Speeches Shim
Every day, all over the world, USAID brings peace to those who endure violence, health to those who struggle with sickness, and prosperity to those who live in poverty. It is these individuals — these uncounted thousands of lives — that are the true measure of USAID’s successes and the true face of USAID's programs.
Households in the Central African Republic (CAR) would normally be tending and harvesting their crops from July to September, during the peak rainy season. This year, however, surging conflict has forced thousands of farmers to abandon their fields. As a result, weeds are overtaking land that once provided income and food for Central African families.
Août 2017 - A la recherche d'un site pour sa nouvelle usine de vêtements, Aka Philippe Kouamé décide de s'installer à Abobo, un quartier d'Abidjan qui se remet lentement des ravages de la guerre civile de la Côte d'Ivoire en 2011 et où le taux de chômage, de vol et de banditisme est élevé.
"J'ai voulu construire cette usine à Abobo pour aider les jeunes à sortir de la violence et de la pauvreté", a déclaré Kouame, fondateur d'O'sey Collection.
Août 2017 - Elevés dans des familles d'agriculteurs au nord de la Côte d'Ivoire, Coulibaly Zana Sina et son ami d'enfance Justin Ake Koffi se souviennent de l'époque où les noix de cajou avaient si peu de valeur, que les anacardiers étaient délaissés et utilisés pour clôturer les champs au profit de cultures plus rentables telles que la mangue et le maïs.
Following decades of conflict and insecurity, Somalia knows too well the costs of corruption on economic, political and social development. From 2010 to 2016, Somalia was perceived to be one of the world’s most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.
Arlit used to be a prosperous town, attracting European tourists as well as many local youth with the opportunity to work in the uranium mines. After terrorist attacks in 2013 destroyed the tourism industry, the region was dealt another blow in 2014 when mining operations slowed significantly due to plummeting worldwide uranium prices, labor disputes, and renegotiations of mining contracts with the government. Foreign mining companies in Niger laid off thousands of young workers.
Boko Haram insurgency reached its peak in Nigeria’s Adamawa state in 2015. Two local government areas were under control of the extremist group while the insurgents continued to terrorize parts of the northeastern state, displacing thousands.
In Ethiopia, the 2015-2016 El Niño-induced drought and consecutive poor rainy seasons triggered the worst water shortage the highlands had seen in more than 50 years.
Imagine living in an economically vibrant city of nearly 50,000 people. Now imagine that you don’t know where basic public services like police stations, schools and hospitals are located or even where the official city boundaries are.
The situation in Bistrica was pretty bad, but it is slowly improving, and communication and cooperation among youth now is impressive,” said Sulejman Abazović, a young resident of that community, with a smile.
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