The United States and Guinea sign grant agreements on local governance and health
Body
The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing more than $23 million in assistance to support the strengthening of local governance and health care system capacity in Guinea. The grant assistance will be used to support local governance, maternal and child health services and the fight against malaria.
Eliminating Malaria in Nigeria: Five ways the USAID’s ‘President’s Malaria Initiative for States’ is Making a Difference
Body
An estimated 76 percent of Nigeria’s population are at risk of malaria by living in high transmission areas. Nigeria accounts for 27 percent of malaria cases worldwide and the highest number of deaths (24 percent) due to malaria in 2019 (World Malaria Report, 2020).
Numbers Can Save Lives: Quality Data Helps Fight Malaria in Kenya
Body
Siaya County is tucked against Lake Victoria in Kenya’s Northeast. The sprawling body of water - Africa’s largest lake - is a source of livelihood for many inhabitants, but also provides the perfect living conditions for mosquitoes. Malaria is the leading cause of illness and death in Siaya. In 2020, 546 out of every 1,000 people in the county were infected with malaria, requiring approximately $1.63 million worth of medicine for treatment.
Women and Youth in Benin Organize Health Savings Funds to Access Malaria Treatment
Body
Louise Sambieni, a woman living in the village of Kountori, Atacora Department, Benin, was unable to afford the medicine she needed when she fell ill with malaria. Fortunately, as a member of the Tilyikna Women’s Group, an organization representing 50 women, Louise had somewhere to turn.
A Mobile App Helps Community Health Workers Lead Data Management Improvements in Benin
Body
For 40 years, community health workers (CHWs) have been at the forefront of Benin's community health strategy, and with the government's support, are now taking a greater lead in data management using regularly updated registers.
USAID builds stronger diagnostic laboratories in Guinea to fight against infectious diseases
Body
In 2018, when the nationwide foot-and-mouth disease outbreak began, Guinea did not have a functional veterinary lab. The outbreak devastated the Guinean livestock industry, resulting in major economic losses, including the Kankan region. Due to the inability to quickly diagnose the disease, the country lost over 10,000 animals due to sickness and death, amounting to $8 million in losses for the Guinean economy. The impact was hardest felt by the families of herders across the country, who saw their incomes decline and their source of livelihood threatened.
Community Health Communication and Care Help Reduce Malaria in Rural Guinea
Body
To ensure maximum uptake of malaria treatments, mass prevention strategies such as seasonal malaria chemoprevention campaigns (SMC) need to be well accepted by beneficiaries. Ensuring communities understand the basis for SMC and support its implementation is therefore essential. In the sub prefecture of Yembéring in the region of Labé in Middle Guinea, the USAID-funded StopPalu + activity uses sensitization meetings with local leaders, radio spots, and town announcers to disseminate relevant information during the malaria chemoprevention campaign. The activity also develops health communication messages and social and behavior change materials to inform the population in order to persuade them to get their children treated for malaria.
Sowing the Seeds of Future Prosperity
Body
Ask any farmer, and they’ll say this quote by B.C. Forbes, the founder of Forbes Magazine, is a truism – a way of life – not just a metaphor for how to live life. Prosperity comes to those who literally plant seeds.
Electricidade de Moçambique Increases Women’s Participation in the Power Sector
Body
Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) provides electricity to nearly 30 percent of Mozambique’s population. Only 18 percent of the utility’s 3,400 employees are women, and few work in technical, engineering, or leadership roles.
A Bright Future: Abobo-baoulé Community Members Transform A Vision Into A Sustainable Development Reality Plan
Body
In the heart of Abidjan, there’s a village of 4,000 people surrounded by green open spaces, trimmed lush landscapes, a pharmacy, health center and many other amenities that are not often found in a typical town.
Leading by example: transforming nutrition in Nampula
Body
What the young mother in Mecuburi was missing were some of the tools and basic nutritional facts that could help her consistently provide nutritious foods for them all.
Food for Thought: Raising Women Through Agriculture
Body
Why should women have a prominent role in Malawi’s agriculture future? According to Dr. Grace Kaudzu, Team Leader for the Seed Certification and Quality Control for the Ministry of Agriculture’s Seed Services Unit (SSU), the answer is simple.
