A nurse practitioner gives a tuberculosis vaccine shot to a patient. (File photo © AP Images)

U.S. Aid Programs Reach Out to Vulnerable Global Communities

Health, education results being achieved through multiyear efforts

Washington -- In a sweeping outline of U.S. development assistance prior to traveling to the G8 leaders meeting, President Bush May 31 announced new programs to boost educational and financial market opportunities in the world's poorest countries.

Development assistance, particularly in Africa, will be on the agenda when the leaders of the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Russia gather in Germany June 6-7.

The United States "is pursuing a clear strategy to bring progress and prosperity to struggling nations all across the world," Bush said in his speech at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Prior to the speech, the White House released a series of fact sheets that review U.S. foreign assistance.

FIGHTING DISEASE

U.S. foreign aid programs each year help save the lives of millions around the world and offer children and adults hope for the future.

Through its global health programs, the United States supports immunizations to prevent life-threatening childhood infections such as measles, tetanus and polio; treatments for people with diseases like diarrhea, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS; help for pregnant women facing high-mortality complications of pregnancy; and efforts to drastically reduce child malnutrition by boosting nutrients in U.S. food aid.

In 2006, the first year of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), 6 million people received prevention or treatment services. An additional 30 million are expected to receive services in 2007.  PMI is targeting its resources in 15 of the most-affected countries in Africa.

Through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), approximately 1.1 billion people in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean received anti-retroviral treatment. A five-year, $15 billion effort, PEPFAR is the largest international health initiative by one country to address a single disease. that commitment to $30 billion and reauthorize the program through 2013. Funding authority for the program now expires in September 2008. The largest contributor to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, PEPFAR includes support for research, prevention, counseling, testing and care for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

BOOSTING SKILLS

U.S. investments to expand access to quality education help prepare children and adults in developing countries to gain the skills they need to participate in their societies and economies.

For instance, the multiyear Africa Education Initiative is providing $300 million in support for teachers and students. In Zambia, for example, it trains teachers in girls' education, HIV/AIDS prevention, and nutrition and provides scholarships for disadvantaged girls.

Bush said he wants to increase the commitment to the program to $500 million.

He said the United States will establish a new after-school skills development program called Communities of Opportunity for young girls and boys and expand support for other new basic education activities.

In Rwanda, a U.S. public-private partnership involving U.S. universities is boosting management skills in coffee cooperatives.

And USAID is working in Kosovo, Rwanda, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia -– countries that have endured years of civil conflict and other crises –- to rebuild national education systems.

PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE

The United States is supporting programs that provide protection for women and children who often are subjected to violence and exploitation and in many places have no inheritance or property rights.

USAID-funded programs in Malawi and Ghana are helping teachers, school administrators and community members learn how to protect children from abuse, including helping schools improve teacher codes of conduct.

The U.S. government also is implementing pilot shelter programs in Ecuador and Cambodia to help victims of trafficking and working to improve criminal justice systems so perpetrators of crimes against women and children are penalized and the short- and long-term needs of abuse survivors are addressed.  In Albania, the United States is providing funding to combat the exploitation of ethnic minority children.

LINKING AID TO REFORMS

Since its creation in 2004, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has encouraged policy reforms that will enhance development by linking assistance to such reforms.

The MCC has approved nearly $3 billion to help 11 countries that meet its selection criteria. The funds go to country-developed projects aimed at reducing poverty and expanding economic growth. An additional 13 countries have been awarded $310 million in MCC support to improve specific areas of policy weakness.

OTHER ECONOMIC SUPPORT FOR THE POOR

Bush said the United States is launching a new Africa Financial Sector Initiative to provide technical assistance to help African countries strengthen their financial markets.

The initiative, which will be administered by the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), will work with the financial community to create several new private equity funds that will mobilize up to $1 billion of additional private investment in Africa, he said.

OPIC currently is providing more than $2 billion in support for investment funds in Africa and Central America.

OPIC funds provide the financing and political risk insurance critical to securing capital investments in telecommunications, energy, transportation and agriculture. These guarantees also have allowed the creation of several investment funds in Africa that support rural development and women-owned businesses. 

USAID also is encouraging the development of small businesses by supporting financial institutions that provide microfinance to poor households.

In another effort, the United States has launched an aggressive global response to the avian influenza threat by helping countries plan to prevent and contain outbreaks.

See also "Bush Outlines U.S. Development Agenda Before G8 Summit."

For more information see U.S. Aid to Africa and Trade and Economic Development.