There are 33.3 million internally displaced people worldwide as of 2013 according to The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) in a report released mid-May.
The Global Overview 2014: people internally displaced by conflict and violence, the IDMC’s flagship annual report, was launched at an event co-organized by the IDMC, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
The IDMC has been monitoring internal displacement figures since the late 90’s. The current numbers show 8.1 million newly displaced people in 2013, up 1.8 million from 2012.
Displacement occurs heavily in areas experiencing extreme conflict and violence, leaving the most unstable countries with the highest population of displaced people. Figures from the IDMC show the rankings of these areas as follows:
Countries with the largest displacement related to conflict and violence
- Syria (6.5 million)
- Columbia (5.7 million)
- Nigeria (3.3 million)
- DRC (2.9 million)
- Sudan (2.4 million)
- Iraq (2.1 million)
- Somalia (1.1 million)
As seen, 63 percent of the total displacement numbers come from Syria, Columbia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. Syria passed Columbia as having the most internally displaced people (IDPs) last year and accounts for almost half of new displacements in 2013.
However, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region containing the highest number of internally displaced people since 2003. “These numbers show why it’s so vitally important that the international response to Syria should not be at the expense of displaced people in Africa or elsewhere,” says Antonio Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees.
Currently, 12.5 million people are internally displaced in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a 55 percent increase in new displacements in the region from the previous year. The most problematic areas are the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Aside from being forced to migrate from their homes, IDPs suffer various health issues associated with the move as well. Displacement camps are often militarized and lack inadequate shelter. Proper health treatment is often inaccessible while living conditions are unsanitary.
Continuing conflict also makes it difficult for governments and humanitarians in the field to deliver aid. Conditions are so bad that the average displacement time for affected people is now 17 years, according to Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“We have a shared responsibility to act to end this massive suffering,” urges Guterres, “Immediate protection and assistance for the internally displaced is a humanitarian imperative.”
A promising sign for positive change comes with the African Union’s Kampala Convention, the world’s first international treaty that legally binds states to assisting and protecting their IDPs. Five additional countries signed on this year alone.
The fact that internal displacement is an upward trend reveals an inherent flaw in the way the issue is being addressed. Comprehensive reform on the local, national and international approach is now being discussed as efforts increase to resolve the IDP crisis.
– Edward Heinrich
Sources: Internal-Displacement,Algazeera,The Chicago Citizen
Photo: FT Photo Diary
Continuing the Cold Chain
According to sociologist Johan Galtung, structural violence occurs when there is a difference between actual reality versus potential reality. If the actual reality is unavoidable, then no violence is present. If the actual state of affairs is avoidable, then violence is present. Today, vaccines exist to prevent diseases such as measles, diphtheria, polio and tuberculosis, yet 2 million people from all over the world die annually from these conditions.
These deaths are not the result of a vaccine shortage, but rather are due to the inability to properly store the vaccines. In order to effectively prevent disease, vaccines need to be stored at very specific temperatures, controlled through refrigeration, from the time they are manufactured to the time of injection. This is typically described as the cold chain, and is difficult to maintain when traveling to more remote regions.
In an attempt to eradicate the structural violence, and in response to an outraged Sean Penn following the death of Oriel, a 15-year-old Haitian boy, by diphtheria, Harvey Rubin, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Pennsylvania, sought to address the problem. Rubin realized how prevalent cell phone towers were around the world and because in developing nations there are often blackouts, telephone companies often provide their own sources of power. After consulting engineer and mathematician Ali Jadbabaie, the two discovered that the power generated from these cell phone towers would be enough to power a refrigerator that could store vaccines. Moreover, the high frequency with which cell towers are distributed provides a chance to prevent the cold chain from breaking. Through delegating responsibilities to a larger team, spearheaded by undergraduate student Alice Conant, their efforts resulted in creating the nonprofit organization Energize the Chain.
