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).
LAC REGIONAL PROGRAM
FY 1998 Development Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $37,900,000 FY 1998 Economic Support Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $46,000,000 FY 1998 International Narcotics Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,000,000 Introduction
United States foreign policy is firmly committed to supporting democracy, economic growth and regional integration, maternal and child health and family planning, and education policy reform in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, and to helping LAC countries ensure reductions in poverty -- with special attention to the least well-off 20% of the region's population, including indigenous groups.It is in the U.S. national interest to care about what happens in this neighboring region. The U.S. benefits from the LAC region's economic and social progress. Trade increases when populations are better able to purchase U.S. goods and services, and when new technologies are introduced to an expanding and better-educated LAC market. Migration to this country tends to decrease if LAC populations are politically and economically more secure in their own countries. The need for U.S. peace-keeping diminishes if democracy is strengthened, and democratic institutions are created, nurtured until strong, and guided to involve local communities and the poor. The U.S. is less likely to be affected by disease outbreaks when health services improve and sanitary practices in the LAC region become more widespread.
The primary focus of the LAC regional program is those development issues that are best addressed through multi-country cooperation and mutually-beneficial collaborative relationships between the U.S. and subgroupings of interested LAC countries. USAID's LAC Regional program implements a carefully-designed portfolio of uniquely regional or hemispheric development initiatives. these initiatives have the greatest effect when managed in close collaboration with or by regional institutions and organizations. The program also provides rigorous analytical support for USAID strategic planning, policy development, program design, implementation and evaluation concerning the LAC region, and focuses on indigenous groups and the poorest segment of the region's population.
The Development Challenge
One of the greatest challenges in the LAC region is to increase opportunities for the poor, particularly small entrepreneurs and agricultural producers, to participate in environmentally-sound economic growth. The 1994 Summit of the Americas recognized that free trade and increased economic integration are key factors in raising standards of living, improving working conditions, and protecting the environment. The LAC Regional program works with LAC countries which do not yet meet hemisphere-wide standards and conditions essential for trade, either with the U.S. or in subregional LAC trade groupings.The telecommunications sector, seen as a key foundation for sustainable economic growth, is receiving increasing private sector investments. The challenge is to further liberalize the telecommunications regulatory and policy environment and to dramatically expand the density of telecommunications infrastructure (including value-added services such as the Internet), especially in rural areas. Finally, information technology transfer to the region needs to expand, not only to expedite the two-way flow of product and pricing data vital to global trade, but to broaden its application to a variety of sustainable development sectors, ranging from medical and agribusiness information systems to distance learning and environmental resource management.
Education is a high economic-return investment, which directly enhances the productivity of individuals, and enables them to increase earnings and purchase more goods and services within the hemisphere. Education is also the foundation of full participation in democratic, stable societies. Furthermore, the benefits of education to school completers' own children, in terms of healthier and smaller families are well known. Expanding the benefits of high-quality basic education is a major, desired, policy outcome. The LAC Regional program helps countries make better human resource investments and establishes a basis for countries to devote a larger proportion of their gross domestic product (GDP) to higher-quality basic education, thus increasing their skilled, educated human resources.
In spite of encouraging progress in the LAC region in lowering infant mortality and deaths among children under five (measles cases in 1994 were down by 99% from levels in the early 1990s; polio transmission ceased in 1991 throughout the hemisphere), extending life expectancy at birth, and decreasing fertility, the rate of preventable deaths each year is almost five times the rate in the developed world. Fertility among women under 20 has remained constant over the last 30 years, and fully one-half of all births are unwanted or mistimed. Clearly, the need for continued improvements in family planning and other basic health services is great. Equitable access to basic health services, and public and private sector reforms in health management and financing are required.
While the region is endowed with a rich natural resource base, including more than half of the globe's remaining forests and biodiversity, it is also experiencing rapid industrialization and urbanization. Therefore, USAID's LAC Regional program has expanded its traditional focus on sustainable forestry, agriculture, and biodiversity-related issues to address urban and industrial environmental and pollution prevention issues. Among countries and within subregions, there is a need for exchanges of knowledge and experience with policy reforms, strengthening of both public and private environmental institutions, and on transfer of technologies appropriate to the unique requirements of the region. Coordinating these efforts through the LAC Regional program will help our trading partners harmonize trade policies which will bring smaller countries into compliance with the trading regimes of their larger potential partners.
A decade ago, citizens in the LAC region had few opportunities to participate freely in elections or in decisionmaking in their municipalities and communities. National governmental institutions had little cause to seek internal reform, and dialogue between governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in allocation and use of public revenues was rare. Today, democratic processes are taking hold but the institutional framework to support them remains fragile. Additional efforts are required to strengthen rule of law and judicial reform, to improve the administrative efficiency of the justice system, and to extend justice to citizens, including: (1) building institutions and mechanisms to encourage citizen participation at municipal and community levels of society, (2) opening up to public scrutiny and making more effective government institutions at all levels, and (3) promoting dialogue between government and NGOs.
Other Donors
Much regional donor coordination centers around initiatives under the 1994 Summit of the Americas. Other donors, such as the multinational banks and the Ford Foundation, are keenly interested in the Summit initiative for educational policy reform in the region. The Organization of American States (OAS) works on Summit human rights initiatives. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is the responsible regional institution for the Summit's "equitable access" initiative, monitoring country implementation of health reforms in response to that initiative.Similar consultations between USAID and other donors occur in the region regularly, within all sectors. To implement environmental objectives, LAC Regional program staff work with the World Bank's Global Environmental Facility, the United Nation's Development Program, the Food and Agricultural Organization, bilateral donors, and private foundations (MacArthur, Mellon). In addition to the United States, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the European Union, Canada, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countriesplay key leadership or funding roles in strengthening democracy. For example, in the area of accountability of democratic institutions, limited LAC Regional resources have leveraged millions of dollars of technical assistance loans to Latin American ministries of finance and national audit institutions. A donor consultative group for financial management coordinates all region-wide anti-corruption and accountability activities.
USAID also works very closely with the IDB on land registration issues. Over the past two years, approximately $1 billion has been jointly programmed for land registration activities.
