19 May 2009

American Giving Around the World

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Assistance from the U.S. government and its partners helps other nations in times of crisis and offers long-term programs to encourage just governance, investment in people and expansion of economic freedom.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

• President Obama is asking Congress to double to $1 billion the amount of U.S. financial support for international food aid and agricultural development.

• The United States is providing more than $5.5 billion to fight global hunger in 2008 and 2009.

• Since 2005, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $543 million to support pandemic prevention and preparedness programs around the world.

• Since 1986, USAID has contributed more than $7 billion to fight HIV/AIDS around the world.

• The United States has funded fistula surgery for 10,000 women in developing countries since 2005. This type of fistula is a devastating vaginal injury caused by prolonged, obstructed labor.

• The United States is the world’s largest contributor to the United Nations and to multilateral development banks.

WESTERN HEMISPHRE

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contributed $208 million to promote peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2008.

• More than 3,000 women in Colombia have received training in managing a political party with support from USAID.

• USAID helped women in Bolivia to draft a law to combat violence against female politicians with the aim of encouraging women to run for elected office.

• USAID supports a $50 million higher-education scholarship and training program for the Latin America and Caribbean region through 2013.

EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

In collaboration with health ministries in Asia-Pacific countries, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) opened the region’s first model center focusing on the prevention and control of multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Manila, Philippines. The center provides quality technical assistance and training for health experts and national tuberculosis programs.

• USAID collaborated with MTV to produce a television special about human trafficking that reached 560 million people throughout Asia.

• In Indonesia, USAID programs have helped create surveillance and response teams in 165 high-risk districts to find and contain outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry.

• USAID has helped more than 28,000 former combatants in Mindanao, Philippines, gain job skills to help them reintegrate into their communities.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are supporting the Cereals Systems Initiative for South Asia to help more than 6 million small farmers achieve significant cereal yield increases by 2018.

• In 2009, the United States is contributing $27.5 million in aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan to help those countries develop their agricultural sectors.

• In 2008, USAID arranged nearly 70,000 loans for women-owned enterprises in Afghanistan.

• USAID-supported programs enabled 190,000 girls and women in Afghanistan to acquire reading, counting and other basic skills.

• With USAID support, the popular television series Sesame Street is providing pre-school education programs in Bangladesh, with episodes showcasing women as engineers, doctors and pilots.

• To raise awareness of the growing number of trafficked persons from Uzbekistan, USAID developed informational materials for distribution in migrant labor camps in neighboring Kazakhstan. USAID also supports a hot line to report suspected trafficking activities.

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

• Between 2006 and 2008, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) nearly tripled the number of public-private partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa. Partnerships include programs in youth leadership, safe water and coffee export promotion.

• USAID programs have upgraded Egypt’s infrastructure, including water, sewage, power, rail, telecommunications, grain storage and port systems.

• By summer 2009, USAID aims to have supported the training of 20,000 Iraqi civil servants in public administration.

• USAID contributed to increasing the proportion of women in Jordan’s judicial diploma program from 4.4 percent in 2004 to 46 percent in 2008.

• In 2008, a USAID-supported program provided safe dormitories for nearly 17,000 Moroccan students, the vast majority of whom are girls.

AFRICA

• Through the five-year, $1.2 billion President’s Malaria Initiative, the United States is helping to reduce malaria in Africa. The program began in 2005.

• About half of the teachers and school administrators in Senegal are now women, thanks to programs supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

• USAID's Safe Schools programs in Ghana and Malawi provided training for teachers, students and community counselors, resulting in more than 30,000 students having safer school environments.

• In Rwanda, USAID promoted a policy to make land ownership rights more equitable for women and men, and trained parliamentarians to interpret land-ownership law fairly. This has been particularly helpful for women displaced or widowed by conflict.

• In Uganda, USAID helped parliamentarians pass an anti-trafficking law.

EUROPE

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Russia is working with Johnson & Johnson Services Incorporated and HealthRight International to prevent the spread of HIV among street children and other vulnerable youth in St. Petersburg.

• USAID supported an election monitoring project in Albania aimed at achieving a more transparent electoral process through nonpartisan observation.

• USAID helps Roma students in Macedonia improve their academic performance and school attendance.

• In Serbia, USAID has partnered with Cisco Systems Incorporated and the University of Novi Sad to establish the country’s first CISCO Training Institute.

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