Note: This document may not always reflect the actual appropriations determined by Congress. Final budget allocations for USAID's programs are not determined until after passage of an appropriations bill and preparation of the Operating Year Budget (OYB).

REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES OFFICE
FOR WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA (REDSO/WCA)

FY 1998 Development Fund for Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17,036,000

Introduction

West and Central Africa consists of 24 countries with a growing population of 278 million, comprising a diverse mixture of languages and cultures. Although the region has seen socio-political collapses, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, and famine in the Sahel during the 1980s, it has quietly experienced a less visible, but more emblematic, trend toward political stability and economic growth. The United States has an important stake in the region's eventual success, not only because of the potential for vastly increased trade and commerce as development accelerates, but also because the region's more stubborn problems - actual and potential political and social conflict, risks to vital ecosystems, disease threats to human health, unsustainable rates of population growth - have consequences beyond the region's borders. The U.S. national interest concerns two sides of the same coin: the building of an energetic and mutually beneficial political and economic relationship and the prevention of crises which might require rapid and costly humanitarian relief. Therefore, broad-based, sustainable social and economic development will play an increasingly important role in defining our foreign policy in West and Central Africa. The USAID assistance program is crucial to the U.S. foreign policy in West and Central Africa because it provides an open and productive instrument for dialogue and action on the most urgent regional issues--democracy and governance, health and education, natural resources management and private sector-led economic growth.

The Development Challenge.

USAID confronts a difficult challenge to its assistance program in West and Central Africa. In response to declining budgetary resources, the Agency has closed selected bilateral programs. By the end of FY 1996, USAID had reduced its field presence to nine countries in West and Central Africa. At the same time, the latest social and economic indicators demonstrate continued low incomes, poor health, high population growth rate, environmental degradation and limited and fragile progress toward democracy. However, to look only at the negative statistics is to miss the dynamism which is beginning to flourish in the region. Today, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are in the process of liberalization. This general trend includes Ghana, Benin, Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde, Chad and Guinea-Bissau in West and Central Africa. NGOs and PVOs play an increasingly important role; multi-party politics and elections have been established; and, economic liberalization and private sector growth are generally recognized as the keys to economic progress. In fact, the region has experienced a definite upturn in its economic performance during the 1990s. Among the 24 countries of the region, real economic growth stood at 2% in 1994. While not robust, this average rate of growth was a strong improvement over the average 1993 rate of less than 1% and the negative growth rates of the 1980s. In fact, a number of countries - Benin, Mali, and Ghana - are experiencing economic growth in the 5-6% range. The majority of West and Central Africa's emerging leaders are committed to African development through transparency in governance and economic liberalization. The fundamental challenge for USAID in West and Central Africa is to see that favorable social, political and economic trends are institutionalized and accelerated.

USAID can build on significant development successes in West and Central Africa to focus and concentrate its existing and future program strategy and tactics. In health and population, for example, where USAID has developed a recognized comparative advantage within the donor community, remarkable gains have been achieved during the past decade. USAID has introduced new approaches to service delivery, including community-based distribution of contraceptives and private sector social marketing. USAID's family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention programs have made contraceptives more accessible and more affordable. Mass media campaigns and community-based education have increased contraceptive use and promoted behavior changes. USAID-supported diarrheal diseasecontrol programs have successfully increased oral rehydration therapy rates, resulting in decreased diarrheal deaths. USAID support for immunization has increased coverage and reduced infant mortality from diseases. As a respected source of development knowledge and experience, the Agency will aggressively promote the testing, analysis and replication of "best practices" by our African development partners. REDSO/WCA, with its regional field presence, will support this process, assuring that the new and proven technologies are known and understood throughout the region, rapidly researching and analyzing the patterns of successful development and facilitating communication and dialogue on important development issues of concern to decision makers in West and Central Africa.

Other Donors.