FY 1998 Program
The LAC Regional program in FY 1998 will: (1) identify and reinforce region-wide or sub-regional trends, policies and strategies, (2) strengthen and institutionalize democracy and human rights, (3) encourage broad-based economic growth and expansion of trade, (4) protect the environment and natural resources, and (5) address serious health issues.Agency Goal: Encouraging Broad-based Economic Growth
Trade-induced economic expansion is a catalyst for improved living standards, poverty reduction, and sustained growth and political stability in the LAC region. The Regional program will pave the way for increased trade and greater economic integration in LAC by addressing key issues regarding the creation of the Free Trade Area of Americas, as well as basic social and economic adjustments associated with entrance into a free trade arrangement.Smaller economies face substantial obstacles in joining a hemispheric free trade arrangement. USAID efforts are directed to assist target countries resolve basic trade and economic integration issues and implement legal reform measures. A few of the mechanisms that will be operational in FY 1998, as a result of assistance under the LAC Regional program, are: (1) a regional training center to train agricultural quarantine and inspection officers in Latin America, (2) a rules of origin system (allowable percentage of goods of foreign manufacture) to simplify customs procedures in target LAC countries, and (3) food safety regulatory procedures to ensure consistent production of food products that meet regulatory requirements of importing countries, based on accepted World Health Organization standards.
Small-scale businesses and entrepreneurs are currently limited from fully participating in regional markets due to technological inefficiencies, lack of access to trade-facilitating infrastructure and high transaction costs. USAID efforts will lead to development of integrated communications network technologies and use of personal computers to globally link small- and medium-sized businesses with traders and to carry out international trade transactions.
The segments of society that are currently the most disadvantaged and marginalized in the marketplace -- women, the poor, and indigenous groups -- will need access to information and outreach systems to allow them to take advantage of the benefits of free trade and economic growth. USAID efforts will strengthen key regional market institutions and networks to reach the disadvantaged and provide opportunities, particularly for small-scale agricultural producers, for participation in trade expansion. These institutions and network include a system that allows private property to be a marketable good, agricultural technology development that is trade demand-driven, and links between commercial capital markets and microenterprise institutions that support the disadvantaged, especially women.
As economic growth and trade expand, pressures on natural resources and the potential for increased pollution, environmental contamination, and associated health risks will mount in the region. In FY 1998, the program will assist LAC countries to modify their policies to provide incentives for more sustainable natural resource use and for industries to adopt pollution prevention practices. Programs will be launched by LAC governments and industries to reduce health risks from key environmental contaminants. Programs will be supported to promote the adoption by targeted industries of pollution prevention/"clean" technologies and improved environmental management practices. These efforts will include facilitation of business linkages between LAC industries that need improved environmental technologies and U.S. environmental companies, development of case studies on the economic benefits of the use of "clean" technologies, and development of computer internet environmental on-line information sharing. Programs will also encourage private sector investment in sustainable forest management and environmentally sustainable shrimp mariculture, and will support the development of improved regulatory frameworks in the mining sector and information-sharing on best management practices for forestry and coastal and marine resources.
Current labor standards and practices in the region are generally not at a level that can support efficient production necessary for companies to effectively participate in an increasingly competitive and interdependent global economy. USAID efforts will support development of democratic free labor movements, modern labor-management relations, and worker health and safety standards to ensure efficient and stable production capabilities.
Strategic Objective 1: Progress Toward Resolving Key Market Issues Impeding Environmentally Sound and Equitable- Free Trade in the Hemisphere Education is the foundation of democracy and a key to reducing poverty and income inequality in the LAC region. Education reform is a timely issue on the hemispheric agenda, illustrated by the commitment of the Summit of the Americas to an initiative to ensure universal access to high-quality basic education, with a target of 100% of children completing primary school by the year 2010. With the shift in most of the LAC region to open economies, countries have come to recognize that political stability and success in world trade are dependent on increasing human capacity.
Most children in the region, male and female, attend primary school. Access has increased from 60% in the 1960s to over 90% today, but completion rates are far short of 100% in many countries, particularly in Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Bolivia. While LAC countries have made good progress in providing access to basic education, the failings of existing systems to prevent students from repeating grades or dropping out, the particular issue of access by indigenous groups to basic education, and the small proportions of GDP dedicated by governments to basic education, point to a continuing need for deep reforms in education policies.
To increase awareness and understanding of education policy and program options, the LAC Regional program supports the "partnership for educational reform in the Americas", a consultative forum of governments, the private sector, NGOs and donors which will develop a broader and more active constituency for education policy reform hemisphere-wide, as well as within selected LAC countries.
Strategic Objective 2: Improved Human Resources Policies Adopted in Selected LAC Countries Agency Goal: Stabilizing World Population and Protecting Human Health in a Sustainable Way
All funding requested for population and health is planned for health activities. Despite impressive gains in the hemisphere, limited access to and poor quality of health services have resulted in persistently high child and maternal mortality, particularly among rural poor and indigenous groups. The proximity of the LAC region to the United States presents special challenges, especially in view of current migration and travel patterns. Communicable diseases such as cholera, pneumonia and measles can cause problems in our own country if they are not addressed throughout the region. U.S. interests are also served by intensifying efforts to reduce maternal mortality, not only from a humanitarian perspective, but also to reduce the uncertainties of reproduction, leading to better family planning and, ultimately, to slower population growth and reduced pressures for migration to the United States.The 1994 Summit of the Americas' Plan of Action provides that governments: (1) endorse child and maternal health objectives, including reducing child mortality by one-third and maternal mortality by half (from 1990 levels), (2) endorse a basic package of child and reproductive health interventions; and (3) develop or update country action plans or programs to focus on reforms to achieve equitable, universal access to the basic package. Health reforms currently underway in virtually all LAC countries include decentralization, alternative financing schemes, quality assurance, and greater use of NGOs and community-based services for the poor. In FY 1998, USAID's contribution through the LAC Regional program will continue the U.S. role in the hemisphere as a leader in public health and development, by conducting regional activities to foster LAC countries' efforts to design, implement, and monitor such reforms.
This program will begin activities during FY 1997; it is not possible at this time to comment on graduation plans.
Infant, child and maternal mortality remain high in the LAC region especially among disadvantaged populations. Currently, target countries do not dedicate enough health resources to priority needs, that is, to controlling diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infections, nor to maternal mortality reduction. The quality and effectiveness of these programs need improvement. Despite the drop in infant mortality, close to 600,000 infants die each year before their first birthday, most of them from causes that could be prevented with simple, low-cost technologies. While vaccination coverage levels generally are excellent, there are pockets of low coverage and programs are not yet sustainable. Furthermore, the region has recently adopted the ambitious goal of eliminating measles, a major contributing factor to infant and child mortality.
