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).
GREATER HORN OF AFRICA INITIATIVE (GHAI) &
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES OFFICE
FOR EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA (REDSO/ESA)
FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 Actuals Estimate Request
Child Survival and Disease$4,600,000 $4,925,000 $4,102,000 Development Assistance$13,895,874 $16,686,000 $18,022,000 Introduction
Africa is in the midst of a fragile economic and political re-birth. Development trends are positive for the majority of the continent's countries. Increasingly, Africans are showing their impatience for a better life and are becoming better represented by a new generation of pragmatic African leaders. This fragile "African Renaissance" presents an exceptional opportunity for this long-marginalized region to more fully participate in the world economy. The United States has strong economic, political, cultural and security interests, as well as a critical catalytic role to play, in consolidating and deepening these positive trends. Modest, yet well-designed and targeted development and humanitarian assistance investments today are helping avoid tomorrow's humanitarian crises.
The Development Challenge.
The United States' long-term interest in Africa is to promote sustainable, broad-based, private sector-led economic growth and stable, functioning democracies. Shorter-term interests include limiting spillovers of crises from any one country onto its neighbors. USAID's Regional Economic Development Services Office for East and Southern Africa (REDSO/ESA) plays a key role in furthering these interests. REDSO/ESA serves as the field base for President Clinton's Greater Horn of Africa Initiative (GHAI), whose food security and conflict prevention strategies support sustainable economic growth and prevent or mitigate conflict. REDSO/ESA is reorganizing itself to reflect its new role in leading the implementation of a $15 million GHAI program, while continuing its support role to the GHAI and to the missions in east and southern Africa and the implementor of other regional efforts. This reorganization establishes a structure that will result in a regional approach that enhances the Agency's ability to achieve real results in the area of food security and conflict management. While placing emphasis on the GHAI, REDSO/ESA's specialized staff will continue to provide technical and financial services to USAID bilateral missions and/or their host governments in 18 countries, strengthen African regional public and private institutions, and direct humanitarian programs. REDSO/ESA's cost-effective, coordinated regional approaches have already made significant contributions to food security and to the transition from humanitarian relief to development by reducing major policy and regulatory obstacles to regional trade, and through high-impact public health programs.
Other Donors.
Through the GHAI and other regional programs, REDSO/ESA plays a crucial role in improving donor coordination and in promoting active African dialogue and participation at every stage of the development process. GHAI coordination between USAID and other USG agencies and U.S., local and international partners is critical. An example of this role has been the expansion and revitalization of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) -- a sub-regional inter-governmental organization mandated by its member states to address development and conflict management issues and supported by USAID -- to focus on regional food security and conflict resolution (e.g., Sudan and Somalia) in the GHA region, in coordination with the European Union, the United Nations Development Program, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Canada and Belgium. Because of proactive donor-to-donor dialogue that the USG encourages, other donors, such as France, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, are now showing greater interest in IGAD activities and may play a larger role in the future.
FY 1999 Program
Funding includes $15 million for the Greater Horn of Africa Initiative plus $7.1 million for REDSO/ESA to provide support services for GHAI as well as USAID missions in east and southern Africa.
Democracy-Governance/Conflict: USAID support through the GHAI to African-led efforts to defuse sources of regional conflict and instability is paying dividends in countries like Sudan and Somalia. With FY 1999 funding, REDSO/ESA will maintain high-quality democracy/governance services to USAID missions, governments and non-government organizations (NGOs) in 15 countries, and support the implementation of conflict prevention and mitigation strategies under the GHAI.
Agriculture/Food Security: Funding will allow USAID's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) to share satellite imagery, provide information and analysis of agro-climatic conditions, and conduct training to help GHA countries better respond to natural disasters. Regional agricultural research will focus on containing the spread of basic food crop diseases which threaten the food security of ordinary citizens. In addition to the GHAI-assisted activities, two additional complementary initiatives have been launched: the African Food Security Initiative and the African Trade and Investment Initiative which reinforce efforts to strengthen African capacity to improve food security.
