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
FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 Actuals Estimate Request Development Assistance.............. $35,280,000 $35,550,000 $42,180,000 Child Survival and Disease.......... $5,606,000 $17,202,000 $15,072,000 Economic Support Funds................ $12,000,000 $14,000,000 $23,000,000 International Narcotics Control Funds $2,000,000 $2,000,000 $2,000,000
Introduction
At the Miami Summit of the Americas in 1994, the U.S. launched a major cooperative effort to address the pressing problems of the region: poverty, weaknesses in basic education, democratic governance, environmental dangers and the continuing challenge of regional economic integration. The Summit and USAID's LAC Regional program support and reinforce key U.S. national interests in the LAC region, such as promoting broad-based economic growth, increased adherence to democratic practices and respect for human rights, securing a sustainable global environment, stabilizing world population growth, and protecting human health, including control of infectious diseases. The results have been significant--per capita income in the region has increased as have productivity and investment. Since 1990, there have been more local officials elected in Latin America than in the preceding 200 years. Polio has been eradicated from this hemisphere, and measles--the primary vaccine preventable killer of infants and young children--has been reduced dramatically since 1990. Each year, more of the region's biodiversity in key ecosystems is being protected. The second Summit of the Americas, scheduled for April 1998, provides an opportunity to chart a course toward even greater sustainable growth and more solid democratic institutions.
The Development Challenge
Persistent poverty, inequity and social instability threaten many of the achievements which governments throughout the hemisphere are so rightly proud. Absent measures to improve income distribution and increase growth, for example, it will take thirty years to achieve the Summit objective of reducing regional poverty by half. Certain measures have been shown to improve the distribution of income, and, at the same time, promote growth. These are: improvement in the coverage and quality of basic education and health services; greater access to financial services by the poor; and access by the poor to secure and marketable land titles at reasonable cost. The above measures are highly complementary to democracy and governance reforms that we are already supporting, such as strengthening of the judicial system, bolstering the roles of local government, and a more vibrant civil society. Hemispheric initiatives to conserve the natural resource base and to introduce clean production technologies, both of which are integral to progress towards the Global Climate Change goals of the Administration, are also critical to ensuring lasting benefits from the positive changes now occurring in the region.
The Miami Summit of the Americas called for universal access to education and a 100% primary completion rate by 2010. Although overall enrollment in basic education in the region is now quite high, quality in many areas remains low, with high repetition rates leading to many poor students, especially indigenous and female students, not completing primary school. Needed reforms include: curriculum reform; improved teacher training; improved standards and testing; increased funding for textbooks and supplies; and accountability and increased parental involvement in schooling. Over the past 12 months, the LAC Regional program has sponsored a series of events that have helped crystalize the debate on critical policy reforms for the region. As a result, attention to national standards and assessment is a key feature of the education action plan being prepared for the Santiago Summit. In addition, awareness of the importance of linking education budgets to learning outcomes
is growing. A regional conference is planned to bring together Ministers of Finance and Planning as well as Ministers of Education to focus on finance issues in this sector.
Microenterprise has been identified as a key tool to achieve the Summit goal of reducing poverty in the region by one-half. The past five years have seen a major increase in the capacity of microenterprise NGOs to mobilize resources and make loans. The LAC Regional program will join efforts with the IDB to expand the number of microentrepreneurs (estimated to be 50 million) by strengthening the capacity of lending institutions to mobilize capital and deliver financial services to the poor. Expanded legal access of the rural and urban poor to land and property is also an essential element, in the short term, for greater participation and equality of opportunity for the poor in a market economy. The LAC Regional program provided assistance to indigenous groups to enable them to negotiate secure land title and use rights with resource extraction concessionaires operating near their lands. This activity has developed a model for minimizing latent conflicts associated with increased economic activity in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples.
