USAID IN PAKISTAN |
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| Since
1951, the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) has provided nearly
$7 billion to support Pakistan’s
development efforts. This assistance
has strengthened the political, economic
and cultural ties between the two nations.
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THE FIRST THIRTY YEARS 1951 – 1981
From a modest beginning in 1951, U.S. bilateral
assistance to Pakistan grew to almost $400
million a year in the early 1960s. By 1982,
U.S. assistance to Pakistan totaled approximately
$5.1 billion. The United States also supported
Pakistan's development through contributions
to the World Bank, the Asian Development
Bank, and United Nations programs.
During the 1950s, the United States focused
on helping the newly independent Pakistan
overcome the economic consequences of its
partition from India. The United States
provided funds and materials for infrastructure,
technical support to ease skill shortages
and food. The Government of Pakistan used
the money it earned from food sales to provide
public services. This assistance laid the
foundation for Pakistan's future agricultural
and industrial growth.
During the 1960s, the United States supported
Pakistan's efforts to boost agriculture
and rapidly expand its industrial sector.
The United States invested heavily in water,
power, transportation, and communications.
At its height, during the first half of
the 1960s, U.S. assistance was more than
half of all foreign aid to Pakistan, covering
one-third of Pakistan's development budget
and financing half its import bill.
During the 1970s, the United States turned
its attention back to agriculture. In addition
to helping Pakistan increase its fertilizer
production, U.S. assistance helped Pakistan
import fertilizer and improve its water
and irrigation systems. USAID worked with
Pakistani agricultural scientists and engineers
to develop water and irrigation systems
on farms. These systems were replicated
throughout Pakistan and by other countries
and donors.
As the single largest donor ($712 million,
or 31 percent of all contributions) to the
Indus Basin Development project, the United
States played a leading role in the construction
of the Mangle and Tarbela dams. The dams
continue to make significant contributions
to Pakistan's energy and agricultural sectors
today.
In the same period, the U.S. also supported
nutrition research, malaria control, population
planning, and health care for rural areas.
The legacy of the early assistance program
is still visible in many areas of Pakistan's
economy. For example, USAID helped introduce
high yield food grain varieties (the “green
revolution”) that helped make Pakistan
self-sufficient in wheat and one of the
world's leading exporters of rice. USAID
also played an important role in bringing
about the widespread use of fertilizer.
START OF A SECOND PHASE 1982 – 1987
The 1982-1987 phase of
U.S. assistance to Pakistan was a milestone
in U.S.-Pakistan relations. Cooperation
between the two countries was close as they
negotiated a $1.62 billion program in 1981.
Pakistani institutions carried out most
of the activities. Almost all projects were
national in scope, with activities in all
four provinces. To help meet pressing needs
in less developed parts of the country,
USAID funded several region-specific “area
development” projects at the government's
request. The goal was to respond to the
priorities set by the government in its
annual and five-year development plans.
About 70 percent of the funds were used
to buy fertilizer, edible oils, and heavy
machinery and equipment. In many cases,
the money Pakistan earned from the sale
of these items was used to support important
projects in agriculture, education, and
other areas.
Much of the assistance directly funded
local costs, including constructing and
improving canals and waterways. Another
portion was used for training. Finally,
about 11 percent of the funds went to Pakistani
contractors for technical assistance.
About 55 percent of the 1982-87 programs
were purely grants, and the remainder consisted
of soft loans, or loans with generous repayment
terms. Given the generosity of the terms
of these loans and the high percentage of
grants throughout that period, U.S. assistance
was the most concessional of any major donor.
The economic assistance program planned
for 1988-1993 had even more generous terms.
ENERGY
From 1982-1987, about
one-fourth of U.S. economic assistance went
to Pakistan’s energy sector.
USAID, together with the Water and Power
Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), built a new 900
megawatt power plant at Guddu in upper Sindh.
USAID worked with WAPDA to improve the
efficiency of its new power distribution
wing, including a $6 million computer system
for planning, design and training for more
than 30,000 WAPDA personnel. WAPDA received
$19.3 million in equipment to help reduce
energy loss during distribution and to improve
the efficiency of some of its thermal power
plants.
USAID helped establish a geodata center
at the Geological Survey of Pakistan and
provided an additional $3.3 million for
coal-related equipment for the Pakistan
Hydrocarbon Institute in Islamabad and Karachi
and $4.5 million to the Fuel Research Center
at the Pakistan Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research laboratories in Karachi.
USAID financed $16.5 million in new oil
and gas development and seismic equipment
for the Oil and Gas Development Corporation
and its private joint ventures.