Transition Countries: Humanitarian assistance and disaster planning continue to be essential to countries such as Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, and Sudan, where for more than a decade large at-risk and refugee populations have hindered economic growth and political stability. REDSO/ESA provides direct management of humanitarian assistance programs. In 1997, REDSO/ESA's strategic coordination with USAID/Rwanda, USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Response (BHR), the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and NGOs assisted more than one million refugees to return to Rwanda without creating emergency food shortages. REDSO/ESA will continue to respond to urgent needs, while focusing on increasing the self-reliance of vulnerable groups.
Population and Health: REDSO/ESA supports 15 USAID country programs and leads in sharing cross-border “best practices” in health care-financing, STD/HIV integration with MCHC/Family Planning (FP), quality of health care, adolescent reproductive health, pharmaceutical FP commodity logistics and nutrition with East African governmental and private health care providers. With FY 1999 funding, REDSO/ESA will maintain its high-quality regional population and HIV/AIDS expertise, promote networking among the regional Population, Health, and Nutrition (PHN) agencies, and continue technical assistance to the Centre for African Family Studies, the leading African family planning and population institution in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Economic Growth: REDSO/ESA will expand commercial, information and trade networks with the regional African private sector to support GHAI food security objectives, increase African women entrepreneur access to critical business information and services through the internet, reduce barriers to private investment through the innovative Investor Roadmap program, and maximize free trade among members of the Eastern and Southern Africa Common Market (COMESA) by supporting the elimination of tariffs by the year 2000. REDSO/ESA regional business and growth activities will support the new Presidential Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa.
Environment: The GHAI supports management of transboundary resources through the cooperation of all countries in which it occurs. Additionally, increased exploitation of marginal lands, misuse of scarce water supplies, soil exhaustion, deforestation, loss of genetic diversity and an increase in food crop pests and diseases, coupled with lack of capacity in national or regional environmental impact assessment, are major regional challenges. REDSO/ESA helps regional decision makers to set sound environmental policies by expanding critical environmental information. FY 1999 activities include: developing models for successful integrated coastal-zone management; collecting, cataloguing and disseminating data on legal/illegal trade in rare plants and animals; and collaborating in management of transnational natural resources.
GREATER HORN OF AFRICA INITIATIVE (GHAI) &
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES OFFICE
FOR EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA (REDSO/ESA)
(in thousands of dollars)
USAID
Strategic and
Special
Objectives
Economic
Growth &
Agriculture
Population
& Health
Environment
Democracy
Human Capacity
Development
Humanitarian
Assistance
TOTALS
S.S.O.1 Effective Program and Technical Support to
ESA Missions
-CSD
-DA
---
1,740
1,130
---
---
250
---
430
---
---
---
---
1,130
2,420S.O.2 Increased Utilization of Critical Information
in the ESA Region
-CSD
-DA
---
927
1,972
325
---
300
---
---
---
---
---
---
1,972
1,552S.O.3 Implement the Greater Horn of Africa Initiative (GHAI)
-CSD
-DA
---
10,000
1,000
---
---
2,000
---
2,000
---
---
---
---
1,000
14,000S.S.O.4
Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance
-DA
50
---
---
---
---
---
50
Totals
-CSD
-DA
---
12,717
4,102
325
---
2,550
---
2,430
---
---
---
---
4,102
18,022
REDSO/ESA Mission Director: Donald R. Mackenzie
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: REDSO/ESA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Effective Program and Technical Support to all ESA Missions, SSO01
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $1,130,000 CSD; $2,420,000 DA;
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996; ESTIMATED COMPLETION: Continuing
Purpose: To provide effective program and technical support to all East and Southern Africa missions.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID bilateral missions in East and Southern Africa need specialized technical services to supplement small resident staffs in developing country strategies, designing and implementing activities, and monitoring and evaluating progress in obtaining results and impact. REDSO/ESA is the repository of a significant portion of USAID's program and technical expertise in the region, providing state-of-the-art advisory services in fields such as environment, agriculture, financial management, legal affairs and contracting/procurement. The concentration of expertise at REDSO/ESA allows for economies of scale in the provision of services to ESA missions. The annual scheduling of services is negotiated with client missions early in the fiscal year. Requests from the 18 ESA missions are matched with available skills to most effectively address the required work assignments throughout the region. The work accomplished on these travel assignments is supplemented by support from Nairobi via electronic communication.