Energize the Chain aims to form secure relationships with cell phone companies in order to increase the correlation between the number of cell towers in a given region and the successful preservation of the cold chain. They launched one of their first major projects in Zimbabwe in 2011. By pairing with cell phone company Econet Wireless, they were able to boost the number of viable vaccines that were distributed to 10 villages in Zimbabwe. Additionally, after partnering with the National Healthcare Trust of Zimbabwe, Energize the Chain was able to issue refrigerators that could stay cold for up to 10 days without power in order to maintain the precise temperature of the vaccines. There are currently 110 working sites in Zimbabwe and by December of this year Energize the Chain expects to install 100 more working sites.
By supplying these refrigerators to more rural regions of Zimbabwe, the partnership between Energize the Chain, Econet Wireless and the National Healthcare Trust of Zimbabwe provides greater accessibility to working vaccines. Moreover, the success in Zimbabwe provides the promise for expanding the program to other regions where high mortality rates are caused by an inability to receive necessary, lifesaving vaccinations.
– Jordyn Horowitz
Sources: Philly, Energize The Chain, Econet Wireless, JPR
Photo: All Africa
Malnutrition in Cambodia
After many decades of economic struggle and vicious civil strife Cambodia is slowly working toward becoming an advanced society with a robust economy.
Cambodia is a colorful and richly cultural society that has contributed pricelessly to the Asian and Buddhist realms, among countless others. Despite its encouraging contemporary development, there are still drastically high levels of malnutrition in Cambodia, as in many developing countries.
For those unfamiliar with this nation, some descriptive information may help to place it in perspective. Cambodia is referred to as the Kingdom of Cambodia. It is in Southeast Asia and is located in the southern area of the Indochina Peninsula. It is surrounded by Thailand to the northeast, Laos to the northwest and is largely bordered by Vietnam in its southern and eastern regions. Its national language is Khmer, and its officially recognized religion is Theravada Buddhism.
Cambodia’s incremental progress is and has been significant. Since 2004, its poverty rate has decreased by 5 percent every consecutive three years. Additionally, the population statistics on most “key health indicators” have improved dramatically over recent decades. At the same time, however, sizeable segments of its population still suffer from gross malnutrition, and the population’s average life expectancy is 58 and 64 years for men and women, respectively.
According to the United Nations World Food Programme data, 18 percent of the population lives under the food poverty line. The child population is alarmingly more afflicted; about 40 percent of Cambodian children suffer from chronic malnutrition and stunted development consequent of nutrient deficiency. This is a troublingly high statistic that begs attention and effective, long-term solutions.
Though Cambodia primarily exports high volumes of paddy rice produced at a surplus, the U.N. reports that extremely high poverty rates and inaccessibility to nutritious food are responsible for this widespread malnutrition. Natural disasters such as droughts and occasional flooding additionally contribute unfavorable and sometimes devastating circumstances for residences and agricultural production.
The population’s alarmingly high malnutrition rates are currently being addressed by the U.N., which provides assistance, local food education and attempts to formulate and implement more long-term food security and production infrastructure.
– Ariel Swett
Sources: WFP, UNICEF
Photo: Flickr
Polio Revisited
The date is August 24. The year is 1960. A vaccine for polio is licensed for use in the United States for the first time. Nineteen years later, after a widespread campaign for immunization, the disease is completely eliminated from the U.S.
The year is 1988. The United Nation’s World Health Assembly has launched a campaign to eradicate polio globally. During that year there were 350,000 cases of polio. By 2012, that number dropped to 223. It was a disease that scourged millions. For the first time since the eradication of small pox, we had the power to eradicate a disease from the entire planet that has affected human beings, sometimes leading to paralysis and death, for thousands of years.
Despite a few sporadic cases elsewhere, the disease was mostly contained to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. However, in 2013, two years into the Syrian Civil War, polio reappeared in Syria for the first time in 15 years. And now, for the first time since before mass vaccination efforts began, the disease is now gaining ground.
Recording an exact number of cases is tricky, particularly in a war zone, but several sources on the ground in Syria place the number above 100. The World Health Organization has taken a more conservative stance at around 25, but any number of cases could have devastating global consequences.
Polio spreads rapidly, but most who contract it never show any symptoms. Instead, they remain carriers for the duration that the disease incubates in their body. Therefore, doctors suggest that for every one symptomatic case, there could be 200 people infected.