A large number of multinational and bilateral donors have active development assistance programs in West and Central Africa. The total net amount of official development assistance into the region has stabilized during the 1990s at approximately $7 billion annually. Of this total, approximately $2.74 billion originates from multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank and the United Nations, and the remainder, or approximately $4.26 billion, originates from bilateral programs. The largest bilateral donor in the region is France, which provided nearly $2 billion of assistance in 1995. Since other donors dominate in dollar amount of development assistance, USAID has always worked and will continue to work closely with other donors to shape the future agenda and direction of development assistance in the region. In fact, because of its recognized development expertise, USAID has often been able to take a leadership role far exceeding its relative weight when judged by funding only. Donor collaboration has produced some remarkable successes, such as multi-donor regional support for effective crop production technologies and promotion of private sector business associations. USAID will continue to use the leverage of its proven expertise and demonstrated results, in areas such as health, population and disaster mitigation, to strengthen donor collaboration and partnership in West and Central Africa.

FY 1998 Program

The FY 1998 program will support broad-based, sustainable social and economic development in West and Central Africa. The program has a strategic support objective to provide expert advisory services which supplement the limited personnel resources available to the nine USAID field posts. Under this same objective, REDSO/WCA also manages the closeout of residual actions in the eight field posts which have closed, or are scheduled to close, since the end of FY 1994. The program manages the delivery of assistance under a strategic objective to address transnational issues in health and population This will include the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission across borders, the exchange and replication of successful methods for controlling population growth, and the identification and promotion of common strategies for combatting threats to child survival. The activities carried out under the REDSO/WCA strategic support objective and the strategic objective are linked to the achievement of the broad USAID goals.

Agency Goal: Stabilizing World Population Growth and Protecting Human Health

Of the total funding requested for population and health, $7,1000,000 is planned for population activities and $7,536,000 is planned for health activities.

West and Central Africa has some of the poorest health indicators and the highest overall rate of population growth in the world. These factors contribute to low labor productivity which constrains economic growth. USAID, through its sustainable development programs in selected countries and its regional program for West and Central Africa managed by REDSO/WCA, supports activities to improve the health of the region's population and lower the population growth rate, thereby raising overall productivity and reducing child mortality. To do this, REDSO/WCA has developed a strategic objective aimed at two primary targets: increase the use of modern family planning methods among women andincrease the reported use of condoms for prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission. A $40 million, five year activity to spread the use of low cost, proven methods for contributing to the achievement of these targets was launched in 1995. Four U.S. private and voluntary organizations (PVOs) were selected to develop an integrated approach to identify and replicate the "best practices" for designing, delivering and evaluating the health and population services offered by West and Central African institutions around the region. The key to the success of this effort is the establishment of productive partnerships with African institutions and other donors who also provide health and population assistance.

In FY 1996, USAID funding supported the development of a unique unified management and reporting structure of the four U.S. PVOs implementing the activities and their negotiation of operating agreements with West and Central African countries. In each of these countries, the PVOs mobilized U.S. Embassies, other donors, regional African bodies and host country public and private institutions in joint support of a common, integrated health sector development agenda. The non-USAID participants have committed to provide funds and personnel which complement USAID resources. The activities now underway include social (commercial) marketing of health products and contraceptive supplies; strengthened regional training centers for health professionals; establishment of a regional forum of medical and nursing school directors from 16 francophone countries to integrate reproductive health into medical and nursing school curricula; and research, by West and Central African scientists, on the integration of reproductive health services and the participation of men and adolescents in family planning. Thus, REDSO/WCA and the implementing PVOs have laid the foundation for a broad, coordinated attack on the fundamental constraints to improved health and lower population growth rates in West and Central Africa.

The request for FY 1998 will enable USAID and REDSO/WCA to strengthen West and Central African health and population service institutions so they can deliver more and better care to a significant portion of the region's low income inhabitants. Several sites for testing and evaluating cost effective, integrated models of service delivery will be operational. The PVOs will implement a social marketing program aimed at providing condoms for the large migrant population in West and Central Africa. A regional program will deliver radio and television messages which will deal with individual actions for prevention of HIV/AIDS, improving the health of children and expanding the use of modern family planning methods. A set of pre-service training curricula for health and family planning professionals will be available in at least three key regional training institutions. For the first time in the region, a three month training course will be offered for the design and implementation of operations research studies in health and population. REDSO/WCA is confident that regional health and population program strengthening and integration will lead to significant accomplishments by the end of FY 1998.