Trade-induced economic expansion is a key factor for improving living standards, sustained growth and political stability in the LAC region. Negotiations of a Free Trade Area of the Americas will be launched at the Santiago Summit. As smaller economies face substantial obstacles in joining a hemispheric free trade arrangement, program initiatives that support economic integration will focus on improving the capacity of these economies to participate. In this regard, the LAC Regional program has already taken steps to improve the capacity of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce to assist its members to take advantage of economic integration trends affecting the region.
The first Summit of the Americas reaffirmed that representative democracy is indispensable for the stability, peace and development of the region. Over the past year, the LAC Regional program has contributed significantly to the trend toward deepening democracy through the region. In response to the growing devolution of authority to local governments in Latin America, the program has worked with other donors within the Summit process to develop a new democratic local governance program. To build on the growing strength and activism of civil society groups, the Inter-American Democracy Network has provided technical assistance and training to over 80 civil society organizations in the region. In the area of justice and human rights, a strategic review of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, the premier human rights training institution in the hemisphere, led to a new orientation towards women's rights as human rights. The fourth RESPONDACON conference, an important forum for highlighting anti-corruption efforts in the hemisphere, was, again this year, extremely well received in the region.
The Miami Summit affirmed the view that social progress and economic prosperity of the hemisphere can be achieved only if its citizens live in a healthy environment and the natural resources are managed carefully and responsibly. The LAC Regional program has taken the lead in forging a hemispheric-wide "partnership for biodiversity." Through the Parks in Peril program, park protection has been greatly improved at 28 globally significant sites in 12 countries, covering over 22 million acres. In FY 1997, the activity also leveraged over $3.4 million in non-USAID funding for park protection, greatly strengthened 14 local NGOs, and improved local policies which improved conservation efforts. A similar partnership to promote pollution prevention and sustainable energy was established at the Miami Summit. Regional activities have supported policies and regulatory frameworks to encourage pollution prevention, energy efficiency and economic incentives to adopting clean production technologies, with special emphasis on the transfer of U.S.- based environmental services and technologies.
Despite impressive gains in the hemisphere, limited access and poor quality of health services have resulted in persistently high child and maternal mortality. Interventions critical to addressing these problems include use of low-cost sustainable technologies in order that all segments of the population have access to quality health care. These technologies include the further development of vaccines and increased availability of essential drugs as well as health care reform aimed at improving the quality of care and at focusing public resources on the most critical health needs of the population. LAC
Regional programs promote the Summit objectives through support of alternative financing schemes, quality assurance and greater use of NGOs and community-based services for the poor. Increasing effective delivery of these services will help ensure that all countries in the hemisphere make significant progress towards the Summit goals of reducing child mortality by one-third and maternal mortality by one-half of the 1990 levels. In collaboration with the World Bank and the IDB, several countries in the hemisphere have agreed on standards for national health accounts and initiated analysis of health spending regardless of source. In addition, six of the eight sustainable development target countries in the region adopted new health delivery plans that will focus on increasing access of the poor to basic health care. Lastly, vaccination coverage continued to rise and has now reached over 80% in all countries, except for Guatemala and Haiti.
Other Donors
Much regional donor coordination centers around the hemispheric organizations charged with the implementation of the Summit of the Americas agenda. Most notable is our collaboration with: the Organization of American States (OAS) on human rights and anti-corruption initiatives, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on vaccinations, maternal mortality, and health reform programs, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on local government and microenterprise actiivities. One notable example is the Parks in Peril Program, which since 1991 and with a USAID investment to date of $27.5 million has leveraged $122.2 million from such sources as the Japanese, the European Community, the multilateral banks and local governments. The Regional program also consults closely with the World Bank and the European Union as part of the Working Group on Democracy in Latin America and the New Transantlantic Agenda, and with Japan in the context of the Common Agenda.