In FY1997, REDSO/ESA responded to an increased number of requests from client missions for technical services. Under this objective, REDSO/ESA has been instrumental in developing country strategic plans and the design of major activities in most countries in the ESA region. REDSO/ESA also responds to unforeseen emergencies. In 1996, for example, REDSO/ESA managed the USAID program in Burundi when the security situation forced the evacuation of U.S. personnel stationed there. The regional office also serves as a center of excellence by providing training in such areas as USAID's reengineering and environmental impact assessments. The continuing high number of requests from REDSO/ESA's client missions for services of REDSO/ESA staff is a quantitative indicator of REDSO's effectiveness in achieving this strategic support objective.
Description: The resources requested for FY 1999 will fund technical advisors to provide services requested directly by client missions and their development partners. Feedback received from client missions through customer surveys is used by REDSO/ESA to determine both the makeup of its technical advisor staff and the allocation of their services to the missions. A computerized service tracking system is being developed to improve client feedback and service allocation.
Host Country and Other Donors: USAID staff regularly work with government and donor agency staff at both the bilateral and the regional level to ensure effective donor coordination and programming of scarce development resources. REDSO/ESA staff participated in the 1997 World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Bank preparatory meeting for an Africa-wide conference on Capacity Building in Environmental Assessment in Sub-Saharan Africa to be held in spring 1998. REDSO/ESA staff currently work with the Ugandan National Environmental Management Authority on a joint USAID-Uganda Environmental Assessment. The staff also regularly works with national offices and ministries of environment and natural resources.
Beneficiaries: USAID missions, host governments and donor agency staff in the ESA region are the primary beneficiaries of the services provided.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: In-house skills are supplemented by contracts paid for by client USAID missions in the region. The development of private sector activities has been conducted by, among other firms, Price Waterhouse, Deloitte Touche, and Development Alternatives, while financial management services are provided by Price Waterhouse, Peat Marwick, and Ernst & Young.
Major Results Indicators:
Baseline Annual Target
(1999)
Achievement of planned 67% 85%
service days and tasks (1995)
Staff trained in reengineering 0% 100%
(1994)
Client missions satisfied None Available 100%
with services provided, as measured by customer satisfaction index
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: REDSO/ESA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Increased Utilization of Critical Information by USAID and Other Decision-makers in the ESA Region, SO02
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $1,972,000 CSD; $1,552,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2000
Purpose: Increased utilization of critical information by USAID and other decision-makers in the region.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: REDSO/ESA works with a wide variety of partners to develop, analyze, disseminate and use critical information on priority regional development issues. The activity portfolio includes initiatives in regional trade, health and population, environment and natural resource management, women in business and agricultural research. Five of these sets of activities and their results are described below.
Description: Regional Trade Analytical Agenda: This agenda analyzes the impact of evolving trade and agricultural policies on agricultural productivity and food security in the ESA region. Generated data is used to encourage appropriate policy responses by regional governments to achieve stated national and regional objectives. The activities in this agenda build the capacity of African decision-makers to develop and successfully implement regional trade initiatives. Major results of these activities include: the Government of Malawi allowing the free movement of maize both within the country and across its borders; Uganda's National Food Security strategy adopting informal trade as its cornerstone; the East African Cooperation Secretariat's adoption of recommendations from the USAID Cost of Transport Analyses; and USAID's Southern African Comparative Advantage Study being used to develop the official regional food security strategy for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
Regional Private Sector Support: REDSO/ESA's private sector program supports African private sector initiatives that respond to the region's development challenges, and the adoption by countries in the region of rational and efficient market-oriented economies and regional trade regimes. REDSO/ESA's program lays a foundation for the implementation of President Clinton's Trade and Investment Initiative, and advances U.S. priorities such as increased regional food security and the expansion of economic opportunities for the region's traditionally marginalized groups, such as women. During the past 18 months, REDSO/ESA's private sector activities have led to major improvements in the private enterprise development environment, including reduced barriers to regional trade and the establishment of fora for formal economic policy dialogue between some of the region's governments and their business communities, as well as supporting the development of the All-Africa Businesswomen's Association (AABA), a private non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1996 that seeks to enhance opportunities and cooperation among African businesswomen.
