Speeches Shim
Today marks my final day at the helm of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It has been an extraordinary privilege to work with partners like you in pursuit of a safer, freer, and more prosperous world, and I know that you'll continue to provide invaluable support to USAID's mission. Before I step away, I wanted to provide an update on the Agency's COVID-19 response efforts.
The U.S. Government, through the United States Agency for International Development, is providing more than MNT3.3 billion ($1.2 million) to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to support the Government of Mongolia’s COVID-19 response.
USAID has supported labor rights in Cambodia for more than two decades. We are proud of that support. Our Labor Rights in Cambodia Project is the newest phase in our support for workers. It is a five-year project with an ambitious set of objectives, including assisting independent trade unions in their efforts to represent and provide benefits to their member workers in the garment, construction, food and services, hotel and hospitality industries, as well as workers in the informal economy, from tuk tuk drivers to entertainment workers.
This is a key milestone—not only for the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, and Industry—but also for Zambia and the entire Southern Africa region. This new portal has the potential to significantly improve the flow of information, automate trade procedures, improve risk-management processes, and boost the overall performance of border-control agencies.
The ZDHS also serves as a vital source of data used by USAID, international and national stakeholders, non-governmental organizations, and other partners to guide our programming and help to measure the impact of our collective investments in Zambia’s health sector.
It is a pleasure to be here this morning to participate in the ribbon cutting for Standard Microgrid’s 10th solar microgrid in Zambia. Today, we are here to acknowledge and support the 69 percent of Zambians across the country who do not have access to electricity; and they are not alone. Two out of three people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. Electricity is the lifeblood of economic development and is essential for one’s quality of life. While important strides have been made to diversify power generation and expand access to power in Zambia, there is still significant work to be done to ensure electricity is available to all Zambians.
Honorable Dr. Chitalu Chilufya, Minister of Health
Dr. Kennedy Malama, Permanent Secretary Health Services
Ms. Kakulubelwa Mulalelo, Permanent Secretary Administration
Ambassadors and Heads of Development Cooperation
Heads of UN Agencies
Ministry of Health officials
Civil Society and NGO representatives
Members of the press
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a pleasure to be here this morning and to address this distinguished room of individuals. I would like to recognize the Minister of Health for bringing us together today.
The U.S. government considers our Pacific neighbors to be important partners in fostering a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The United States and Fiji share a longstanding relationship; a friendship that is based on trust and mutual interests, with our long history of defense partnerships, commercial links, and people-to- people ties. This Project Management course builds upon our strong ties as we together promote a prosperous and stable future for the people of this country.
For the past 30 years, USAID has been at the forefront combating HIV and AIDS around the world. USAID is the lead U.S. government agency for international development and humanitarian assistance, and is a key implementing partner under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which is the largest and most diverse HIV and AIDS prevention, care, and treatment initiative in the world.
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