Survivors of Gender-based Violence Start Businesses and Regain their Independence in Benin
Body
Justine lives near Porto-Novo, Benin’s capital. On a regular day, she is responsible for household chores and cares for her son, who has a learning disability. Without an income source of her own, she relied on her husband, who controlled the family’s finances and had acted violently towards her.
With Feed the Future Support, Delta State Adopts New Agricultural Policy
Body
Agriculture is the mainstay of Nigeria’s rural economy. However, the sector still faces myriad challenges. The sector struggles with a lack of proper legislation and weak enabling environment for agribusiness, limited access to appropriate financing options, poor commodity value chain networks, climate change and the environmental consequences of industrial activities.
Ambassador Michael McCarthy Stresses Importance of Agriculture to Liberia's Development
Body
Pledging U.S. support, Ambassador Michael McCarthy said he is convinced that Liberians "can build an agriculture sector that provides the basis for Liberia’s success on its journey to self-reliance."
Premature Babies Can Lead Long, Healthy Lives
Body
Dasash Guade was born prematurely at 32 weeks in Durbete hospital in Amhara region, after her mother, Alemayehu, was admitted to the hospital suffering from antepartum hemorrhage—a major cause of death among women and newborns in Ethiopia. Born at just 2 pounds -- or 0.9 kilograms -- Dasash’s young life was in imminent danger. Her organs were not fully developed and she could not breathe without assistance.
Balanced Diets, Healthier Children
Body
Misra Mohamed and Hassam Ahmed have been married for four years and have been blessed with two children--Hakima, their four-year-old daughter, and baby boy Zakir, who is just six months old. Like every mother, Misra wants nothing more in life than to help her children grow up to be strong and healthy so they are able to fulfill their dreams; and like every mother, she receives a lot of information on how to raise healthy children, whether it is neighborly advice from other mothers in the community, or from family members.
Strengthening Malaria Interventions in Benin During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Body
As COVID-19 began to spread in Benin, the Integrated Health Services Activity, led by Management Sciences for Health with support from USAID through the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, mobilized financial and technical support to Benin’s health zones.
Talking gender equality and health with Traditional Leaders in Eswatini
Body
Mr. Zidumo Mkhatshwa is the chairman of the community inner council of KuDvwaleni Chiefdom under Manzini North Inkhundla. He is the second in command from the chief. His role includes liaison with the chief and the inner council and he is always representing and acting on behalf of the chief on his absence.
Going above and Beyond to Fight HIV During COVID-19
Body
USAID is proud and excited to announce that the work done by six of its implementing partners during the COVID-19 pandemic was recognized as PEPFAR Heroes. The award recipients were honored on December 2 during a virtual World AIDS Day celebration with the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter.
“HIV Is Not a Death Sentence”: Helping Youths Live with HIV
Body
Lore, as he prefers to be called, was born HIV-positive. After his mother’s death, his older sister - ill of the same disease - raised him until she too died. She left him under the care of other siblings. Lore fell seriously ill at the age of 10 and tested positive for HIV. But his family was reluctant to inform him about his status, fearing the stigma he would be subjected to in school. After his schoolmates found his antiretroviral medication, they labeled him “the HIV boy.” “I almost quit school,” says Lore.
The Unbreakable Alimata Korogo
Body
A few years ago, Alimata Korogo, a hard-working mother of six, was struggling to make ends meet as a peanut farmer in the Centre-Nord region of Burkina Faso. She was chronically food insecure, illiterate, in poor health, and unable to escape indebtedness.
Regional Seed Trade Empowers Farmers and Bolsters Food Security
Body
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) continues to make progress toward regionalizing seed trade. In partnership with the USAID-funded Feed the Future Southern Africa Seed Trade Project, SADC Member States have pressed forward to align their national seed legislation with the SADC Harmonized Seed Regulatory System (HSRS), and in doing so, have created a unified regional standard for the production and export of high-quality seed.
Binta Yahaya Benefits from Improved Maize Seed Varieties and other Farm Inputs
Body
Binta Yahaya, a mother of four, is a maize smallholder farmer from Kaduna State. She has been growing maize for over 25 years using traditional farming methods. For several years, Binta and her neighbours complained that farming was not profitable. They also bought farm inputs such as maize seeds from the open market that were of low quality.