In FY 1998, LAC Regional program resources will focus the attention of LAC countries and other assistance organizations on vaccinations, integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) and essential care of obstetric complications (ECOC). Increasing effective delivery of these selected health services, all of which respond to USAID Strategic Objectives within the Agency's population, health, and nutrition Goal, will help the hemisphere make progress towards its ambitious population and health goals.
Graduation plans will be tailored to each of the initiatives. The vaccination initiative is the third 5-year regional program effort and, if it is successful in eliminating measles from the Americas, there would be no follow-on effort. The IMCI initiative is new in the Americas and it is probable that regional efforts will be needed for at least another 5 years beyond the current initiative. Since efforts to reduce maternal mortality are just beginning with activities to identify the best program approaches and improve policy climates, at least 5 and probably 10 more years of Regional efforts will be needed beyond the current initiative before graduation should be contemplated.
Strategic Objective 3: Sustainable Country Health Sector Reforms In Effect (designed to increase equitable access to high-quality, efficiently delivered basic health services)
Strategic Objective 4: More Effective Delivery of Selected Health Services Agency Goal: Protecting the Environment
The LAC region contains nearly half of the world's biodiversity. However, population pressures, rapid urbanization and industrialization, increased demands for agricultural and grazing land, and other factors are resulting in extensive degradation of key ecosystems. Conservation of the region's biodiversity is critical in view of its long-term potential for providing significant industrial, pharmaceutical, and agricultural uses, and the immediate potential for protecting watersheds andproviding sustainable natural resources for the rural poor. As a result of ongoing USAID assistance under the LAC Regional Parks in Peril (PiP) program, LAC governments are now committed to taking measures to protect, conserve and utilize their resources, including maintaining a system of parks and reserves of representative ecosystems.The PiP program, implemented by The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with national and local governments, NGOs and indigenous communities, directly supports the Summit of the Americas' initiative to establish "a partnership for biodiversity" in key ecosystems in selected LAC countries. Through FY 1996, significant advances have been made in the sustainable protection of 28 parks covering 19 million acres in 12 countries. The activities undertaken are against a target of 28 to 37 parks over the life of the program (subject to the availability of overall funding). Non-USAID funding was identified for 9 PiP sites, and they are well on their way to graduating from the PiP program. In FY 1998, continued emphasis will be placed on: (1) sharing lessons learned from the PiP program and on utilizing PiP sites as demonstration and training areas to advance conservation in other endangered ecosystems, (2) expanding the involvement of local communities in the conservation and management of the parks and reserves, (3) increasing scientific knowledge of the biodiversity in PiP sites and the impact of management interventions, and (4) promoting policy reform and sustainable financing for conservation of key ecosystems. Furthermore, to cover gaps in the types of ecosystems currently protected by PiP, the program expects to initiate park management activities in 5-9 new sites.
Strategic Objective 5: Selected LAC Parks and Reserves Important to Conserve the Hemisphere's Biological Diversity, Protected Agency Goal: Building Democracy
While the 1980s and early 1990s witnessed dramatic advances in the region's efforts to establish democracy, a new democratic order has yet to be consolidated. Still fragile LAC democracies face difficult challenges from growing crime and drug trafficking, endemic corruption, uneven access to justice, and continuing human rights abuses. Internally, many democratic institutions are weak and remain unrepresentative, and the legacy of authoritarian rule has been a highly-centalized and unresponsive government. The poor remain unrepresented and unable to participate effectively in political life.Despite these difficulties, the democratic transition that has taken place throughout the region with the exception of Cuba, offers a strong foundation for further progress in building sustainable democratic systems. Over the past few years, LAC politics have been marked by important positive trends including: (1) growing pluralism and increasing citizen participation, (2) a rising popular demand for judicial reform, (3) a movement to decentralize political and financial decisionmaking, and (4) repeated calls for government institutions to become more accountable and responsive to citizens. Underlying each of these trends is the principle that a new democratic order in the region needs to promote the rights of citizens and the rule of law.
The LAC Regional program has contributed to important achievements through promoting human rights and rule of law, promoting transparent elections, strengthening civil society, and decentralization of power to legislatures, local governments and municipalities. Nearly all countries have implemented judicial reforms and initiated human rights activities, partly as a result of technical assistance and other support provided under the regional program. The ability of election tribunals to carry out free, fair and transparent elections has improved dramatically. Civil society groups are expanding and multiplying rapidly throughout the region, helped along by U.S. assistance for an NGO network which has a base of strengthened lead NGOS, which will ultimately provide assistance to 80 others in the region over the next few years. Accountability and anti-corruption are now the subject of public discourse in most countries of the region. USAID has been the most active donor in follow-up to the Summit of the Americas' "no to corruption" initiative. Much of the LAC Regional program's work is based upon, and strengthens, regional treaties, agreements and protocols.
In FY 1998, the LAC Regional program will help consolidate democracy by supporting regional institutions, networks, and exchanges that serve as catalysts and innovators in the democratization effort. The program identifies broad trends that encourage or threaten democracy in the region and will work with USAID missions and regional institutions (both in the LAC region and in the United States) to develop and disseminate new approaches which focus on these trends. The Regional program supports activities that help deepen democracy, as agreed to at the Summit of the Americas.
In FY 1996, President Clinton announced the initiation of assistance through NGOs to promote a peaceful democratic transition in Cuba. The first such activity was a grant to Freedom House. The LAC Regional program will pursue this objective through additional grants to USNGOs in FY 1997 and FY 1998 aimed at strengthening independent elements within Cuba through the provision of informational, moral and other support.
Another important objective of the LAC Regional democracy program is to build a technical assistance capability within the region. The Inter-American Institute for Human Rights (IIDH) and its Center for the Promotion of Electoral Assistance (CAPEL) receive core funding through the Regional program to carry out regional human rights education, and provide training, publications, and technical assistance to countries for human rights promotion and implementation of free and fair elections.
A hallmark of the LAC Regional program is its ability to stimulate participation of other development assistance donors and numerous U.S. NGOs, institutions of higher education, other U.S. Government agencies (for example, the U.S. Departments of State and Justice, and the U.S. Information Agency), drawn into this essential work either as active collaborators with USAID or regional institutions supported by USAID, or first-time funding sources for LAC countries. For example, the Regional Financial Management Improvement project has leveraged over $130 million in World Bank and IDB resources to promote accountability and tranparency in various LAC countries.
