AFRICA REGIONAL

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Development Challenge Other Donors Activity & Budget Information Summary Tables Program Summary Strategic Objective Summary USAID Search: Africa Regional Program Previous Years' Activities 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997 52     Introduction The Africa Regional Program provides Africa-specific technical expertise to support bilateral program development, addresses issues that are transnational (from sub-regional to continent-wide) in nature and supports the work of USAID central bureaus by providing a critical geographic focus for sectoral issues. The program also involves work with host country government officials, African non-governmental organizations, international organizations and other donors, building partnerships and networks with all of these. Crucial to Africa's efforts in every area is increasing the flow of accurate, up-to-date, well-targeted information. Program objectives have been developed within the context of current U.S. national interests in Africa and contribute to all Agency program priority areas. The United States has a strong interest in supporting the positive transformations taking place in African economies, political systems and human resource development. A prosperous, healthy and democratic Africa will benefit the U.S. economy as a partner in trade and investment, will be a more effective collaborator in combating global health and environmental threats, will reduce the need for supplying U.S. humanitarian funds in response to constantly recurring crises, and will create greater global political stability. The Development Challenge Sub-Saharan Africa is plagued by a seemingly lethal combination of ills. These include low economic growth rates, limited trade and investment, poor agricultural productivity and minimal levels of education. Inadequate family planning programs, high infant mortality rates and an ineffective health delivery system are made worse by a rapidly growing HIV/AIDS pandemic. Finally, periodic natural disasters (i.e., floods in Mozambique and a drought in the Horn of Africa) and apparently omnipresent conflict (currently afflicting more than a third of all sub-Saharan countries) paint a bleak and seemingly hopeless picture. At the same time, a number of countries in the region continue to make gains in all of the above sectors, and USAID is strongly committed to supporting their efforts as well as assisting countries wracked by crisis. The Regional Program, in particular, seeks to address a variety of sector-specific development challenges as it works with its partners to accelerate sustainable and equitable economic growth in Africa. In the area of Economic Growth and Agriculture it aims to: promote international trade and investment; improve agricultural and natural resource management techniques to increase income; ensure that development activities are environmentally sound; improve the quality of basic education, with an emphasis on girls and women; and increase the use of information technology in all sectors, including important applications in education. In the area of Global Health it works to: provide more productive and sustainable health and family planning services; identify cost-effective ways to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; and eradicate polio and control other infectious diseases. In the area of Conflict Prevention and Developmental Relief it seeks to: support the consolidation of democratic gains; and prevent and mitigate man-made and natural crises, with a special focus on conflict. Within these areas, the program pursues a number of common themes: (1) developing Africans' capacity to design and manage their own programs; (2) maintaining a focus on sustainability; (3) identifying and using cross-sectoral linkages to increase program performance; and (4) establishing partnerships-African, other international and U.S.-to maximize the effectiveness of USAID resources. In supporting USAID bilateral missions and African governmental and non-governmental organizations, the Regional Program works with its partners to develop policies, programs and strategies that draw on continent-wide experience and target sector-specific issues important to African development. The program focuses on improving our understanding of the dynamics of development and the effectiveness of USAID programs in Africa, and on using this greater understanding to improve the effectiveness of all development resources going into the continent. The program also manages, or helps to manage, Africa-wide Agency initiatives in areas such as polio eradication, child survival, trade and investment, education and food security. Other Donors USAID continues to work with a number of international and bilateral donors. Notable among international donors are the World Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the World Health Organization's African Regional Office. Bilateral donors include Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. FY 2002 Program USAID has developed a number of Africa region-wide activities to supplement bilateral programs. The purposes of these activities are: (1) to provide assistance in a more cost-effective way by maximizing economies of scale; (2) to support and strengthen pan-African and, in some cases, sub-regional African institutions that cannot be supported through bilateral programs; and (3) to respond quickly to new development challenges. In addition, USAID will support regional programs in USAID/Washington. The program itself comprises three distinct types of activities in the sectors where it works. First, it provides policy-relevant information and helps African countries and their partners use this information to improve the policies, programs and strategies required for sustainable development. Second, it builds the capacity of Africa to manage its own development. Third, it assists African countries and institutions in building more effective regional channels for economic and technical cooperation. In FY2002 the Regional Program will seek to deepen the scope and impact of its existing programs while turning its attention to areas of increasing concern, such as HIV/AIDS and conflict mitigation. Economic Growth: The Regional Program will continue to design and develop activities to support increased trade and investment by and in African countries. The implementation of the fourth round of the African Trade and Investment Program (ATRIP) is part of this effort. USAID will also work with other U.S. agencies to inform and educate countries about World Trade Organization (WTO) standards with the aim of bringing their legal regimes into compliance with these standards and increasing African involvement in future WTO negotiations. Programs are also underway to assist with fiscal and financial reforms, increase trade in services and reduce energy costs-a critical factor in increasing trade and investment. Under the new Strategic Analysis for Growth and Access (SAGA) program, USAID will support the development of indigenous economic research capacity. Finally, USAID plans to take the lessons learned from the Leland Initiative in information technology (based on a planned FY2001 program evaluation and associated in-country assessments) to determine the configuration of the next phase. Agricultural Development: The increase in widespread hunger in sub-Saharan Africa-63% of the world's hungry will live in Africa 10 years from now, compared to 44% today-dictates that the Regional Program redouble its efforts to strengthen agriculture in Africa, including activities related to the African Food Security Initiative. Here the program will continue to focus on three areas: (1) increasing technology development by expanding the existing sub-regional networks of scientists; (2) developing policy and institutional