Some estimates are much higher. With that in mind, we don’t need exact numbers to know that any number of new documented polio cases is a threat.
According to the U.N., during the course of the Syrian Civil War approximately 2.5 million refugees have fled Syria to neighboring countries. These countries are mainly Syria’s immediate neighbors; Turkey, Iraq, Jordon and Lebanon. With so many people fleeing Syria, polio could spread with them, and what was once a national crisis could become a regional one in much the same way the war itself has spread to other countries.
And in a world as globalized as ours, the potential impact of this resurgence could reverberate to the U.S.
This scenario is an immediate and physical example of how what happens outside our borders and across oceans has a direct impact on American lives. In times of war, formerly robust food and medical facilities often shut down, sometimes as collateral damage, at other times as a means to intentionally damage an enemy. But under any circumstances, when disease spreads, nobody wins. The year is 2014, and we are now in danger of revisiting a disease that we came within the final steps of eradicating a few short years ago.
– Julian Mostachetti
Sources: ABC News(1), ABC News(2), BBC, The History of Vaccines, Migration Policy Centre, New York Books
Photo: Tribune
10 Photos of US Foreign Aid in Action
In theory, foreign aid is a great concept that many citizens support in the United States. But how often do we actually get to see our heart-felt donations, activism and support of U.S. foreign aid in action? Here’s to all of you who want to see some concrete results of your efforts. All of the work and investment going into U.S. foreign policy is making a difference, and here are some real life examples to prove it!
1. U.S. Actor, Matt Damon, and Haitian Singer, Wyclef Jean, Distribute U.S. Food Aid to Haitian Flood Victims
2. USAID’s Nutrition Programs
3. Haitians Waving to a Departing U.S. Helicopter After Delivering Food and Water to Port au Prince
4. USAID’s Decrease in Maternal Mortality Rates
5. USAID Funds’ Replacement of 187 CDA Tubewell Pumps in Islamabad, Pakistan
6. USAID‘s Female Health Workers
7. USAID Delivers Deworming Medication to Kindergartners in Nam Dinh Province, Vietnam
8. USAID’s Increases in Life Expectancy and Decreases in Maternal & Child Mortality Rates
9. Emergency Food Distribution by USAID in Agok, Sudan
10. USAID’s Tropical Disease Treatments
Photo: USAID Flickr Slideshow , U.N. , Flickr
Feed the Future Initiative Saves Millions
A new report released by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) claims the Feed the Future program has bettered the lives of millions of people who suffer from poverty and chronic hunger. In 2013, Feed the Future reached 7 million farmers, teaching them how to achieve a higher crop yield by using new technologies, and provided vital nutrition to 12.5 million malnourished children.
The program, which is the U.S. government’s global health and food security initiative, was established by the Obama Administration in 2010 and aims to reduce extreme poverty and starvation around the world. Feed the Future asserts hunger and poverty are inextricably linked and cyclical, and breaking this cycle will promote global prosperity and stability. Currently, the initiative focuses on 19 countries, which were selected based on level of need, opportunity for partnership, potential for agricultural growth, opportunity for regional synergy and resource availability. These countries are located in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Feed the Future is led by USAID, and works alongside other federal agencies, including such organizations as the Peace Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the U.S. African Development Foundation, to achieve its goal of reducing poverty and hunger by at least 20 percent in each area that the program is established.
In order to break the poverty cycle, the program establishes important relationships with impoverished countries to strengthen their agricultural growth, empower women, educate people on proper nutrition and eco-friendly farming and create partnerships between the private sector, civil society and research community. By working on the ground, Feed the Future has made real, tangible progress.
Countries where Feed the Future has achieved the most success are Senegal, Bangladesh and Honduras. In Senegal, dependence on food imports has fallen significantly, specifically in regard to rice. The country’s rice imports have fallen by more than 20 percent and the country has grown enough rice to feed 400,000 Senegalese for one year. In Bangladesh, rice crop yields increased by 20 percent, and in Honduras, horticulture sales increased by 125 percent, which enabled more than 4,300 families to move above the poverty line of $1.25 a day.