Strategic Objective 6: Reinforcement of Regional Trends that Deepen Democracy
Special Objective 1: Training Training students in the U.S. brings benefits to the this country as well as to the LAC region, as LAC develop awareness of U.S. free enterprise and democratic pluralism and return to their home countries with a strengthened commitment to these values. The Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS) is a U.S. NGO that receives USAID grants to enable its existing programs to provide training for LAC participants. The training helps achieve USAID goals and strategic objectives across sectors and is useful in encouraging greater civic and voluntary participation in community-level development activities throughout the region. CASS students must make the commitment to service to community and country; graduates contribute to the development of their respective countries with new job skills and by exercising leadership as individuals.
The current group of 279 participants entering the CASS training program includes 155 students who are being trained in economic growth and business-related areas such as agribusiness, small business management, or industrial maintenance administration. Thirty two students are being trained in environmental subjects including forestry and fisheries management. Thirty one began programs of study in health care administration and food science technology. Fifteen participants are enrolled in an education administration program.
The Regional program's Advanced Training in Economics (ATIE) project has increased the number of skilled and trained economists in the LAC region, which has resulted ina greater understanding and acceptance of free market economy principles and which has improved decision-making on economic and fiscal issues on the part of LAC government officials and private sector leaders. By the end of FY 1998, nearly 85% of ATIE graduates will be serving in key LAC government offices, for example, as directors of Central Banks and heads of ministries, as well as in important positions in the private sector.
LAC Regional
FY 1998 PROGRAM SUMMARY
(000's)
USAID Strategic Objectives: Encouraging Economic Growth
Stabilizing Population Growth and Protecting Human Health Protecting the Environment Building Democracy
Providing Humanitarian Assistance Total 1. Resolution of Key Market Issues Impeding Environmen-tally Sound and Equitable Free Trade in the Hemisphere Dev. Assistance
2,500
1,500
4,000
2. Improved Human Resource Policies Adopted in Selected LAC Countries Dev. Assistance
1,500
1 500
3. Sustainable Country Health Sector Reforms in Effect Dev. Assistance
1,000
1,000
4. More Effective Delivery of Selected Health Services Dev. Assistance
3,000
3,000
5. Protection of Selected LAC Parks and Reserves Important to Conserve the Hemisphere's Biological Diversity Dev. Assistance
5,000
5,000
6. Strengthened Regional Trends that Deepen Democracy Dev. Assistance
ESF
INC
20,000
5 ,400
26,000
2,000
5,400
46,000
2,000
1. Training Dev. Assistance
10,000
10,000
2. Microenterprise Global Dev. Assistance
8,000
8,000
Total Dev. Assistance
ESF
INC
22,000
20,000
4,000
6,500
5,400
26,000
2,000
37,900
46,000
2,000
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Progress Toward Resolving Key Market Issues Impeding Environmentally-Sound and Equitable-Free Trade in the Hemisphere, 598-SO01
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $4,000,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000
Purpose: To resolve key market issues impeding environmentally-sound and equitable-free trade in the hemisphere.
Background: In 1994, at the Summit of the Americas, countries of the Western Hemisphere outlined the proposal for the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), which will increase trade and economic integration in the region. The Summit recognized that, as economic growth and trade expand, pressures on natural resources and the potential for increased pollution, environmental contamination and associated health risks mount, and require compatible trade and environment initiatives. Moreover, since education and health are essential social investments which are fundamental building blocks to produce broad-based economic growth, education and health activities, designed to expand human capacity, significantly contribute to attainment of this objective.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: The LAC Regional program's Hemispheric Free Trade Expansion activity, which was initiated at the end of FY 1995, supports trade-induced economic expansion as a significant catalyst for improved living standards, reducing poverty, and sustaining growth and political stability in the developing world. USAID collaborates closely with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to participate in the international working groups meeting on the FTAA and works with U.S. and LAC partners to carry out trade liberalization initiatives in support of the creation of the FTAA. Major activities include: (1) establishing an electronic agribusiness network, (2) improving the response capacity of technology institutions to changes and impacts of agricultural free trade in the LAC region, (3) increasing the participation of indigenous groups in natural resource markets, (4) promoting improved occupational health and safety conditions, (5) introducing labor and management relations practices and processes in the LAC region, (6) creating a repository of spatial data to support trade expansion, (7) developing an information database system linking partners, customers, and beneficiaries through the Internet, and (8) promoting sound environmental policies and technologies for key industries and resource sectors. In addition, USAID is assisting ACCION International, a leading NGO working with microenterprises in the LAC region, in providing technical assistance to ACCION affiliates in 11 countries to access international financial markets and effectively leverage and deliver financial services to the poor.
Substantial progress has been made to-date including: (1) developing an electronic commerce prototype to be used by small and medium enterprises, (2) redirecting technology institutions to support agricultural free trade in the LAC region, (3) increasing the participation of indigenous groups in natural resource markets, (4) a conference on sustainable forestry resulting in the signing of an MOU to enhance collaboration among South and Central American Ministers of Forestry, (5) a regional initiative to promote environmentally sustainable development in the mining sector, launched through a hemispheric conference attended by LAC policy makers, representatives of U.S. mining and environmental technology industries, and donors, (6) a USAID environmental law program providing coordination with other donors, and federal agencies, and technical support to USAID/W and Missions, (7) introducing new labor and management relations practices and processes in the LAC region, (8) creating a network of geo-spatial data information database systems that will link partners, customers, and beneficiaries through the Internet and 9) completion of business plans in 6 ACCION country affiliates.
Description: In FY 1998, USAID will continue to focus on the following four distinct areas through the Hemispheric Free Trade Expansion (HFTE) and sustainable micro-finance activities under the LAC Regional program: (1) increasing the capability of target LAC countries to implement legal reforms intariff and non-tariff areas required for countries' entries into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the FTAA, (2) assisting countries with trade-induced structural adjustments by developing and strengthening a variety of local and regional social institutions and informational technological networks through which the public and private sectors can engage in dialogue and create a catalyst for social change, (3) increasing the adoption of improved environmental and natural resource management practices related to free trade to ensure that expanded trade and hemispheric economic integration does not contribute to the degradation of the environment, and (4) increasing the adoption of improved labor and management relations and practices related to free trade through support for democratic free labor movements and for modern labor-management relations.
Host Country and Other Donors: The LAC Regional program is already working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to support economic growth and trade initiatives, and with the World Bank and the World Research Institute to support environmental initiatives adopted at the 1994 Summit of the Americas. Donor coordination will expand further in FY 1997. USAID is working jointly in these activities with Ecuador, Honduras, Brazil, and El Salvador.