solutions for market problems, including those which limit farmer access to inputs; and (3) increasing the nutritional impact of agriculture and micronutrient activities. The Regional Program will also work with a broad coalition of groups from all sectors (public, private, educational, NGOs, etc.) in the United States and Africa to formulate an effective strategy for reducing hunger on the continent. An important part of this renewed effort will be improving African partners' capacity to use biotechnology solutions to boost agriculture productivity. The strategy will also focus on increasing the yields of existing commodities and shifting to value-added ones, such as dairy, which will raise incomes and benefit some of Africa's most food-insecure populations. Environment: USAID provides solutions to Africa's environmental challenges by supporting increased local control over community resources. Strengthening African capacities in these areas has been demonstrated to be the most effective means of addressing environmental challenges and will consequently remain the centerpiece of the Regional Program. In FY 2002, the Regional Program will continue to support the development of improved resource-conserving, cost-effective technologies. It will also continue to spearhead Bureau efforts in mitigating climate change and conserving Africa's tropical rainforest. Additionally, the USAID Regional Program will take the lead in examining and addressing the two environmental problems that will dominate Africa in the 21st century-managing limited water resources (i.e., through river basin initiatives such as the Nile Basin Initiative) and dealing with environmental problems associated with rapid urbanization. Human Capacity: The Regional Program supports the reform of basic education systems in Africa. Its ongoing goal is to increase opportunities for African children to obtain access to quality education. A major issue to be addressed in FY2002 is how to continue to bring countries into closer compliance with the United Nations' Education for All initiative without sacrificing the quality of what is being provided. A second major program focus will be working with African governments, particularly in southern Africa, to help them develop and implement strategies for coping with the continuing impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The primary concerns include maintaining an adequate teaching force, when teachers are dying at an alarmingly high rate, and ensuring that members of the burgeoning orphan population can continue to attend school. The Regional Program will also help to implement the third round of the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI). EDDI will continue to improve the quality of African education by supporting programs that strengthen U.S.-African partnerships at all levels and partnerships among Africans. EDDI will also continue to develop public?private partnerships with the U.S. technology industry in order to bring modern technologies to Africa in the areas of distance learning, information and training. Population and Health: The Regional Program's support of advocacy and research in the area of family planning and reproductive health has been demonstrated to be a highly effective method of encouraging African governments and partners to address important issues in these areas. Research and advocacy has resulted in greater involvement of hard-to-reach groups, such as males and youth. In FY2002, the Regional Program will continue to work with the World Health Organization's Africa Regional Office (WHO/AFRO) to improve disease control throughout Africa, above all in the area of polio eradication and malaria control. The Regional Program will also work with other multi-lateral organizations to strengthen national and regional capacities to control infectious diseases, including surveillance networks and early warning/rapid response infrastructures. In FY 2002 the Regional Program will significantly intensify its focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs. It will support activities that have proven to be effective to date, including condom social marketing, behavior change communications, voluntary counseling and testing, treatment of infections transmitted sexually or by mother-to-child, and other targeted interventions. USAID will also gear up its support and care for orphans, primarily through enhancing the capacity of communities to cope with the rapidly expanding number of children who have lost parents to AIDS and other health crises. Democracy and Governance: The Regional Program supports those African countries that are striving to improve democratic governance. In FY2002, it will continue to focus on generating and sustaining the conditions necessary for maintaining democratic gains over the long haul. Over the last two years, the Program has experienced significant success in integrating democratic governance concerns such as increased transparency and better information flow into other sectoral programs. The result has been more powerful sectoral programs, thanks to increased citizen participation in all phases of the decision-making process in the areas of education, environment and health, to name but a few. The Regional Program will continue to push the envelope in this area and to document and replicate the results throughout the continent. Humanitarian Assistance: The number of humanitarian and man-made crises in Africa shows no sign of abating. The Regional Program's crisis prevention and mitigation programs therefore will continue to furnish the tools needed to identify and avert impending crises and to transition out of crisis situations. In FY2002, the Regional Program's Famine Early Warning System and the African Emergency Locust and Grasshopper Assistance programs will work with African partner institutions and the donor community, to increase the continent's capacity to identify and address the problems created by pests and erratic annual rainfall. The Program also works with WHO and UNICEF to further strengthen epidemic surveillance and response systems. In the area of conflict, the Program will improve the quality and availability of key information on conflict through its web site, while working with its partners to refine and apply newly developed conflict assessment and management tools. Activity Data Sheets 698-001, Broad-Based Support for Africa 698-013, Strengthen Cross-Sectoral Synergies Between Democracy and Governance and Africa Bureau Programs in Key Areas 698-014, Adoption of Improved Strategies, Programs and Activities for Accelerated, Sustainable, and Equitable Economic Growth 698-015, Adoption of Improved Agricultural Policies, Programs, and Strategies 698-016, Adoption of Affordable and More Effective Mechanisms for Producing, Sharing, and Using Development Information 698-017, Accelerate Progress in the Spread of Strategically Viable and Environmentally Sound Environmental Management Systems 698-018, Adoption of Policies and Strategies for Increased Sustainability, Efficiency, and Equity of Basic Education Services 698-019, Adoption of Policies and Strategies for Increased Sustainability, Quality, Efficiency and Equity of Health Services 698-020, Adoption of Policies and Strategies for Increased Sustainability and Quality of Family Planning Services 698-021, Adoption of Cost-effective Strategies to Prevent the Spread and to Mitigate the Impact of HIV/AIDS 698-022, Improve Policies, Strategies, and Programs for Preventing, Mitigating, and Transiting Out of Crisis 698-023, Adoption of Effective Tools, Methods and Approaches for Improving Application of Environmental Procedures and Strategies 698-024, Polio Eradicated in Selected Countries in a Manner That Builds Sustainable Immunization Programs 698-025, Education for Development and Democracy Initiative

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