Regional Health Networks: REDSO/ESA seeks to maximize returns to USAID investments in child survival, reproductive health, AIDS and other health-related initiatives by sharing and adapting lessons learned across national borders. Working in partnership with the USAID Global and Africa Bureaus and host countries, REDSO/ESA has improved the design and implementation of health and population activities in 11 countries, and has facilitated information-sharing about successful approaches for improved health financing systems among an extensive network of service delivery groups (governmental, private, and NGO) in the region. REDSO/ESA is taking the lead in disseminating and facilitating the use of critical information and borrowing and adapting the best practices in the areas of health financing, improved integration of HIV and Family Planning services, affordable and practical improvements in the quality of child, adolescent, and reproductive health, and capacity-building in these areas. The areas of nutrition and of logistical support information for the improved supply of essential drugs for child survival, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and the supply of contraceptives
have recently been added to the Health Network agenda. This agenda has been developed in response to surveys and other feedback mechanisms of REDSO/ESA partners and customers in the region.
Environmental Assessment NGO/private voluntary organization (PVO) Training: Training has taken place in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Kenya, and two more sessions are planned for early 1998 for USAID, governmental, NGO and PVO partners, with course participants grounded in environmentally-sound project design, the principles of environmental assessment and USAID requirements, and the critical importance of integrated land-use planning for sustainable natural resource management. This activity has been extended to provide additional training courses because of the importance of environmental capacity building, including regional environmental assessment training, and to promote the inclusion of African facilitators/trainers in course adaptation and implementation.
Environment and Food Security Linkages Analysis: A stakeholder analysis is currently underway to identify the linkages between regional environmental trends and food security in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) region. The results of this participatory analysis will guide the development of REDSO/ESA's program on the environment in the GHA region.
Host Country and Other Donors: USAID collaborates with host country governments and with many bilateral and non-governmental donors to ensure that regional agendas are complementary and the coordination of the allocation and use of scare resources.
Beneficiaries: Beneficiaries include collaborating governments, private regional networks and research institutions, universities, NGOs and PVOs, and REDSO/ESA's client missions, as well as the people at the grass-roots level in the ESA region for such activities as regional trade; health networks, the Centre for African Family Studies, and the All-Africa Businesswomen Association (AABA).
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Current contractors include: Technoserve; the University of Swaziland; Partnerships for Child Health; Pathfinder International, Inc.; The Population Council; John Snow, Inc.; Family Health International; Abt Associates; B.J. Systems Corporation; and Roy Littlejohn Associates, Inc.
Major Results Indicators: The achievement of results under this SO will be measured by the percentage increase of ESA missions actively investing in and participating in REDSO/ESA's critical development areas.
BaselineTarget (1995)(1999) Regional Economic Growth
- Regional Trade 45%75% - All-Africa Businesswomen's Assn 20%70% - Regional Agricultural Impact
Assessments 0%60% Regional Population and Health
- Health Care Financing 20%60% - Integration of HIV/Sexually Transmitted
Disease/Family Planning/Maternal
Child Health 20%80% - Improving Quality of Child and
Reproductive Health Services 20%80% - Adolescent Health 30%60% Regional Environmental Protection
- Regional Coastal Resources Mgt. 0%20%
- Environmental Assessment Training 10%50%
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: REDSO/ESA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Establish a Strong Basis for Implementation of the GHAI, SO03
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $1,000,000 CSD; $14,000,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1995 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2002
Purpose: In response to continuing political and humanitarian crises and instability in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) region, President Clinton's Greater Horn of Africa Initiative (GHAI) was launched to improve regional food security and establish systems of conflict prevention, mitigation, and response (CPMR). Specifically, the Initiative's goals are to increase African regional capacity to respond to these problems, and to facilitate a collaborative approach among African states, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private voluntary organizations (PVOs), and the bilateral and multilateral donor community. The GHAI's activities are based on a set of critical principles which include: promoting African ownership; strategic coordination among all stakeholders and participants; linking relief and development; applying a regional perspective; and promoting stability in the midst of change.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID directs strategic planning efforts both among U.S. government agencies - for example, in the development of integrated strategic plans for Somalia, Sudan, and northern Uganda - and among donors and regional organizations. USAID was instrumental in the revitalization of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a sub-regional organization made up of seven GHA countries, and the creation of the Joint IGAD Partners' Forum to coordinate donor support to this organization.