Beneficiaries: The LAC Regional program will focus economic growth and trade activities on smaller countries with less-developed economies in order to accomplish this objective. It also will focus on increasing trade opportunities for the poor, particularly small entrepreneurs and small farmers, by incorporating them in the economic process.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: USAID is working closely with other U.S. government agencies and international organizations. Key partners involved in developing and implementing hemispheric free trade expansion and environment activities include the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Customs; the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation; the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy; the U.S. Geological Survey; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the U.S. Departments of Labor, Energy, Interior, and Agriculture; and ACCION International.
Major Results Indicators Baseline TargetNumber of subregions with at least one-third of the countries advancing toward resolving identified trade-related equity issues. 0 2 subregions
Number of subregions with at least one-third of the countries advancing toward resolving identified trade-related environmental issues. 0 8 issues, 2 subregions
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Improved Human Resource Policies Adopted In Selected Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Countries, 598-S002
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $1,500,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2001
Purpose: To promote a better understanding of education policy issues and develop a broader and more active constituency for educational policy reform within the LAC region.
Background: Education policy reform is a timely issue on the hemispheric agenda. With the shift toward open economies in most of the region, countries are increasingly concluding that success in world trade and political stability depends more on human resources than on natural resources. Large segments of society in the LAC region, particularly women, minorities and indigenous groups, have not been equipped to participate fully in economic life. Nearly one-half of the hemisphere's population lives in ignorance and poverty. The low level of primary school attainment is a major constraint to economic development. Considerable evidence suggests that policies change only when local policy thinkers and persuaders become intellectually conviced of the merit of an argument.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: With modest investments in educational policy reform in LAC countries, USAID can have a direct effect on developing influential constituencies to support policy reform and on the delivery of quality primary education. In FY 1996, Hillary Rodham Clinton launched USAID's Partnership for Education Revitalization in the Americas (PERA) activity which, in FY 1998, will use policy dialogue to encourage selected governments in the region to make policy changes to improve the quality of primary education. During FY 1996, the start-up phase of PERA, a major conference was held on education reform in the Americas in which 200 people from nearly 70 organizations in the hemisphere participated. Development of educational policy analysis was completed in several countries and four case studies on the process of education reform were conducted.
Description: The essence of USAID's approach in the region is to effect policy change through the development of a network of hemispheric "change agents," who will work to reform educational systems in their own countries. USAID, in cooperation with other donors, will support a consultative forum for governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the business community, donors, and international organizations which will establish a framework to identify, showcase and replicate the best educational policies and practices in the hemisphere. This forum will encourage country-level reform in a variety of areas, including educational quality, finance, equity and decentralization. With a relatively small investment, USAID will effect large changes in the manner in which national governments invest their massive expenditures in education, which will result in dramatic efficiencies and savings.
Host Country and Other Donors: USAID's effort to improve the quality and efficiency of education in the LAC region is a partnership between USAID, host countries, other donors, and LAC education organizations. Partners will be asked to provide financial and other support for the effort. The Inter-American Development Bank has already provided limited support for the effort, and expects to provide additional funds. The World Bank also is interested in becoming a partner in the effort. On hemispheric educational policy, the LAC Regional program works with the Inter-American Dialogue, LAC regional institutions and the U.S. Department of Education.
Beneficiaries: The ultimate beneficiaries of the effort will be all school-age children in the LAC region, especially those in the primary grades. Other beneficiaries will include the host country governments which will provide more cost-effective services, the private sector which will draw on a better educated, more productive labor force, and people at large who will gain more equitable and politically stable societies.
Principal Contractor, Grantees, or Agencies: The Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas will be implemented through a cooperative agreement with a U.S.-based NGO, the Inter-American Dialogue.
Major Results Indicators: Baseline (1995) Target (2001)
Policies formulated and adopted to improve educational finance, governance, quality, and equity. 0 25
Countries with increased budget allocated to primary education. 0 10
Countries with increased primary school enrollment of rural and indigenous female students. 0 10
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Sustainable Country Health Sector Reforms In Effect; 598-SO03
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $1,000,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2001
Purpose: To improve in-country capability to assess health sector problems and to design, implement and monitor reforms (that increase equitable access to basic health services through supportive regional programs).
Background: Despite impressive gains in the hemisphere, limited access and quality of services have resulted in persistently high child and maternal mortality, particularly among the rural poor and indigenous groups. The action plan of the 1994 Summit of the Americas proposes that governments endorse child and maternal health objectives, including: reducing child mortality by one-third and maternal mortality by one-half (from 1990 levels); endorsing a basic package of child and reproductive health interventions; and developing or updating country action plans or programs for reforms to achieve equitable, universal access to the basic package. The innovation is to support these objectives through health reforms such as decentralization, alternative financing schemes, quality assurance, greater use of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based services for the poor. It was further agreed to share expertise information, and experience on health reform efforts in the region. Virtually all nations in the region are undertaking some of these health reforms.
Although reform efforts must be country-specific, there is much to be gained by LAC Regional program support for country reforms. Managers need easy access to information on those reform activities which have succeeded and those which have not. Better regional collection and dissemination of such information is needed. Countries need technical assistance from the various donors that is consistent and coordinated. Both regional and country coordination must be done. In some cases, the best way to provide such technical assistance is to conduct multi-country workshops or training programs. In addition, there is a need for operations research to try out new ideas, and for carrying out overview studies to assist countries in selecting reform efforts that they will implement. Monitoring of reform efforts in the region as a whole also is needed.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: Since a meeting on health reform was held as part of the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO's) Governing Council in September 1995, USAID and its partners have worked to develop this Strategic Objective for its implementation. The program developed includes four principal results: developing methodologies and tools; collection and access to information on health reform efforts in the region, monitoring and feedback of health reform processes and results; and creation of opportunities for sharing of experiences between countries.
Description: This program will be implemented by three partners: PAHO, Abt Associates' Partnerships for Health Reform project (PHR), and Harvard University's Data for Decision Making project (DDM). Activities include: 1) disseminating National Health Accounts methodology to selected countries, assisting in its implementation and subsequently disseminating results to all LAC countries with USAID PHN program activities; 2) developing abstracting terms regarding health sector reform for BIREME (PAHO's regional medical library), and using them to abstract both published and unpublished literature being placed in the collection; 3) establishing common indicators for health sector reform process and results, and collecting, analyzing and disseminating such information from LAC countries; and 4) conducting seminars on health sector reform topics such as decentralization for public and private health sector leaders for LAC.