In addition to these advancements, Feed the Future has also brought in billions of dollars of fundraising. For agricultural progress in African countries alone, $7 billion in private sector funds were raised. The organization also holds events, such as symposiums and summit meetings, to educate audience members on different branches of the initiative, and meet with world leaders to discuss further advancements of Feed the Future.
According to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, Feed the Future is not only “pioneering a new model of development,” but “delivering results that are changing the face of poverty and hunger.” The full progress report released by USAID can be found here.
– Taylor Lovett
Sources: All Africa, Feed the Future, The New York Times
33.3 Million Internally Displaced People in 2013
There are 33.3 million internally displaced people worldwide as of 2013 according to The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) in a report released mid-May.
The Global Overview 2014: people internally displaced by conflict and violence, the IDMC’s flagship annual report, was launched at an event co-organized by the IDMC, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
The IDMC has been monitoring internal displacement figures since the late 90’s. The current numbers show 8.1 million newly displaced people in 2013, up 1.8 million from 2012.
Displacement occurs heavily in areas experiencing extreme conflict and violence, leaving the most unstable countries with the highest population of displaced people. Figures from the IDMC show the rankings of these areas as follows:
Countries with the largest displacement related to conflict and violence
As seen, 63 percent of the total displacement numbers come from Syria, Columbia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. Syria passed Columbia as having the most internally displaced people (IDPs) last year and accounts for almost half of new displacements in 2013.
However, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region containing the highest number of internally displaced people since 2003. “These numbers show why it’s so vitally important that the international response to Syria should not be at the expense of displaced people in Africa or elsewhere,” says Antonio Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees.
Currently, 12.5 million people are internally displaced in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a 55 percent increase in new displacements in the region from the previous year. The most problematic areas are the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Aside from being forced to migrate from their homes, IDPs suffer various health issues associated with the move as well. Displacement camps are often militarized and lack inadequate shelter. Proper health treatment is often inaccessible while living conditions are unsanitary.
Continuing conflict also makes it difficult for governments and humanitarians in the field to deliver aid. Conditions are so bad that the average displacement time for affected people is now 17 years, according to Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“We have a shared responsibility to act to end this massive suffering,” urges Guterres, “Immediate protection and assistance for the internally displaced is a humanitarian imperative.”
A promising sign for positive change comes with the African Union’s Kampala Convention, the world’s first international treaty that legally binds states to assisting and protecting their IDPs. Five additional countries signed on this year alone.
The fact that internal displacement is an upward trend reveals an inherent flaw in the way the issue is being addressed. Comprehensive reform on the local, national and international approach is now being discussed as efforts increase to resolve the IDP crisis.
– Edward Heinrich
Sources: Internal-Displacement,Algazeera,The Chicago Citizen
Photo: FT Photo Diary
Brazilian Street Art Reveals Injustice, Calls for Change
Street art can be one of the strongest forms of protest. It has the power to reveal complex issues on any urban surface. It is not afraid to look at themes that are far from beautiful. It touches at the ugly and the unjust. It is omnipresent, shouting its message at passersby as they rush through the streets.
The graceless, ungainly entrance of FIFA’s 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics into the daily fabric of impoverished Brazilians’ lives has projected, on an international scale, the deep-rooted inequalities ailing the giant South American nation. In this climate, several street artists’ images have emerged as honest, indignant reflections of the reality faced by the poorest Brazilians.
Paulo Ito
Paulo Ito’s wailing child with only a soccer ball to eat has quickly gone viral as an anti-FIFA icon since May 10, when the artist painted the image on the doors of a São Paulo schoolhouse. Ito consciously created the work in the Pompeia district, which is mostly a middle class area. In an interview with Slate, Ito discussed the thought that must go into the placement of street art. He initially wanted to create the mural outside of the Itaquerão Stadium that will hold 70,000 soccer fans at the World Cup opener in the second week of June. Yet Ito decided it is best to avoid placing charged images in poverty-stricken areas where people are already so intimately familiar with the reality he seeks to express in his art.
Ito’s piece critiques the state of Brazilian society. Funding for health care, public transportation and education have been crowded out by the billions of dollars the government in Brasilia is pouring into the two mega sporting events. An increase in transportation fares last year was met by massive protests throughout the country’s subways and bus stations. Many Brazilians are furious.
