Overview

The United States Agency for In­ternational Development (USAID) is the principal U.S. Government agency providing development assistance around the world. USAID is committed to improv­ing living conditions, promoting a free and democratic life and helping in times of disasters. In Bangladesh, USAID makes a dif­ference by improving the lives of the people of Bangladesh, and in particular, the poor. We have had a full-fledge cooperation pro­gram in Bangladesh since 1971. We work closely with the Gov­ernment of Bangladesh (GoB), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and other donors. USAID's yearly de­velopment budget for Bangladesh averages $100 million. In 2008, our planned assistance budget will amount to roughly $176 mil­lion, including assistance to the people living in the cyclone Sidr affected regions.

USAID commitment to the People of Bangladesh

Since 1971, USAID has provided over $S billion in development as­sistance, with half of that amount provided in food aid. With USAID assistance, Bangladesh has seen significant improvements in liv­ing conditions. Today, Bangla­deshis have better access to health care and electricity, increased ag­ricultural productivity and better nutrition. We work with commu­nities in disaster preparedness and to improve their ability to man­age emergency food supplies. Our programs assist Bangladeshi orga­nizations and communities in ad­dressing their needs in the areas of health and family planning, income generation, agriculture and food security, disaster man­agement, democracy and human rights, and education.

Helping to Build a Healthier and Better Educated Population

In the 1970's, the average Bangla­deshi woman gave birth to seven children in her life time. USAID's pioneering work in the family planning sector in collaboration with the GoB, civil society and the private sector has helped to bring that number down to 2.7 chil­dren per woman. The concept of family planning was not known in the rural areas. People lacked information and were either not aware of their options or did not have access to services to support family planning. Along with the GoB, USAID pioneered efforts to create awareness at the commu­nity level and helped to lower people's resistance to family plan­ning. USAID founded the Social Marketing Company (SMC) - the largest privately managed not­-for-profit social marketing orga­nization in the world. USAID has been supporting SMC since 1974 and has contributed to a seven­fold increase in family planning use, primarily through SMC, over the past 34 years. USAID also pioneered the development and distribution of oral re-hydration solution through SMC to treat acute diarrhea - one of the major causes of child death in Bangla­desh, saving millions of lives.

Today, USAID-supported NGO health clinics provide high quality family planning and basic health services to more than 26 million patients each year. Clinics also provide pre- and post-pregnancy care for mothers and their new­borns, as well as offer safe delivery by trained birth attendants. To add to the success, we have introduced market concepts in our health pro­grams. From direct service deliv­ery, we have shifted our focus to introduce the concept of franchis­ing and fee for service for NGOs who provide basic health services to the poor. People who receive care in our Smiling Sun (SHURJER HASHI in BangIa) clinics pay a very nominal fee to get health care ser­vice. Introducing the practice of paying even an amount to receive the health service has been a chal­lenge. This is necessary, however, if we are to maintain and expand the availability of health services and products while reducing reli­ance on donor funding. USAID's health portfolio also includes HIV / AIDS prevention, safe preg­nancy, maternal and child health, and prevention of tuberculosis, a deadly but preventable disease in Bangladesh.

USAID's early childhood educa­tion program prepares preschool age boys and girls to succeed in 1800 primary schools around the country by improving their read­ing and math skills. The USAID­funded Sesame Street television program, Sisimpur, is one of the most popular children's shows in Bangladesh, with weekly viewer­ship of 9 million children and their parents. Studies indicate that children who watch Sisimpur show remarkable improvements in vocabulary, cultural knowledge and counting skills.

Expanding Economic Opportunities for the Poor

USAID seeks to increase jobs and income for the poor in targeted areas with a focus on equity. We promote greater participation of women and youth as business leaders, develop workforce skills and strengthen public-private sector alliances. USAID also assists Bangladesh in expanding access to global markets by supporting key sectors such as shrimp, aquacul­ture and horticulture to improve the quality of product, increase sales, create jobs and promote greater investment, particularly for the benefit of women, young adults and Small and Medium Entrepreneur (SME) suppliers. Through these key sectors, we plan to support creation of $ 200 million in sales, 40,000 jobs and $ 4 million in investment in these sectors. We promote activities that train shrimp farmers in modern practices to increase farm yields, raise quality standards, and link producers to export markets. Also, with post-harvest losses being close to 30 percent in horticulture, we plan to support contract farm­ing and improve post-harvest han­dling. In leather products, we will train factory and tannery work­ers, link large manufacturers with SME suppliers, promote exports, and improve product design to increase marketability. We will also identify policy issues that are major constraints to growth and work with the government to resolve them. We will identify clients facing specific constraints regarding sales transactions and facilitate solutions to realize these sales. Also, with our small business and agribusiness projects, we are creating a market driven approach and finding ways to connect pro­ducers with key players in the market. We also assist the produc­ers in agribusiness to improve the way they do business.