Through bilateral assistance programs in LAC countries, USAID will support country-level efforts to endorse a basic package of services and assist in developing and implementing health-reform programs to make such services universally accessible, in order to achieve maternal and child health objectives.
Host Country and Other Donors: LAC and Global Bureau staff have met with staff from the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, PAHO, Abt Associates, and Harvard University to share information on program plans and possible actions, as a prelude to implement major parts of the actions envisioned at the Summit. USAID also works at the country level with these and other donors.
Beneficiaries: Ultimate beneficiaries of this program are people in countries where USAID has population and health programs. Access to basic health services will be improved by reforms in health care organization and financing.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: PAHO, Abt Associates (and subcontractors), and Harvard University will be the principal implementors of the program.
Major Results Indicators: Baseline (1996) TargetNumber of target countries with changes in structure and functioning of health sector that increase at least three (3) of the following: efficiency, equity, financial sustainability, quality and community participation of basic health services. TBD 13 (2001)
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: More Effective Delivery of Selected Health Services, 598-S004
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1998: $3,000,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2001
Purpose: To improve the effective delivery of selected health services by strengthening quality and sustainability of services.
Background: Infant, child and maternal mortality remain high in the LAC region, especially among disadvantaged populations. Currently, target countries in the region do not dedicate sufficient health resources to priority needs in controlling diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infections, or reducing maternal mortality reduction. Quality and effectiveness of the programs also need improvement. Despite the drop in infant mortality in the region, close to 600,000 infants die each year before their first birthday, most of them from causes that could be prevented with simple, low-cost technologies. While vaccination coverage levels generally are excellent, there are pockets of low coverage, and programs are not yet sustainable. Furthermore, the region has recently adopted an ambitious measles-eradication goal. For those serious illnesses that cannot be prevented by vaccination, such as pneumonia, chronic diarrhea or complicated pregnancies, early recognition of problems and decisions to seek care is critical; facilities and staff need to be prepared to effectively manage cases of serious illness in order to reduce mortality and morbidity.
In FY 1998, the LAC Regional program will use many of the same successful approaches as in previous regional projects such as developing regional standards for program implementation and surveillance, providing technical advisors who work with country program managers and Interagency Coordinating Committees, and creating effective surveillance systems. This approach resulted in a much higher level of political attention and emphasis to immunization programs in target countries, and to the effective dedication of substantial national resources for this high-priority program. It is intended that the LAC Regional program's modest resources increase programmatic attention on the vaccination, integrated management of childhood illness, and essential care for obstetric emergencies programs in the region. These are the interventions considered the most important for regional programming to reach USAID's goals in the population, health, and nutrition sector.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: This objective builds on the success of two successive Regional grants to the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO's) supporting vaccination programs in the Americas. Coverage, with final doses of each vaccination by age one, has reached at least 78% of the population in all target countries. Between 1986 and 1996, USAID provided about half of donor funding for vaccination efforts in the region. As a result of USAID's country and Regional efforts with PAHO and other donors, the Americas have been declared free of indigenous transmission of wildpolio virus, and measles cases decreased by 99% from levels in the early 1990s.
Description: In target countries, regional service delivery improvement efforts will be expanded to provide highly-focused assistance to country programs to strengthen the quality and availability of selected health interventions (vaccinations, integrated management of childhood illness, and essential care of obstetric complications), which are among the specific priority interventions defined in USAID's population, health, and nutrition strategy. These key health interventions will be strengthened in target countries by: (1) establishing and disseminating improved norms for service delivery and surveillance,(2) developing, testing and disseminating approaches to improve compliance with norms, (3) develop better methods of informing and mobilizing communities to recognize and respond to serious illnesses, (4) targeting resources to sub-national areas where help is needed most, and (5) increasing the sustainability of service delivery and surveillance by refining the roles for public and private actors, increasing health care financing, and increasing efficient management of services. Health services on which the activities will focus were selected based on their importance to USAID's overall population and health strategy, the likelihood of positive impact through a regional mechanism, and relevance to the agenda of the First Ladies' symposium in follow-up to the Summit of the Americas.
Host Country and Other Donors: PAHO's unique capabilities to influence LAC governments will be used in setting agendas, policies and standards; Global Bureau projects will provide technical leadership in the selected topics. Since PAHO often is the lead agency among the health donors in LAC countries, and LAC country health authorities rely heavily on PAHO's advice regarding setting priorities, such an activity could have a substantial effect in promoting the interventions and system changes which are key to improving health in the hemisphere, regardless of source of donor funding. The use of the interagency coordinating committee mechanism will foster collaboration among all health donors in each target country.
USAID bilateral missions also fund country-specific programs which assist target countries in working toward the purpose of this strategic objective, and both USAID missions and LAC governments coordinate with other donors at the country level.
Beneficiaries: This objective is designed to benefit the service delivery and surveillance programs of the target countries in the LAC region directly. Ultimately, children less than five years of age and women of childbearing age in target LAC countries will be the major beneficiaries.
Principal Contractor, Grantees, or Agencies: The activities will be implemented by PAHO and by several U.S. private sector organizations (Management Sciences for Health, John Snow International, and University Research Corporation) through USAID-funded cooperating agencies.
Strategic Objective Indicators: Baseline Target Target countries with 100% of TBD 8 (2001) facilities in pilot districts delivering IMCI services.Target countries with 10% of TBD 8 (2001) facilities delivering IMCI services.
Target countries with coverage of 3 (1995) 8 (2000) each EPI antigen (BCG/OPV3/DPT3/measles) at least 90% among children under one year of age.
Target countries with more than TBD 11 (2001) 50% of deliveries with serious obstetric complications receive emergency obstetric care.
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Protection of selected LAC parks and reserves important to conserve the Hemisphere's biological diversity, 598-SO05
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCES: FY 1998: $5,000,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000
Purpose: To ensure adequate on-site protection for 28-37 critically-threatened LAC national parks and reserves of global, biological significance.
Background: The LAC region contains approximately 50% of the world's biological diversity. However, extensive habitat and whole ecosystem destruction is causing the extinction of many species and with them the loss of genetic resources valuable for future advances in medicine, agriculture, and industry. To address this problem, many LAC countries have set aside parks and reserves. Unfortunately, countries often lack funds, expertise, and effective policies required to protect these areas. Since FY 1990, USAID has supported the Parks in Peril (PIP) program to work with LAC countries to remedy this.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: With USAID funding of almost $23 million to date, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), PiP's implementing organization, has improved on-site protection in 28 sites, encompassing over 19 million acres. Significant lessons learned have led to replicable management practices in the region for biodiversity conservation, including innovative financing approaches. As a result of this effort, many local conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and indigenous community groups have been strengthened.