Ito, when asked about his painting, explained “people already have the feeling and that image condensed this feeling…The truth is there is so much wrong in Brazil that it is difficult to know where to start. I didn’t mean [to say] nobody is doing anything against poverty. But we need to show the world or ourselves that the situation is still not good.”
Haas&Hahn
Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn (Haas&Hahn) of the Netherlands have been working on their Favela Painting project for close to 10 years. Their goal is to paint an entire favela in Rio de Janeiro in order to shift the discussion of Brazilian favelas from perceptions of danger, crime and poverty, to a discovery of vibrancy, culture and beauty.
The project’s focus, according to the organization’s website, is ”mobilizing people to transform their own communities into social art works of monumental size, to beautify and inspire, combat prejudice and attract positive attention, while offering opportunity and economic stimulus.”
Haas&Hahn began on-the-ground work on the massive project in early 2014. Their plan is to train and hire locals to help with the community project, make repairs to buildings in the favela and develop a local paint factory that will create even more jobs in a sustainable way.
From Paulo Ito to Haas&Hahn, artists are putting street art to good work in Brazil. Through their images they are bluntly pointing out the injustices plaguing Brazilian society and creatively seeking to make Brazil a better, brighter place.
– Kayla Strickland
Sources: Favela Painting, Policy Mic, Slate
Photo: The Slate
How Do We End Global Poverty?
Putting an end to global poverty seems like a huge undertaking, but the world is making itself a better place every single day.
There is no one set way to end global poverty, and it definitely will not be happening overnight. However, so many people and organizations have already taken strides in order to make things better.
When many consider global poverty they think of commercials in which a man comes out and says, “With just a dollar a day you could save this young child’s life.” But global poverty is so much more than that.
There is a lot more work involved, for one, and there are a lot more people that need help. Those children in that commercial are just one facet of what global poverty really is.
So, how do we end global poverty? The answer is different for everyone. Perhaps, the question to ask is: “What am I good at?” and then find a way to turn talents into something that can be good for everyone around the world.
There are hundreds if not thousands of ways people, charities and politicians around the world are trying to help impoverished nations.
There are people who make billboards that can use humidity and rainwater to create freshwater for the surrounding people, or buildings that use special concrete to suck up air pollution, or even the smallest thing such as the “donate now” button from PayPal.
There are business tycoons that use impact investing to help companies that want to give lanterns to children in Africa so they can do their homework and learn by accelerating investments in the solar lighting industry.
In addition to impact investing, there are also businesses like Domino’s Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wal-Mart that have expanded in the African Markets bringing jobs, food and have even created advocacy and buzz to help provide donations to the impoverished peoples near their companies.
There are numerous nonprofits and charities dedicated to advocacy, food collection, shoe donation, vaccine donation and more. Nothing But Nets is one that’s as simple as giving a family in Africa an insecticide-treated mosquito net to help prevent the spread of malaria. Even the smallest things can impact global poverty in a big way.
There are even charities like Girl Up, dedicated to simply telling young girls and boys they can get through it and become better. Global poverty can be impacted by something as simple as positive encouragement.
The question “How do we end global poverty?” may seem intimidating at first, but once you decide what you can do and see what everyone else is already doing, it seems a lot easier.
The goal of ending global poverty is attainable, all it takes is asking yourself two simple questions: “What am I good at?” and “How can it help end global poverty?”
– Cara Morgan
Sources: The Borgen Project, Girl Up, Nothing But Nets, Shot@Life, Wal-Mart
Photo: World Relief
The International Monetary Fund: Friend or Foe?
Growth does not happen instantaneously and, oftentimes, catalyzing economic growth is a decades-long venture. No one expects positive results immediately, but people do expect a fair approach to promoting wealth. In times of crisis, most countries answer to the same worldwide organizations dedicated to ameliorating economic recession. Primarily, the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Founded shortly after World War II, the IMF’s mandate was to promote international trade and economic cooperation by aiding countries in times of crisis, vis-a-vis loans and budgetary advice. It is predominantly counseled by six nations according to a weighted voting system. Germany, France, Japan, Britain, China and the United States control over 50 percent of the organization’s voting power. This is an important consideration when one considers that small, poverty-stricken countries, like those in Africa or Latin America, have absolutely no say in the IMF’s policies in comparison to a few powerful member states.