The Horn of Africa Support Project (HASP), operational since 1996, is a key implementation mechanism of the GHAI. HASP achievements include: the design of the IGAD Secretariat's first computer system; donor coordination to facilitate the establishment of the IGAD Peace Fund to finance peace-building activities in the region; assistance with the development of a Food Aid Code of Conduct for the region; and support for the development of seven of IGAD's feasibility studies and/or projects in areas such as promoting drought tolerant crop varieties, livestock disease control, and water management.
Other activities to support enhanced food security include USAID participation in joint studies aimed at reducing regional transportation costs which have succeeded in identifying a potential savings to the region of $90 million through policy reform, and in generating private/public sector policy dialogues on regional transport policies. In addition, USAID has promoted multi-donor collaboration in conducting vulnerability assessments and planning relief efforts in Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia. The GHAI has also promoted coordination and dissemination of regional agricultural research efforts through its support for groups such as the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA).
Activities to date in the area of CPMR have focused on developing conflict management strategies and tools, including a Guide to Preventing and Mitigating Violent Conflicts, which has been published and widely disseminated. GHAI has also supported a process of dialogue among the Ugandan and Kenyan governments and the different pastoralist groups who inhabit both sides of the two countries' common border. This dialogue is intended to mitigate the often-violent conflict among these groups over resources. USAID has also trained its partners in approaches for linking relief and development, in order to promote GHAI principles.
Description: REDSO/ESA coordinated the development of the GHAI Strategic Plan for FY 1998-2002, which was approved in October 1997. Building on previous years' activities and experience with this program, REDSO/ESA is currently being restructured so that the GHAI principles and activities can be fully integrated into the entire Mission program. Current and upcoming activities include: (1) providing
technical assistance and facilitating donor coordination in support of further development of seven IGAD project profiles in the areas of information services, agriculture/food security, and conflict prevention and crisis response; (2) implementation of an institutional support and grant-making (ISGM) program for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on issues of food security and CPMR in the GHA region; (3) provision of further training for partners in linking relief and development; (4) developing guidelines and training programs to implement the other GHAI principles; and (5) support for IGAD's regional policy harmonization efforts. For example, through conducting investors' road-map analyses in the GHAI countries, constraints on investment can be identified that can be overcome by improved, regionally-coordinated policies. During the coming year, additional implementation mechanisms will be developed to support other GHAI activities, including strengthening private-sector food-supply networks in the region, developing a quick-response conflict management fund, establishing pilot CPMR projects to identify best practices in this field, and establishing the Greater Horn Information and Outreach Service (GHIOS) to disseminate food security and conflict information. In addition, REDSO/ESA will continue to collaborate with USAID bilateral missions in pursuit of the GHAI objectives.
Host Country and Other Donors: USAID is playing a lead role in engaging GHA-region governments and donors, including Canada, the European Union, the Netherlands, Italy, and Japan, in applying GHAI principles and approaches. Major donors are now working toward a coordinated and non-duplicative approach to development assistance in the region, principally through their combined efforts to develop IGAD as the major regional organization focused on development.
Beneficiaries: GHA governments, NGOs, PVOs, and other indigenous organizations are the immediate beneficiaries of GHAI activities. However, the benefits of the GHAI will ultimately accrue to populations at the grassroots level through activities which improve food security and reduce conflict, thereby creating an environment more conducive to sustainable development.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: The principal grantee under this strategic objective is IGAD. A contractor will be engaged to implement the institutional strengthening and grant-making component of the HASP.