Description: TNC provides direct grant support for NGOs and agencies to assist in the management of 28-37 parks or protected areas. The parks will be protected by: (1) establishing a permanent management presence in each park through training park staff and providing basic infrastructure, (2) expanding each park's community outreach and promoting economic activities compatible with park protection in communities near the protected areas, (3) initiating on-site environmental studies and monitoring, (4) developing long-term mechanisms for financial sustainability, (5) increasing dissemination through the hemisphere of lessons learned at PiP sites, and (6) increasing the capacity of TNC to manage and implement the PiP program.
Host Country and Other Donors: To date, host country and NGO sources have matched USAID funds with approximately $7.37 million. The PiP program complements funding from other bilateral donors (Germany), and from multilateral sources, such as the World Bank's Global Environment Facility. PIP also leverages funds from other bilateral donors (e.g., Japan, Holland, Denmark) and private foundations (MacArthur, Ford, and Mellon).
Beneficiaries: Local communities benefit from the maintenance of the local natural resource base, and employment opportunities are created as a result of park development, maintenance and tourism. At the national and global levels, the conservation of biodiversity protects significant economic and scientific opportunities.
Principal Contractor, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID implements the PiP program through TNC. TNC works closely to implement the program in target countries with local NGOs (including The Friends of Nature Foundation, Bolivia; National Association for the Conservation of Nature, Panama; Defenders of Nature, Guatemala; and Integrated Fund for Nature, Dominican Republic and Mexico), LAC governments, and communities.
Major Results Indicators: Baseline Target** Note that if new sites are initiated in FY 1997, targets will be increased.Parks and reserves with adequate management
Number: 0 (1990) 28
Area (millions of hectares): 0 (1990) 19
Number of parks and reserves with sufficiently trained personnel 0 (1990) 28
Number of NGOs with adequate management capacity 0 (1990) 19
Annual government contributions for park protection at PIP sites $179,000 (1991) $4,500,000
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Strengthened Regional Trends that Deepen Democracy, 598-SO06
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCES: FY 1997: $5,400,000 DA; $46,000,000 ESF; $2,000,000 INCF
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000
Purpose: To help consolidate and deepen democracy in the LAC region by funding institutions, networks and exchanges that are essential to emerging regional democratic trends.
Background: In almost all countries since the mid-1980s, the LAC region has seen the transition from military dictatorships to democracies. Recently, in the areas of democracy and human rights, several dynamic, integrative trends have emerged, including growing citizen participation in nation-building, the demand for reform of judicial structures, political parties and legislatures, decentralization of political and financial decision-making, and a widespread call for improved accountability and responsiveness of public sector institutions. The protection of basic human rights is the core value of these trends. At the same time, democracies are challenged by rising crime rates, drug trafficking, and societal inequalities and poverty.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID works with LAC regional institutions and countries, and USAID bilateral missions and USAID offices, to: (1) promote human rights and the rule of law, (2) strengthen civil society, and (3) improve the legitimacy of key public sector institutions critical to a functioning democracy. As a result, civil society groups involved in democratic activities are growing in influence throughout the region, aided by regional funding of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) network. Accountability and anti-corruption are now the subject of public discourse in most LAC countries and judicial reforms and human rights activities are underway.
Description: The central focus of the program is to protect and expand human rights by using regional institutions, programs, and mechanisms to carry out activities that complement bilateral USAID programs. Consolidating democracy in the LAC region requires functioning institutions that provide protection of basic rights, secure and expand opportunities to exercise those rights, and assure real potential for participation in decisionmaking. The LAC Rregional program focuses on:
Strengthening regional mechanisms to promote human rights and rule of law. The capability of key judicial and human rights monitoring institutions to carry our their functions is critical to assuring the protection and expansion of human rights in LAC. Activities that support this objective focus on:Expansion of Inter-American Institute for Human Rights (IIDH) activities promoting human rights monitoring. Continued core funding for IIDH will further promote human rights education and training activities, dissemination of publications, and technical assistance for high-priority LAC countries.
Information exchanges promoting judicial reform. To complement bilateral USAID efforts to protect human rights by improving the rule of law, the regional administration of justice project has contributed to sharing of information about ongoing judicial reform efforts throughout the region.
Strengthening regional mechanisms to promote pluralism and growth of civil society . Representative institutions and civil society play an important role in consolidating democratic transitions by providing vehicles for political participation, holding government accountable, and building a civic culture. The LAC Regional program contributes to their development through:
Establishment of regional programs to share experiences and provide assistance to NGOs important to building pluralism and political participation. The regional civic education activity with Partners of the Americas helps dynamic Latin American civil society NGOs provide training and technical assistance to other NGOs. The regional program will also begin activities to address the critical role of competitive and representative political parties in pluralistic societies.
Development of mechanisms to improve political competition and pluralism in the LAC region. The Regional program will analyze political competition and citizen participation in the region and develop pilot projects with a focus on promoting the involvement of all citizens in national political life (especially on indigenous groups, youth, and women) and promoting political competition.
Strengthening regional mechanisms to improve public sector legitimacy. Building legitimacy in key public institutions helps create greater potential for broader participation in decisionmaking and greater support for democratic government. The LAC regional program helps promote:Expansion of Center for the Promotion of Electoral Assistance (CAPEL) activities to promote free, fair, and transparent elections. Core funding for CAPEL in FY 1998 will allow it to continue providing technical assistance to countries in the region to carry out elections professionally and transparently.
Expansion of opportunities to share experiences in decentralization. Within this program area in FY 1998, the LAC Regional program will support dissemination of information and exchanges that help inform and build support for efforts to decentralize governmental power. These efforts will largely be oriented toward devolution of budget and decisionmaking authority local levels, building capacity in local governments, and enhancing public participation in local decisionmaking.
Expansion of opportunities to share experiences in legislative strengthening. LAC regional activities may also include activities to broaden the locus of decisionmaking within the central government by strengthening the role of legislatures in relation to traditionally strong executives.
Expansion of programs to promote government accountability. The regional accountability and financial management improvement activity funds follow-up actions to the "No to Corruption" initiative of the Summit of the Americas. With FY 1998 funding, it will continue to work closely with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Fund (IDB), and U.S. NGOs in planning anti-corruption activities.
