Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Overview Economic Growth and Agricultural Development Environment Human Capacity Development Program Development and Strategic Planning Women in Development Summary Tables Abbreviations & Acronyms Last updated: Wednesday, 29-May-2002 18:53:11 EDT

THE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE: Economic growth in developing countries demands the creation of a productive and skilled workforce. Basic education for all children is a necessary first step. Of the 113 million children who have never been to school, 97 percent are in developing countries and 60 percent are girls. The overwhelming majority of these children are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. Easing illiteracy and providing better quality education to more children and expansion of opportunities for continuous education to working adults are essential to raise agricultural output/productivity, improve environmental stewardship, encourage ethnic tolerance and respect for civil liberties, and build democratic values and practices. Additionally, there are specific benefits linked to increased school attendance among girls which lead to higher incomes, better family health, increased child survival, smaller families, and improved social status for women.

THE USAID PROGRAM: The Program concentrates on:

• improving the quality and efficiency of basic education, particularly for girls;
• promoting new partnerships to improve the quality and relevancy of higher education and workforce development;
• expanding training for future private sector, non-governmental (NGO), and government leaders; and
• spreading the information technology (IT) revolution to the developing world and those in need.

For FY 2003, the Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade has requested $14.16 million for human capacity development programs. More than 70% of USAID field missions address some element of education and training in their programs with these funds.

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This funding will reinforce Agency priorities by:

• providing technical leadership and innovation for universal primary education by 2015;
• focusing on the 113 million un-enrolled children, e.g., girls, child laborers, and ethnic minorities;
• facilitating partnerships between the U.S. higher education community and developing countries;
• providing training mechanisms, tools, and processing support to all USAID field missions; and
• championing information technology (IT) to provide digital opportunity in developing countries.

ONGOING PROGRAMS FOR WHICH NO FY 2002 OR FY 2003 FUNDING IS REQUESTED: All ongoing Strategic Objective programs in the Human Capacity Development Office will receive FY 2002 and FY 2003 funding.

OTHER PROGRAM ELEMENTS: Since the April 2000 Dakar World Education Forum, USAID has played a lead role in international education. The USAID Administrator is the President’s representative on the G-8 Education Task Force and serves on the Education for All (EFA) High Level Group convened by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). At the technical level, USAID is a core member of the EFA Donor Working Group and the International Working Group on Education. To parallel other G-8 member commitments, USAID is considering direct technical and financial support to UNESCO in its EFA secretariat and host-country capacity building roles.

OTHER DONORS: Donor coordination is excellent in both education and IT. Under EFA, USAID has strong, expanding ties with UNESCO (education statistics, education in crisis countries, host-country capacity building), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (girls education), International Labor Organization (ILO) (abusive child labor), the World Bank (education policy and education financing), and the United Kingdom (local ownership and community participation). The G-8 Education Task Force has helped focus international attention on EFA financing, capacity and policy gaps at global and country levels. In IT, the G-8 DOT-FORCE has mobilized donor, private and non-profit partners on developing country IT policy and access issues. Major partners are the United Nations Development Program, UNICEF, the World Bank, ILO, UNESCO, Japan, U.K., Germany, and Canada. The new United Nations Information Communication Technology Task Force will also carry out DOT-FORCE follow-on work in coordination with USAID and the U.S. Department of State.

Program Data Sheets

• 935-001  Improved and Expanded Basic Education, Especially for Girls, Women and Other Under-served Populations
• 935-002  Higher Education Strengthens the Capacity of Institutions, Communities and Individuals to Meet Local and National Development Needs
• 935-003  Training Improves Work Performance of Host Country Trainees and Effectiveness of Host Country Organizations
• 935-004  Expanded Access to and Application of Information and Telecommunications Services