Speeches Shim
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has long recognized the critical role of development in addressing social, economic, governance and other factors that can drive violent extremism or radicalization of individuals and communities. Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is central to achieving the Agency’s mission to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity.
- On February 11, U.S. President Barack Obama praised the USG and the humanitarian community on their EVD response activities in West Africa. He also lauded DoD’s contribution to the response and announced the withdrawal of the majority of DoD staff by the end of April.
- The total number of deaths attributed to EVD in West Africa surpassed 9,000 in recent days, according to WHO.
- Only three of Liberia’s counties have reported confirmed cases in the past 42 days—12 counties have completed two 21-day cycles of the EVD monitoring period.
- EVD vaccination trials will begin in the three acutely affected countries in West Africa during the coming weeks.
- Weekly EVD case incidence increased in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone for the first time in 2015; during the week of January 26, WHO reported 124 new confirmed cases—39 cases in Guinea, five cases in Liberia, and 80 cases in Sierra Leone.
- Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia has not reported a new confirmed EVD case in 21 days; Montserrado is the only Liberian county to report new confirmed EVD cases in the previous three weeks.
The President’s Budget request for the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) directly supports the forthcoming National Security Strategy by helping to build and sustain a more secure, prosperous, and democratic world. The Budget proposes targeted investments in international programs that will help mobilize collective action to meet global challenges, counter terrorism and violent extremism overseas, strengthen the U.S. economy, and support United States citizens and the U.S. presence overseas. The Budget also advances diplomatic engagement on issues such as environment, energy, human rights, and non-proliferation policies as well as strengthens democratic institutions overseas.
The installation of a third turbine generator (Unit 2) at Kajaki Dam Hydropower Plant in Helmand Province was a major accomplishment in U.S. and Afghan government efforts to expand access to electricity in Afghanistan. The turbine was commissioned in October 2016, adding 18.5 megawatts (MW) of power to the country’s southern electrical grid. The successful project reduced reliance on more expensive and dirtier diesel generation and nearly doubled the amount of renewable energy distributed to Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and a hub of commerce in the south. The Afghan national electric utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), assumed full responsibility for operations and maintenance of the facility in March 2017.
- With support from the Government of Germany, a temporary unit for treating non-EVD infections opened in Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia on January 23.
- The Government of Senegal (GoS) reopened land border crossings with Guinea on January 26. The GoS had closed all borders with Guinea on August 21 due to the EVD outbreak and previously reopened air and sea borders with Guinea on November 14.
- As of January 26, the Government of Liberia (GoL) had reported a total of 21 confirmed cases in the last 21 days—eight cases from Grand Cape Mount County and 13 from Montserrado County.
The Energy Policy and Development Program (EPDP) is a four-year, PhP218 million ($5 million) project started in October 2014 to strengthen policymaking for environmentally sound energy sector development.
The Afghanistan Engineering Support Program (AESP) provides architectural and engineering services, and trains staff and technicians working for Afghan Ministries in the energy, transportation, water, sanitation, and communication sectors. The $72 million project began in November 2009 and ends in November 2015. Its main goals are raising the level of engineering skills in the Afghan government and businesses, and increasing the quality of engineering works in the country.
The objective of this project was to design a roadmap for development of the Sheberghan gas fields in northern Afghanistan to address the country’s critical power shortage. Under this project, USAID supported drilling/rehabilitating up to three gas wells, conducted a gas reservoir study to certify existing/producing field reservoir gas quantity, pressures and quality; and assisted the Afghan government to partner with the private sector to design, build and operate a central, expandable gas processing (sweetening) plant and a system to transport raw gas from wells to the processing plant. The project also encouraged the private sector to construct and operate a series of gas-fired power generation plants, starting with an initial plant 200 megawatts (MW). These power plants would be built, owned and operated (BOO) as Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Afghan Gas Enterprise (AGE) would play a major role in supplying gas to the IPPs in collaboration upstream with private-sector gas exploration and production companies, mid-stream with private-sector processing companies and downstream by delivering processed gas (fuel) to the IPP.
USAID’s Electronic Government Resource Center Phase II (EGRC-II) project built upon the successes of phase I and enhanced the policymaking capabilities of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT). Through a state-of-the-art resource center, EGRC-II helped the Afghan government to use information and communications technology to improve operations, increase transparency, and promote efficient service delivery.
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