* Economic Support Fund. The regional democracy program will provide economic support funds (ESF) to those nations where it is critical to consolidate democracy, support human rights, and promote economic reform and equitable growth. ESF funds also provide support for institutional strengthening and development of various aspects of judicial and police systems in the hemisphere. In Cuba, USAID will provide assistance, through appropriate NGOs for support of individuals and organizations to promote the development of civil society and nonviolent democratic change.
* International Narcotics Central Fund. These funds will continue to support the Administration of Justice program in Colombia.
Host Country and Other Donors: Major donors in the region finance democracy activities, which are closely coordinated with USAID democracy and human rights efforts at the field level (and in Washington, at the policy level). Other organizations that play key leadership or funding roles include the United Nations, Organization of American States, the IDB, the European Union, and World Bank, and bilateral donors (Canada, Holland, and Scandinavia).
Beneficiaries: As human rights practices improve and democracies are strengthened, direct beneficiaries are the citizens of LAC countries. The United States indirectly benefits as U.S. national security interests are closely tied with improved regional stability and democracy.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Partners in USAID's regional democracy efforts include bilateral and multilateral donors (Netherlands, Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, and the IDB), IIDH, CAPEL, the Partners of the Americas, the Carter Center, a U.S. contractor (Casals & Co.), and the LAC countries themselves. LAC NGOs participating in these activities include PARTICIPA (Chile), Conciencia (Argentina), Poder Ciudadano (Argentina), Institute for Investigation and Political Self-Formation (INIAP), and the University of the Andes (Colombia).
Major Results Indicators: Baseline (1995) Target (2000)Number of strengthened national and regional electoral bodies 5 11
Number of countries adopting integrated financial mgmt systems 2 6
Number of multilateral donor-supported accountability projects 0 15
Public confidence level in media in targeted LAC countries 38% 50%
Number of LAC NGOs participating in regional network 5 80
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: A Broad-based Cadre Leaders and Potential Leaders in LAC Countries Equipped With Technical Skills, Training and Academic Education, 598-S007
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCES: FY 1998: $10,000,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1990: ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 1999
Purpose: To equip a broad-based cadre of leaders and potential leaders in LAC countries with technical skills, training, and academic education, and an appreciation for and understanding of the workings of a free enterprise economy in a democratic society.
Background: The LAC Regional program's participant training strategy is based on the hypothesis that to have long-term impact there are two factors which are critical to lasting improvement in the economic and social conditions in the region: (1) a stable social, political and economic environment that is conducive to economic development; and (2) an educated and skilled population with capable leaders to manage and implement programs and policies. The importance of human resources to any country cannot be overstated - everything from the broad direction of public policy to the management of individual firms and productivity of individual laborers rest on the skills, knowledge and values of people.
The Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS) project, implemented by Georgetown University since 1989, focuses training to support LAC strategic objectives and meet human resource development needs of LAC countries for technical expertise, for example, in business-related areas such as agribusiness, small business management or industrial maintenance administration, environment subjects including forestry and fisheries management, and in health care including facilities administrationa and food science technology. The Advanced Training in Economics project (ATIE) project has increased the number of skilled and trained economists which is resulting in an improved human resource skills (professional, technical and leadership) and understanding of the workings of a free market enterprise economy. Participants receiving degrees under the program will serve in high-level policy making capacity within their respective national governments. The trained economists will typically be in great demand by economics ministries, other government agencies and other institutions in their countries. Economic policy analysis will be enhanced and strengthened by a significant increase in the country's level of economic skills as the pool of returned participants grows.
In addition the training program aims to instill attitudes and beliefs of self-responsibility and self-initiative in participating scholars. These values often lead to a greater sense of commitment to family, community and country. This empowerment is intended to counter long-standing social and cultural patterns of passivity among disadvantaged classes.
USAID Role and Achievement to Date: The U.S. based training program is a particularly effective vehicle for strengthening societal commitment to the understanding of free enterprise and democratic pluralism. The combination of exposure to democratic values and institutions and their practical application in economic development, technical skills transfer, and establishment of human and institutional linkages are a potent catalyst for social and economic change. This fact is born out by program accomplishments:
Nearly 85% of ATIE graduates are already serving in key government offices (directors of Central Banks and heads of other ministries) and in important positions in the private sector.
Nearly 92% of the returnees are employed; many of those not employed are continuing their education.
Of those employed, 95% were able to put into practice what they have learned in the U.S. training program.
Seventy percent of the trainees reported an increase in salary since returning to their home country. Eighty-two percent of the trainees attribute this increase in salary, at least in part to their U.S. training. Description: The Special Objective is a LAC Regional training program consisting of individual USAID Mission projects, and three regional activities. These include: the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS); the Nicaragua Peace Scholarship Program; and Advanced Training in Economics.
Host Country and Other Donors: The participant training program strategy was designed to expand the "partnership" between cooperating agents and the U.S. training institutions. The objective is to foster cost sharing between training institutions and USAID. For example, the CASS agreement requires 25% cost sharing. College cost sharing has taken many forms such as provision of tuition and allowances, as well as indirect cost. In-country contributions include office and conference space, participant room/board during orientation and re-entry, and coverage of various administrative expenses.
Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries of this Special Objective are women, disadvantaged populations and other previously excluded groups in developing countries. These groups and individuals constitute the human resource base of the nation. The Special Objective also endeavors to identify and recruit scholarship candidates who have demonstrated leadership potential, but who are clearly unable to obtain their educational objective in the U.S. without scholarship assistance. Indirect beneficiaries are the various ministries and organizations that have sponsored participants for U.S. training.
Principal Contractor, Grantee, or Agencies: Georgetown University/Center for Intercultural Education and Development, and Foundation Francisco Marroquin.
Major Results Indicators: Baseline Target YearNumber of Leaders and potential Leaders successfully completed training 18,106 (FY1992) 25,000 (FY1992)
1. Returned scholars employed in area of expertise and applying skills 70% (FY 1992) 92% (FY1992)
2. Number, level and type of community/professional activities returnees are involved in during post training. 80% (FY1994) 90% (FY1994)
3. Returnees finding new jobs or increased responsibility or earnings 92% (FY 1992) 95% (FY1992)
4. Percentage of returnees who maintain ties with the U.S. 11% (FY 1992) 13% (FY 1992)
revised draft by Epstein, 12/23/96 at 1640 hours; wp file - u:\sepstein\docs\98cp.rsd
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