Major Results Indicators:
Baseline Target
Capacity building and project IGAD recently revitalized; IGAD CPMR capacity increased;
support to IGAD project profiles identified regional food-security policies
not fully developed harmonized; project profiles fully
(FY 1997) designed (FY 2002)
Establishment of a fully-function- No ISGM Innovative food security and
ing institutional strengthening and Mechanism CPMR activities implemented;
grant-making (ISGM) program for (FY 1997) sustainability of African
African NGOs in the areas of food NGOs enhanced (FY 2002)
security and CPMR
Implementation of the GHIOS Little coordination Stakeholders and partners
and dissemination kept abreast of GHAI
of key information activities, and information
on GHAI (FY 1998) is being utilized (FY 2002)
Implementation of CPRM pilot No pilot projects Five pilot projects implemented;
to establish best practices (1998) information on best practices shared
with and utilized by partners and
stakeholders (FY 2002)
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: REDSO/ESA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Effective Delivery of USAID's Humanitarian Assistance, SS04
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $50,000 DA
STATUS: Continuing
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1998 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: Continuing
Purpose: To improve the effectiveness and timeliness of USAID's humanitarian assistance programs in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID's assistance has saved millions of lives and reduced the suffering of vulnerable populations; protected economic assets; built local capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters; facilitated a return to normalcy and some degree of local self-sufficiency in the aftermath of emergencies through effective rehabilitation interventions; and helped affected populations return to the path of social and economic development over the longer term. There continues to be a drop in the overall numbers of East Africans at risk (those requiring external food aid) due to a number of factors, including greater transparency and accountability at determining more accurate estimates for the number of refugees/internally displaced persons; more timely food needs assessments in which donors are included; strengthened strategic coordination among donors/partners; increased use of local resources to meet needs; expansion of agricultural rehabilitation activities, and increased use of improved seed varieties. However, it should be noted that there remain a number of external constraints over which USAID has no control and which affect the ability to achieve the ojective, such as poor climatic conditions and inaccessibility due to civil strife.
Description: REDSO/ESA focuses on three intermediate results: (1) improved preparedness in the ESA region for effective responses to crises; (2) more effective USAID responses to crises as they arise; and (3) enhanced target population capacity to re-establish their livelihoods following a crisis. Improved systems for planning and analysis of crises is accomplished by providing regional decision makers with up-to-date remote-sensing data and analyses of agriculture, climatic and socioeconomic conditions which impact on food production and security through the Famine Early Warning Systems III project. REDSO/ESA also works closely with USAID bilateral missions and other implementing partners in needs assessments, strategic coordination, logistical constraints analysis, establishment of monitoring systems, and contingency planning so that USAID responses are more effective and timely. In order to break the cycle of continual humanitarian crises and to achieve the goal of sustainable development in the region, humanitarian assistance strategies must deliberately lead to the transition from relief to development. External constraints are always a risk when dealing with humanitarian crises. However, continued work on early warning systems and preparedness should enable the region increasingly to avoid or at least reduce the impact of such disasters. Preparedness, prevention and capacity building activities will be a primary focus.
To enhance the target populations' capacity to restore their livelihoods following a crisis, appropriate assistance and transitional strategies will be developed and implemented. Such strategies will facilitate the initiation of rehabilitation and recovery activities that the donor community will hopefully support, focusing on capacity building and supporting indigenous coping mechanisms. Vulnerable groups should thus be able to meet more of their own needs through local capacities and resources. This will lead to a reduction in the heavy dependence on external assistance and a move towards greater self-reliance for many of the vulnerable groups in the region.
In addition, REDSO/ESA anticipates a continued requirement for resources to work with the Sudanese populations who continue to be adversely affected by the ongoing civil strife.
Host Country and Other Donors: USAID coordinates with host country governments and the full range of bilateral and multilateral donors in support of effective humanitarian assistance interventions and
transitional initiatives. This is critical to the success of emergency efforts. Through interaction with its main implementing partners - private voluntary organizations (PVOs), UN agencies and Red Cross organizations, REDSO/ESA continues to play a key proactive coordination, communication and analytical role which results in maximized impact and more effective response to disasters and complex emergencies.
Beneficiaries: The direct beneficiaries are the multilateral and bilateral donors, and the non-government organizations (NGO) and PVO operational partners with which REDSO/ESA staff work. The ultimate beneficiaries will continue to be primarily the women and young children in the vulnerable groups that are threatened by both natural and man-made disasters.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Most interventions are carried out through USAID grants to United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees and the World Food Program, as well as international and indigenous NGOs.
Major Results Indicators:
Baseline Target
Reduction of the number of 16.6 million 8.9 million
east Africans at risk (FY 1994) (FY 1999)
Percentage of major 33% 100%
emergency food interventions (FY 1994) (FY 1999)
in which a joint needs
assessment is undertaken by
USAID and its implementing partner
Increased percentage of USAID 42.9% 60%
non-food resources in S. Sudan (FY 1995) (FY 1999)
allocated to recovery/rehabilitation
vs. emergency activities (for PVO
programs only, not UN activities)
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