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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Video News Release: "Rebuilding Afghanistan"
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-4320
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2003
Contact:
Maya Burghardt - 323-930-1030 (Broadcast)
Portia Palmer - 202-712-4422 (Content)
If you do not already have RealPlayer,
you may download a free version here
Transcript:
| VIDEO | AUDIO |
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Girls walking to school
Girls attending school in tent
Girl at blackboard
Schoolchildren coming out of tent
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Visit Afghanistan today and you just may hear the chatter of young girls on their way to school, or see them learning in packed classrooms, just like boys. Since the U.S. Agency for International Development, our nation's foreign aid agency, stepped in more than a year ago, educational opportunities are increasing.
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Soundbite:
Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator,
U.S. Agency for International DevelopmentB-roll cover:
School renovations
Girls with textbooks
Boy with textbook
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"In village after village that I visited in Afghanistan, people told me the hope for the future was their children. And that meant education. And we've put a heavy amount of resources in that. We've rebuilt 142 schools and a couple of colleges. We've printed 15-million textbooks and we made a commitment today to rebuild a thousand schools over the next three years across Afghanistan."
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Graphic:
U.S. Government Assistance after 9/11: $900,000,000 B-roll cover:
Loaves of bread being unloaded
Children getting vaccinations
Medical clinic
Medical training
Wheat threshing
Seed distribution with donkey
Food Aid bags
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The U.S. Government already has provided 900-million dollars in assistance and is starting to see a return on its investment.
In healthcare, U.S. funds have been used to immunize children, build health clinics, train health workers and supply much-needed equipment and medicine.
U.S. support for agriculture has contributed to an 82 percent increase in wheat production…in a country that was facing a major famine just a year ago.
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Soundbite:
Andrew S. Natsios
B-roll cover:
Animal herding
Man selling tomatoes
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"Most important is that we make people self-sufficient through the agricultural system, through the animal herds that are the source of livelihood for most families. If we get the economy moving, we get food being produced, which is what we're engaged in right now. We can insure that the Afghanistan people can feed themselves."
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President Hamid Karzai giving speech
People at market
U.S. Ambassador shaking hands with Afghan people
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Reviving Afghanistan's economy is dependent on establishing a strong central government and issuing a widely accepted currency. U.S. Aid also has been vital to these efforts.
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Soundbite:
Andrew S. Natsios
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"The American people should feel proud of what they've accomplished in Afghanistan through the U.S. government over the last year."
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Road construction
Trucks riding on road
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But there's still a long way to go… including rebuilding the road from Kabul to Herat. This is Mary Lou Galyo reporting.
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For more information on USAID's programs in Afghanistan, please visit the USAID/Afghanistan site.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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