While the IMF may masquerade as an institution seeking to mitigate poverty, its economic decisions stem from countries that prioritize their own power and wealth. Noam Chomsky, a prominent political analyst and professor emeritus at MIT, described the works of the IMF and its top-member nations as “Designed for capital, not people.”
Most loan agreements from the International Monetary Fund come with harsh conditions that encourage the eventual triumph of capital while simultaneously removing social safety nets. Stipulations on loan agreements require severe cutbacks on wages and welfare in order to receive critically needed funds. Invariably, these loan conditions target the programs used by the working class majority.
News outlet Global Exchange (GE) documents the history of IMF protocol, reporting that “The IMF and World Bank frequently advise countries to attract foreign investors by weakening their labor laws – eliminating collective bargaining laws and suppressing wages.” Rather than encouraging domestic development, the IMF enforces economic policies that favor en mass, cheap exports operated through low wage labors costs and weakly regulated industries.
The results of Latin America’s arrangement with the IMF is indicative of the results of a “capital over community” approach. Argentina, once considered the model of financial prowess by the IMF, has steadily declined following the organization’s intervention during the late 90’s. According to University of Washington professor Victor Menaldo, “Public investment is the lowest it has ever been, less than 2 percent of GDP. Taxes on capital gains are less than 5 percent as of 2000. Lastly, along with Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are experiencing the highest amount of foreign debt in their histories.”
For many developing nations and countries under recession, poverty can be right around the corner. The way international organizations and enterprises collaborate in dealing with such potential poverty will determine whether a nation prospers or stagnates. Eliminating poverty is dependent on adjusting the failures of mainstream economics. This means stepping away from the IMF, preventing reductions in labor laws and not withholding loan agreements on conditions—such as eliminating bargaining rights or striking pensions—that have shown to only hurt economies in both the short and long term.
— Michael Giacoumopoulos
Sources: Global Exchange, The Tech, The Washington Post
Photo: NSZ
History of USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was created in 1961 through the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Until the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act, USAID had existed as several different organizations; the act combined the organizations into one.
President John F. Kennedy was at the forefront of the transformation of US foreign assistance. He understood that there was a need for development to be combined into a single organization to promote social and economic development abroad. The values that guide USAID are rooted in our nation’s commitment to doing the right thing.
The agency’s model is also based off of the success of the Marshall Plan following World War II. The Marshall Plan allowed countries to rebuild their infrastructure, strengthen their economies and stabilize. This plan led the United States’ recognition that International Aid needed to become a part of our foreign policy strategy. We realized that investing abroad would reduce poverty, and create new markets for US products.
The precursors to USAID included a Mutual Security Agency, a Foreign Operations Administration, and an International Cooperation Administration. When USAID was signed into law in 1961, international development assistance opportunities grew tremendously, sparking what would become known as the “decade of development”.
In the 1970s, the agency shifted their focus to basic human needs. This approach focused on food and nutrition, population planning, health, education, and human resources development.
The 1980s saw yet another shift with foreign assistance aimed at stabilizing currencies and financial systems. USAID refocused on their commitment to broad-based economic growth, working to revitalize economic systems and promote employment and income opportunities.
In the 1990s, USAID focused on sustainability and democracy. They wanted to help countries improve their quality of life. This allowed the agency to provide developing countries with integrated assistance packages, transitional countries with help in times of crisis, and countries with limited the agency presence to receive NGO support.
The 2000s have focused on war and rebuilding. USAID has launched programs calling for reform. The agency has helped Afghanistan and Iraq rebuild their governments, infrastructure, civil society, and basic services including healthcare and education. USAID has begun reaching out to the private sector in order to help stretch its funding as much as possible.
USAID occupies more than 100 countries with the same overreaching goals set out by President John K. Kennedy in 1961. USAID aims to further America’s foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets while also extending a helping hand to people struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster, or striving to live in a free democratic society.
– Caitlin Zusy
Source: USAID