We support employment and income generating opportuni­ties to people who otherwise would have remained in poverty. USAID's Energy program laid the foundation for capacity devel­opment of rural women for eco­nomic leadership. The activity helps rural women technicians to receive hands on training on trouble shooting and assembling in the field of renewable technolo­gies particularly the Photovoltaic Solar Home Systems (SHS). With USAID assistance, the 20 Grameen Technology Centers (GTCs) have already built a team of over 1,000 women technicians in different parts of the country. These women have been trained to install and maintain SHSs and assemble cru­cial components of the systems. Other players can easily access this workforce and engage them in renewable energy development like solar energy, improved cook­ing stoves and bio-gas plants.

We also support protection of wetlands and forest protected areas while helping the commu­nity living in and around the wet­lands and protected areas to better manage their resources while cre­ating alternate income generation opportunities for them so that the pressure on the forests and wetlands gets reduced. Our new environment project Integrated Protected Area Co-management (IPAC) will reach out to 2.2 mil­lion people living in and around 5 wetlands and 13 protected areas all over the country.

Promoting Democratic Institutions and Practices

USAID supports national policies and democratic institutions to be more transparent and respon­sive to citizen input. With USAID assistance, Bangladeshi NGOs are helping ensure credible and trans­parent elections and the promo­tion of human rights. This includes work to prevent human traffick­ing, protect labor rights of workers and respect, tolerance, and under­standing of human rights. USAID also promotes citizen participation in local government. We support cooperation between local govern­ment systems and citizen groups to improve biodiversity and con­servation of natural resources. We promote greater transparency and accountability to manage public resources at the local level by cre­ating opportunities for citizen par­ticipation in decision making. For example, USAID funding provides technical assistance to local gov­ernments and civil society groups to improve fiscal decentralization and to facilitate community-based planning. One of the noteworthy achievements in this sector is the fact that USAID now works with more than 120 local government organizations. USAID pioneered the practice of sharing the local government's budget and spend­ing plan with the community. As a result, participating citizens now feel encouraged to pay the taxes. This has increased revenue generation by 50% for the local governments. This effort is being replicated in the nearby areas.

Helping People Prepare for Disaster, Food Security, and Provide Emergency Relief

USAID has supported a robust program focused on disaster pre­paredness. We have constructed 270 cyclone shelters and 440 flood shelters. Cyclone shelters can accommodate 270,000 people during cyclones, and flood shel­ters protect people in case disaster strikes. USAID has also supported construction of earthen embank­ments and wave protection walls built to prevent wave surges from causing erosions, flooding home­steads and destroying crop lands. We work with local government officials, community leaders and volunteers to develop emergency response plans, increase public awareness, and take the actions required to increase their com­munities' ability to respond to emergency events. In recent years, improved early warning and response systems have sig­nificantly lessened the loss of life during times of disaster.

USAID works to improve food security in the poorest and most disaster-prone areas in rural Bangladesh. Our food security program supports creation of seasonal jobs in resource poor areas through the food for work programs. The program allows poor people to work for food by building roads and cyclone shel­ters to help communities prepare for disasters, and also provides them alternate income genera­tion opportunities. As part of the food aid program, we have sup­ported construction of 1,356 kms of rural roads, 1,000 kms of farm­ 'to-market earthen rural roads, plantation of 885,000 roadside trees and construction of 1,521 small bridges and culverts.

Since 1987, USAID has provided $241.30 million for emergency relief and rehabilitation efforts in response to 5 mega flooding events, 2 category 5 cyclones and 2 devastating tornadoes. USAID provides emergency relief support to the people in cyclone affected areas by providing them with food, water and shelter. Our water ambulances and mobile water treatment units support people with medical care and clean water when they need them the most.

We also assist people to rebuild their houses and provide food rations to ensure that food is avail­able, particularly to the poorest of the poor during the aftermath of natural disasters. In 2007, USAID provided immediate relief assis­tance to the Cyclone Sidr affected people and has continued the sup­port through rebuilding houses for the people in the cyclone affected areas. An additional $77.5 mil­lion will be provided to rebuild the livelihoods, strengthen local government, generate economic recovery through income gen­eration activities and to plan and construct cyclone shelters in the disaster-prone areas.

USAID's partnership with the private sector

USAID worldwide combines the assets and experience of the public and private sector partners, lever­aging their capital and invest­ments, creativity and access to markets to solve complex problems facing government, business, and communities. Our Global Devel­opment Alliance (GDA) program promotes business models built on the idea of partnership and jointly defines plan and design solutions to meet development challenges by providing a growing share of funds, human capital, technical assistance, and other resources. Since 2002, USAID worldwide has invested $1.1 billion into nearly 290 alliances while bringing $3.7 billion in resources from all types of partners to address development challenges in every sector and in every geographic area. USAID has Nokia, The Coca-Cola, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Intel and Microsoft Corporation as some of the partners. USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore has set a goal to triple the value of private-sector resources leveraged by USAID through public-private partnerships. USAID in Bangla­desh plans to work with the pri­vate sector to further development initiatives with support of private resources - be it through cash, ser­vices, or equipment.

The U.S. and Bangladesh have been friends and close allies for many years. Through USAID, the United States Government will continue to be a strong and close partner of the Bangladeshi people.