Transforming Lives

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.

Somalia is one of the lowest performing countries in the world in terms of economic growth, gender equality and human development. The government is still rebuilding after its collapse 25 years ago and struggles to provide even basic health and education services. Only five years ago, parts of Somalia were devastated by a famine.

In the middle of an especially dry season from 2015 into early 2016, a 20-year-old woman provided a stark reminder of what’s at stake for rural communities throughout the Lower Mekong Basin as a result of climate change.

Grouped in a network called Solar Sahelis (Solar Friends), these women form an innovative social enterprise that promotes renewable energy products such as solar-powered lamps and household appliances to communities living in hard-to-reach areas. Around 10 million households—half the homes in Rajasthan—have no electricity at all or unreliable grid power. Alternate sources of power, such as solar systems, are important as they provide basic electric light and power and are cheaper and safer than the kerosene and dry cell batteries currently used in households that lack a reliable electricity supply.

The USAID Capacity Building and Change Management Program II (CBCMP-II) found a solution to improve MAIL human resources management and work place discipline.

In April, Suhaila joined twelve other young women as an intern working with a tech company in Herat. The six-month internship gave Suhaila the opportunity to build her confidence and to put the theory she had learnt at university into practice, designing websites, developing databases, and coding computer programs for the Department of Women Affairs. After completing her internship, Shaila decided to start her own company.

One of the biggest challenges to the melon farmers of northern Afghanistan is melon fly infestation, which damages the fruit and leads to secondary rot. Unfortunately, traditional methods of melon cultivation do little to protect the fruit, and farmers lack pest management controls. The result is lower yields and less income for the farmers.

Responding to the need to improve basic literacy among early grade students in public schools, in 2013, USAID launched its $39.7 million Basa Pilipinas, or Read Philippines, program in partnership with the Philippine Department of Education. The program is designed to train first to third grade teachers how to teach reading more effectively.

Todo empezó en los 80s, cuando él tenía 18 años. Un compañero de la universidad le propuso viajar a Tocache, Región San Martin, para hallar trabajo cultivando frutas.  El plan era encontrar trabajo y ahorrar lo suficiente para terminar sus estudios en la universidad. 

“Before, there was indiscriminate logging. There were not enough fish because they were extracted en masse by people from outside our community,” explains the inhabitant of San Pedro, one of the communities surrounding the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Community Regional Conservation Area, located in the Loreto region of Peru.

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