The FY 1999 Program
The LAC Regional program will continue to advance U.S. foreign policy interests by directly supporting the Summit of the Americas agenda of improving education, preserving and strengthening democracy and human rights, promoting economic integration and free trade, and eradicating poverty and discrimination. As active participants in the development of the action items for the Summit, LAC regional activities in FY 1999 will be geared to the implementation of the Plan of Action which will emerge from the Santiago meeting. Effective collaboration with our partners in the hemisphere as well as with the IDB, the World Bank and other donors is essential to the success of our efforts.
Agency Goal: Human Capacity Built through Education and Training
In the area of education, more attention will be given to providing local communities with greater control and responsibility for the education of their children. Support for civic organizations that can advocate for policy reforms, such as quality, equity, governance and finance, will be the primary vehicle for the implementation of regional activities.
Agency Goal: Broad-Based Economic Growth and Agricultural Development Encouraged
In microenterprise, the LAC Regional program will formalize a technical cooperation program with the IDB that will improve the capacity of NGOs engaged in microfinance to mobilize capital and expand their programs to underserved areas. The Regional program will also work with the IDB and the World Bank to ensure that their land titling programs incorporate the special needs of poor and indigenous communities providing both groups with secure title to their land and the incentive to make productive investments in these properties. Work will also be done with other U.S. agencies, such as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce, to enable smaller economies to comply with World Trade Organization obligations and expand trade with their neighbors in the hemisphere.
Agency Goal: The World's Environment Protected for Long-Term Sustainability
In the environment, the Parks in Peril program will emphasize improved park management, NGO strengthening and self sufficiency, compatible economic development activities, and targeted policy interventions to improve conservation. Four additional sites, covering almost five million acres, will graduate from USAID assistance, and eight new sites will be included in the program. The LAC Regional program will also be seeking opportunities to introduce U.S. energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in the region.
Agency Goal: World Population Stabilized and Human Health Protected
In the PHN area, increased attention will be given to countries with the lowest vaccination coverage rates to bring their levels up to 90% and 95% for measles vaccine, to move closer to eliminating this child-killer from the hemisphere. In conjunction with PAHO, data collection instruments to measure health reform and its effects on equity of access will be defined and monitoring initiated.
Agency Goal: Democracy and Good Governance Strengthened
In democracy, the LAC Regional program will continue to work on Summit planning and help develop and implement programs derived from its Principles and Plan of Action. Chief among them will be a new justice activity to support a Summit initiative to strengthen professionalization of judges throughout the hemisphere, with increased emphasis on the networking of educational and training institutions. The Regional program will also seek to strengthen institutions and networks that provide training and assistance to new local officials, particularly in areas of high priority such as accountability and transparency, public security, sectoral service provision, and effective governance.
LAC REGIONAL FY 1999 PROGRAM SUMMARY
($000s)
USAID
Strategic and Special
ObjectivesEconomic Growth and Agriculture Population and Health Environ-ment Democracy Human Capacity Develop-ment Human-itarian Assistance
TotalS.O. 1
Resolving key market issues impeding envi-ronmentally-sound, equi-table free trade in hemisphere
- DA
- ESF
3,680
700
3,680
700S.O. 2
Improved human re-source policies adopted
- CSD
1,400
1,400
S.O. 3
Delivery of selected health services/policy interventions
- CSD
4,672
4,672
S.O. 4
Parks and reserves important to conserve the hemisphere's biological diversity
- DA
4,500
4,500
S.O. 5
Strengthened regional trends that deepen democracy
- DA
- ESF
- INC
7,000
19,300
2,000
7,000
19,300
2,000S.O. 6
Potential lead-ers equipped with technical skills, training and academic education
- DA
- CSD
6,000
2,000
2,000
6,000
4,000SpO. 1
Promotion of Peaceful Transition to Democracy in Cuba
- ESF
3,000
3,000
Support to Micro-
enterprise
- DA
6,000
6,000
Presidential Summit Initiative
- DA
- CSD
15,000
5,000
15,000
5,000Totals
- DA
- CSD
- ESF
- INC
30,680
700
6,672
4,500
7,000
22,300
2,000
8,400
42,180
15,072
23,000
2,000
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