Agency Goal: Encouraging Broad-based Economic Growth

West and Central African countries have expanded access to primary education and opened and liberalized internal, regional and extra regional economic relations. REDSO/WA supports these efforts at regional economic growth through two principal activities, the provision of technical assistance to the five USAID country programs which have economic growth strategic objectives and the implementation of regional activities - mostly research, analysis and networking - which address transnational constraints to economic growth. The regional challenge for REDSO/WCA is to promote the gathering and analysis of data and the development of integrated regional and national policies which will lay the foundation for a long term and sustainable increase in production and income throughout West and Central Africa.

In FY 1996, REDSO/WCA contributed to the elimination of existing constraints to economic growth in a number of ways. REDSO/WCA experts, recognizing the need to improve on farm managementpractices, assisted regional agricultural research networks accelerate the dissemination and utilization of more productive farm level technologies and improve soil and water resource management. Furthermore, REDSO/WCA advisors worked with West and Central African institutions and USAID country programs to foster regional trade and commerce in selected commodities, to halt the deleterious effect of corruption, and to promote more dialogue and discussion about common economic development issues among key institutions around the region.

The funding requested in FY 1998 will permit REDSO/WCA to maintain a cadre of experts who will provide technical assistance and expertise to USAID country, regional and global programs and USAID partners on a wide range of development issues in health, population, agriculture, natural resources, environment, policy analysis, democracy and governance, primary education and human resource development. The delivery of these services from a central field location to sites throughout West and Central Africa assures that timely and accurate knowledge is made available to accomplish development tasks. The provision of these services will contribute to efficient and effective USAID assistance to the region through the transfer of lessons learned and best practices that have proven successful in the region and around the world and to strengthened communication among Africans to share valuable development knowledge and expertise.

Agency Goal: Protecting the Environment

Six USAID field posts have developed strategic objectives which either focus on protection of the environment or have implications for environmental management. REDSO/WCA environmental experts assist these programs in the identification of potential adverse impacts of planned activities on the environment and in the assimilation of measures to alleviate these impacts. The REDSO/WCA environmental staff also plans, designs and delivers environmental training to the staffs of NGOs in the region, especially those working with USAID programs. The expert assistance provided by REDSO/WCA's environmental staff is helping these programs achieve their environment objectives. In FY 1996, 90 professionals from NGOs and other African institutions were trained. Also in FY 1996, 70 senior African Development Bank managers and project staff were trained in environmental examination and analysis procedures. By 1997 REDSO/WCA will complete a program to strengthen the Environmental Unit at the Bank, which will enable it to incorporate environmental impact as a factor for loan approval. The program will have an expanding impact throughout Africa, both directly and by example, to the many institutions which work with and receive support from the African Development Bank. In FY 1998, the REDSO/WCA environmental program will continue to deliver technical support to other USAID country programs. In addition, REDSO/WCA will expand its regional activities of training for African NGOs working on environmental issues, supporting transnational environmental networks and strengthening the policies and regulations within national environmental action plans.

Agency Goal: Building Democracy

Four USAID field posts have developed strategic objectives which either focus on promoting democracy and governance or are dealing with the issue as part of a strategic objective in another sector, e.g. economic growth through improved rules and regulations affecting the operation of private businesses. The issues of democracy and governance are relatively new to Africa and many governments and private institutions have little or no practical expertise in dealing with the many difficult issues arising from a restructuring of systems of government. During FY 1996, assistance from REDSO/WCA around the region included the design of systems for electoral monitoring, assessments of voter registration procedures, monitoring of 611(e) and Democracy/Human Rights activities, and participationwith other USAID staff to prepare strategic objectives and targets for democracy and governance. REDSO/WCA also conducted a regional workshop on decentralization, which trained 58 West and Central Africans in decentralization concepts and exchanged information and experiences related to decentralization activities in the region undertaken by governments. In FY 1998, REDSO/WCA will continue to provide technical assistance, as required, to support the evolving democratization of local and national governmental systems in West and Central Africa. As the process begins to take root around the region, REDSO/WCA will respond quickly to the situations as they develop. At the same time, REDSO/WCA will sponsor continuing exchanges of information and experiences among Africans, and will train public and private sector institutions and individuals to strengthen the growth of civil society.

WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA REGION

FY 1998 PROGRAM SUMMARY

Encouraging Broad-based Economic Growth Stabilizing Population Growth and Protecting Human Health Protecting the Environment Building

Democracy

Providing Humanitarian Assistance TOTAL
USAID Strategic

Objectives

1. Improve Access to Selected Health and Family Services in the Region

- Dev. Fund for Africa

---

14,636,000

---

---

---

14,636,000

2 . Provide Technical and Management Support Services to Bilateral Field Missions

- Dev. Fund for Africa

500,000

---

1,600,000

300,000

---

2,400,000

Totals

- Dev. Fund for Africa

500,000

14,636,000

1,600,000

300,000

---

17,036,000

USAID Mission Director: Willard J. Pearson

ACTIVITY DATA SHEET

PROGRAM: REDSO/WCA

TITLE AND NUMBER: Improve Access to Selected Health and Family Planning Services in the Region, 624-SO01

STATUS: Continuing

PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $14,636,000 DFA

INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000

Purpose: To increase the availability and use of quality family planning/reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and child survival services in concert with other donor, regional and host country efforts, while building on successful USAID-funded initiatives in West and Central Africa.

Background: The 278 million inhabitants of West and Central Africa's 24 nations face health risks far out of proportion to those experienced in other regions of the world and have among the world's worst social indicators. Nearly 80% of the countries fall in the bottom quartile of the United Nations Development Program's human development index ranking. With an average annual population growth rate of over 3%, which exceeds the average annual GDP growth rate, the already difficult situation will intensify. By the year 2010, at the same rate of growth, the population will have grown by 50% to 417 million. Trends in HIV/AIDS indicate that without successful prevention and control, adult and child mortality in the region will increase substantially in the next decade and hard-won progress in increasing life expectancies in the region will be lost. Constraints include persistent public sector institutional weakness and ineffectiveness, a fragile and underutilized private sector and lack of knowledge about preventive health behavior.

USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID has been one of the lead donors in the health and family planning sectors and has initiated and supported programs which have made real gains in extending life expectancy, reducing infant mortality rates and stabilizing the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the region. From 1985 to 1991, infant mortality decreased 10% and child mortality 15% in USAID-assisted countries. During this same period immunization rates almost doubled and use of oral rehydration therapy increased from 10% to 40%. While achievements in family planning have been more modest, there are encouraging recent signs of progress. In urban areas, contraceptive prevalence has reached 10% or above. Likewise, condom use to prevent the spread of HIV is increasing throughout the region.

Description: REDSO/WCA's strategic objective in family health and AIDS provides an innovative response to the challenge facing USAID's assistance program in West and Central Africa. Through strategic partnerships with four U.S. private voluntary organizations, the initiative is developing regional models of integrated family health programs, addressing HIV/AIDS and disease transmission from migration issues by using social marketing and regional mass-media interventions, as well as establishing strategies to engage the commercial sector in marketing oral rehydration salts (ORS) regionally. The program supports networking among the U.S. partners and more than 20 African NGOs/institutions to identify and incorporate best practices from throughout the region. For example, this approach is being used to introduce reproductive health into pre-service training by integrating the subject into the curricula and practicum of key medical and para-medical schools of the region. Appropriate monitoring and evaluation strategies, including the development of a composite indicator to measure institutional development of African partner institutions, have been established to document the initiative's regional impact.

Host Country and Other Donors: The U.S. PVO grantees, or partners, establish their operational capacity and legal status, including relationships with host country governments, within national borders, as necessary, without direct USAID support in countries where there is no bilateral program. The partners are currently operational around the region and, in fact, provide expertise to other donors,e.g. Germany, United Nations Family Planning Agency, World Bank, in several countries. A joint initiative on donor coordination in West and Central Africa, with leadership from USAID/W, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, will examine how to improve the impact of donor assistance by emphasizing each donor's comparative advantage. The results of the joint initiative discussions will aid in the planning of several large assistance programs from the World Bank, the European Economic Union, and the United Nations.

Beneficiaries: 5,700,000 children under five years and 19,200,000 sexually active adults and adolescents are the primary beneficiaries, along with more than 250 African institutions which supply services directly to these groups.

Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID implements activities through four U. S. PVOs: John Snow International Research and Training, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, The Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Reproductive Health (JHPIEGO) and Tulane University, and 14 African partner institutions and local NGOs, including International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) affiliates in four countries, the Burkina Theater Workshop (ATB), the Center for African Family Studies (CAFS), the Center for Research in Population and Development (CERPOD), Le Dantec teaching hospital, Network of African Public Health Institutions (NAPHI), women's NGOs FESADE in Cameroon and SANFAM in Senegal, the Center for Communication Training and Research (CERCOM) and Population Services International's (PSI) social marketing organizations in Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

Major Results Indicators: Baseline Target

1. Proportion of women of 3.0%-5.7% 8.0%-10.7%

reproductive age (WRA) using

a modern contraceptive

2. Proportion of men of TBD Baseline + 5%

reproductive age (MRA) using

condoms

3. Proportion of cases of 10% 20%

childhood diarrhea treated

with oral rehydration therapy

4. Increased institutional TBD TBD

capacity (composite indicator

TBD)

ACTIVITY DATA SHEET

PROGRAM: REDSO/WCA

TITLE AND NUMBER: Provide Technical and Management Support Services to Bilateral Field Posts, 624-SPO1

STATUS: Continuing

PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $2,400,000 DFA

INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: Continuing

Purpose: Technical and management support services to bilateral field posts.

Background: The USAID assistance program in West and Central Africa is managed through a multi-tiered system based on the location of the responsible operating units. The core of the program is administered through bilateral programs with USAID staff stationed in 9 countries. There are also regional and global projects, managed in Washington, which engage in programs that are transnational in nature. REDSO/WCA, since its creation in the 1970s, has supported the country programs and Washington by providing skilled technical experts who carry out tasks throughout the region on a cost effective, as needed basis.

USAID Role and Achievements to Date: During FY 1996, the REDSO/WCA staff spent 2,100 days in 20 countries, in addition to the work performed in the REDSO/WCA offices, to provide technical and management support to other USAID operating units. The tasks ranged from regional conference sponsorships, e.g. West and Central Africans from many countries gathered to share experiences and ideas on fortifying decentralized government systems; research and analysis, e.g. an examination of horticultural trade links between Mali, Cöte d'Ivoire and Senegal; to strategy and policy formulation, e.g. multi-donor, 10 year program planning to develop stronger local health care financing systems.

Description: REDSO/WCA supplements its direct hire staff with a cadre of experienced U.S. and African professionals who pursue a well coordinated agenda of analysis and research under several regional projects in the areas of child survival, population, AIDS awareness, basic education, environment, gender issues, and democracy and governance. These advisors and the results of their research are factored into program designs and implementation agendas of REDSO/WCA country programs. In FY 1998, REDSO/WCA will continue to supply technical experts, as requested, to supplement limited in-country staff at the USAID bilateral posts and support Washington-managed programs. These experts will organize and manage regional conferences, communication networks, and research and analysis which complement other USAID activities in West and Central Africa.

Host Country and Other Donors: During travel to client posts, REDSO/WCA staff often work with other donors and with host country counterparts. The staff support networks of donors and other interested development partners as part of their assistance to client posts. REDSO/WCA does not have a host country government counterpart and, therefore, does not manage counterpart contributions to its activities.

Beneficiaries: REDSO/WCA's strategic support objective concentrates primarily on assistance to other USAID posts in the West and Central Africa region, along with operating units based in Washington. They are the principal direct beneficiaries of REDSO's assistance, although the networking activities mentioned above also benefit other development partners in the region.

Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: REDSO/WCA's project-funded professional staff include American and African technical experts who are funded by activities in the Global Bureau and Africa Bureau. REDSO/WCA uses contractors and grantees to carry out specific, short term tasks, often regional research and analysis, resulting in recommendations which are used by the client posts to initiate new or improve existing bilateral activities.

Major Results Indicators: Baseline Target

Set forth in each post's

annual Customer Service End of year End of year

Contract with REDSO/WCA evaluation evaluation

[USAID Home]
[USAID Home]
CP 98
[CP 98 Home]