From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Sep 17 2009 - 11:07:32 EDT
2009-09-17
USA gives $190mn assistance to Ethiopia
APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The United States government announced here on
Thursday a $190 million assistance to Ethiopia to help the country in
economic development, health and education.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the
Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Development signed the
agreements, which will enable non-governmental organizations and civil
society partners to further strengthen the country’s development.
“This commitment from the United States is the latest instalment of a
six-year development assistance agenda between the two countries. To date,
the total commitment under this six-year plan is over US$615 million, a 107
percent increase over the originally planned commitment,” said the USAID
Ethiopian office.
Meanwhile, the USAID also signed an agreement this week with the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development to provide an additional $890,000 to
support disaster preparedness.
“This assistance from the American people will continue to help millions of
Ethiopians by providing them with much-needed education and health services,
more jobs and income-generating opportunities,” USAID Mission Director
Thomas H. Staal commented.
“The fact that this year’s funding goes well beyond USAID’s original
commitment highlights the importance of the relationship between the peoples
of our two countries, and the critical development challenges Ethiopia faces
today.”
Through this year’s grants, over US$22 million will help improve the quality
of primary education, with special emphasis on increasing girls’ access and
developing schools. The grants add over US$126 million to strengthen US
government efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, control malaria, improve water and
sanitation, and support maternal, child and reproductive health. For
economic growth, US$40.5 million will be applied towards expanding trade and
enterprise, developing agricultural productivity and marketing, including
livestock, and protecting the environment.
In 2009, USAID’s assistance to Ethiopia, through bilateral and other
mechanisms, totalled more than US $722 million.
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