countries must take action to reduce corruption
and cronyism in order to improve their investment climates
and promote growth and poverty reduction, the World Bank's
newly released annual report says.
Investment, innovation, and the creation of new businesses
was hampered by corruption and improper links between government
officials and politically connected companies, the Bank's
report says. It also calls for developing countries to reduce
red tape, make state regulations more predictable, and deliver
the basics of stable political environments and secure property
rights.
The report, based in part of surveys of more than 30,000
companies in 53 developing countries, says that costs associated
with crime, corruption, over regulation, weak contract enforcement,
and inadequate infrastructure can amount to over a quarter
of company turnover, or more than three times what companies
typically pay in tax.
Uganda HIV Surge Linked to War
KAMPALA, Uganda-The rate of HIV/AIDS infection in northern
Uganda is nearly double that in the rest of the country because
of devastation caused by 18 years of civil war, the faith-based
NGO World Vision said.
Whereas the national rate of infection is estimated at 6.2
percent and declining, it said, the rate in the north is 11.9
percent and rising. Uganda-often praised for reducing the
HIV infection rate from around 30 percent in the early 1990s-could
see many of those gains evaporate, World Vision warned.
$100 Million for Abstinence War
Some $100 million in new grants for abstinence-focused programs-as
part of President Bush's $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief-was announced Oct 5. Eleven organizations, including
nine faith-based groups, won the 5-year grants through a competitive
awards process.
Catholic Relief Services, Adventist Development and Relief
Agency International, Food for the Hungry Inc., Fresh Ministries,
International Youth Foundation, Pact Inc., Program for Appropriate
Technology in Health, Salesian Missions, Samaritan's Purse
International Relief, and World Vision are the U.S. groups
receiving funds. A South African faith-based group, HOPE Worldwide,
also won a grant.
The organizations will use the funding to work with teens
and young adults, teaching abstinence. The 15 countries of
the Emergency Plan have the world's highest risk of HIV/AIDS
infection. Most of them are in Africa.
"Faith-based and community-based organizations have a
reach, authority, and legitimacy that make them crucial partners
in the fight against HIV/AIDS," said Ambassador Randall
Tobias, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. "America will
continue to take advantage of the expertise of faith-based
service providers to turn the tide of HIV/AIDS worldwide."
Ambassador Pascual Rolls Out New U.S. Office for Post-Conflict
Reconstruction and Stabilization at State Department
Ambassador Carlos Pascual, the first Coordinator for the
U.S. Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization at the State
Department, presented his strategic vision Oct. 20 for enhancing
U.S. post-conflict capacity at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
Pascual's talk, cosponsored by CSIS's Post-Conflict Reconstruction
Project and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,
served as an initial public introduction to his office, which
has been charged by the National Security Council with leading,
coordinating, and institutionalizing U.S. civilian government
capacity to prepare for post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization
efforts.
Pascual, a former USAID overseas officer, underscored the
unique interagency mandate of his office, which has 30 staff
members from the departments of State, Defence, and Treasury,
the CIA, USAID, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Pascual's office will also coordinate reconstruction and
stabilization efforts by civilian and military arms of the
U.S. government, as well as with international organizations.
The goal is to be able to manage two or three reconstruction
and stability operations simultaneously by forging key partnerships
and developing a management structure that allows for rapid
deployment as well as rapid phasing out.
Although the office is not active in either Iraq or Afghanistan,
it will work with the National Intelligence Council to select
which countries pose the greatest risk of future instability.
Pascual emphasized the importance of civilian participation
in Department of Defence post-conflict planning activities.
"If we can figure out how to embed CNN reporters [with
military units]," the ambassador quipped, "we ought
to be able to embed State Department officials as well."
Citing the example of the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives
for its swift work in crises, he said the new office will
stress both speed and effectiveness during mobilization.
Along these lines, the new office will create and co-chair
an interagency Reconstruction and Stability Group that will
take the lead in particular post-conflict efforts.
With regard to training, the office-known by its acronym
S/CRS-intends to increase four core capacities: leadership,
diplomatic operations on the ground, technical programming,
and implementation.
Craig Cohen of the CSIS contributed to this article.
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