In the field of energy planning and conservation,
USAID helped initiate a national energy
conservation program as well as establish
an energy conservation center (ENERCON)
in Islamabad. Under the Seventh Five Year
Plan, USAID helped the government create
an energy wing within the Ministry of Planning
to coordinate Pakistan's national energy
strategy.
AGRICULTURE
Half of employed Pakistanis work in agriculture.
Their efforts contribute more than one-fourth
of Pakistan's gross domestic product. Because
this field was so important to Pakistan's
economy, USAID focused nearly half its program
on increasing agricultural productivity.
This directly benefited farmers throughout
Pakistan.
Agricultural
Research and Education:
USAID worked with the Pakistan Agricultural
Research Council and the Agricultural University
in Peshawar to make agricultural research
and education directly relevant to farmers.
To improve agricultural
productivity in dry areas, USAID supported
the Arid Zone Research Institute in Quetta.
USAID also gave equipment worth more than
$4 million and other support to the Pakistan
Forestry Institute in Peshawar and to the
Agricultural Universities at Faisalabad
in Punjab and Tando Jam in Sindh.
Funding from USAID also helped establish
a branch of the International Irrigation
Management Institute (IIMI) in Lahore.
Irrigation: Pakistan has
the largest contiguous irrigation system
in the world.
From 1982-87, USAID assisted Pakistan in
improving 4,000 kilometers of canals and
waterways throughout the country, upgrading
irrigation workshops in the provinces and
introducing computer-aided design techniques.
More than $50 million in computers, vehicles,
heavy machinery, and other equipment was
provided.
To improve water management on farms,
1,319 waterways were renovated, 75,000 acres
of land leveled, and training centers and
demonstration farms were established in
all four provinces
Other Areas: Accurate
data collection is essential for developing
good policies. With USAID support, the agricultural
branch of Pakistan's Statistics Division
improved and computerized its reporting.
At the same time, USAID assisted Pakistan
in establishing an Economic Analysis Network
to strengthen the analytical skills of Pakistani
researchers throughout the country.
AREA DEVELOPMENT
Balochistan:
Here USAID funded a number of small rural
infrastructure projects, including renovation
of schools and irrigation facilities. Construction
contracts were signed for the 101-kilometer
Bela-Awaran road and the Kech River bridge
outside of Turbat. Design work was planned
on the 255 kilometer Awaran-Turbat road,
which would have significantly reduced the
travel time between Turbat and Karachi.
North-West Frontier Province: In this area,
USAID aimed its efforts at roads, schools,
village electrification, skills training
programs, tree-planting, water supply systems
and irrigation improvements. These projects
were in the tribal areas and in poppy growing
regions such as Gadoon-Amazai and Dir.
Sindh: During the 1982-1987 period, USAID
began improving rural roads in interior
Sindh. Long-range goals included the rehabilitation
or reconstruction of nearly 4,000 kilometers
of rural roads, along with the establishment
of a better system for operation and maintenance.
A CONTINUING RELATIONSHIP 1988 –
1993
From 1988-1993, the United
States provided an additional $2.28 billion
for development projects. $480 million was
used to import needed agricultural items.
The rest was in grants. During this period,
USAID continued to build on successful programs
begun in earlier phases. USAID also invested
in expanding private investment in Pakistan,
guarantees for housing loans to strengthen
the housing market, mobilizing shelter resources
and the Institutional Excellence Project.
INTERIM PROGRAM (1993-2002): THE PAKISTAN
NGO INITIATIVE (PNI)
Under a humanitarian assistance regulation
[P.L. 106-429, Sec. 541(a)], USAID worked
with, and through, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) on basic education and community-based
learning; literacy and skills development;
reproductive health (including family planning),
maternal and child health care; income earning
activities; strengthening of local NGOs
and community organizations; and policy
advocacy at the national, provincial, and
local levels.
Beneficiaries of USAID assistance were
the rural and urban poor, especially women
and girls in Sindh Province in the south
and the Northwest Frontier Province in the
north. Approximately 80 local NGOs and the
communities in which they work benefited
from PNI funding and technical assistance.
Key Results: The PNI program increased
the percentage of girls attending and completing
primary school in the rural areas; strengthened
women's influence in household decisions;
expanded couples' access to three or more
modern methods of contraception; increased
the number of women earning higher incomes;
and increased the number of NGOs and community
organizations working to strengthen social
services and change policies.
START OF THE NEW PROGRAM 2002 - 2006
After a seven-year pause due to US-imposed
nuclear non-proliferation sanctions, USAID
reopened its Mission in Pakistan in July
2002. The new program focuses on four sectors:
education, health, governance and economic
growth. |
