In the past month, USAID has started multiple projects around the world to help benefit different countries in different ways. This article will outline three of the projects USAID has undertaken recently; but certainly they are not all the projects that are currently going on in USAID. Indeed, they merely represent a small percentage of all the good that USAID has been doing.
The first project to highlight is a USAID photo exhibition that was shown in Hyderabad. Hyderabad is located in Pakistan, one of the many developing countries in today’s world. The photo exhibition was inaugurated at Hyderabad on April 25th, 2013, and ran until April 27th. This exhibition was free of charge to the public, and was located at Isra University. This exhibition was meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of USAID’s partnership with Pakistan. It represented the five decades that have been spent working in partnership with Pakistan to better the country in any way possible. Michael Dodman opened the exhibition, and he is the United States Consul General, Karachi. Consul General Dodman has said that Americans and Pakistanis have been working together for half a century to create a better future and to continue a positive partnership in the upcoming years. America is committed to respect Pakistan and to help its development in any way possible.
USAID has also helped Sindh, one of the Pakistani provinces. USAID has built important establishments like schools and hospitals, and has helped women become more equal in society. This photo exhibition represents the United States’ commitment to continue helping Pakistan through programs that cover energy, education, economic development, and health care. The showcase itself is a multi-media display of all the initiatives that USAID is currently supporting within Pakistan, and what they have supported and prioritized in the past fifty years, including the initiative to help women receive National Identity Cards in order to participate in civic life.
The second program is the “Camel Milk Project” in Ethiopia. The Camel Milk Value Chair Development Project was launched in Fafan Village in eastern Ethiopia. The point of this project is to support smallholder livestock keepers, in order to help them remain viable and to promote growth and togetherness. It will reach up to 50,000 livestock keepers. It is part of a larger initiative in Ethiopia implemented by USAID titled “Feed the Future;” it is meant to help feed Ethiopia through its own farmers. USAID wishes to help Ethiopia provide for itself, rather than relying on outside sources for food. If farmers within Ethiopia can provide for the entire country, it will help the country grow and develop, and will end in an increase in profit. The project will increase camel productivity to improve the camel milk production, which will arrive at markets and help the farmers maintain a livelihood. Abdifatah Mohamud Hassan, the Vice President, supports the project because it increases the wealth of the pastoralists (smallholder livestock keepers, particularly of camels).
The last initiative of USAID is a funding of computer gear for FATA Secretariat, located between Pakistan and Afghanistan. FATA stands for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It is a region officially governed by Pakistan, but it borders Afghanistan. USAID has recently donated computers to this region in order to stimulate growth and to help them develop their technology. The new equipment donated to FATA will also help the use of the ZMIS, or the Zakat & Ushr Management Information System. Hopefully, this donation will help strengthen FATA as well as Pakistan.
Overall, these three initiatives support Ethiopia and Pakistan, but many other programs are occurring around the world. The United States is helping the world progress, and helping third world countries develop. It is doing as much good as possible given its budget, and will continue to do so in the future.
– Corina Balsamo
Source: Business Recorder, Bernama, The News
Photo: University of Minnesota