Democracy and Governance: Africa Regional Program
The Development Challenge: In the eyes of much of the world, sub-Saharan Africa seems to be characterized by conflict, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, illiteracy, corruption, drought, hunger, and economic stagnation. The 2000/2001 World Development Report put the total number of Africans living below the World Bank's $1-per-day benchmark for defining the core poor at 290.9 million in 1998--and that number has been rising steadily since. With more than 10% of the world's population, Africa accounts for just 2% of world trade, and it is the only continent where the problem of hunger is getting worse. Africa leads the world in armed conflict, in disease burden, in out-of-school children, and in deforestation. In Africa's HIV/AIDS "hot spots," average life expectancy is projected to fall from 68 to 33, and the continent is home to 1 million new AIDS orphans each year.
Yet there is promise that increased economic growth and new development opportunities will herald a better future for Africa's people. U.S. total trade with sub-Saharan Africa rose 27% in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the first quarter of 2003. New technologies, varieties, and approaches to finance and networking are beginning to transform the face of farming in Africa, and the community-based natural resource management movement is building local bulwarks against forest loss. HIV/AIDS prevention efforts are becoming more sophisticated and effective, and in many regions, the introduction of new medications is prolonging life and giving hope.
There is also widespread recognition among African leaders and policy makers of the importance of sound economic policies, good governance structures, and effective public institutions to create the conditions for more rapid economic growth and broad-based poverty reduction. This evolution drew worldwide attention in 2001 in the elaboration of the Africa-led New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The United Nation's articulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)--which laid out ambitious targets for achievement by the year 2015--added specificity and urgency to this movement.
For the United States, support and technical guidance to African people and institutions represent a vital, long-term investment in global peace and safety. Africa not only has a wealth of natural resources but represents a growing market for U.S. goods and services. Reducing poverty, mitigating conflict, promoting democracy, and confronting HIV/AIDS are all vitally important to U.S. national security and regional stability.
The USAID Program: USAID's program for Africa comprises four distinct types of activities. First, USAID provides relevant information and helps African countries and partners use it to improve their policies, programs and strategies for development. Second, it builds Africa's capacity to manage its own development by strengthening African institutions, such as government units, universities, and non-government groups with training and other resources, leading to overall sustainability. Third, it helps African countries and institutions build more effective regional networks for economic and technical cooperation. Fourth, it helps Africans develop true partnerships with other development groups and with the private sector, including formal public-private alliances.
Democracy and Governance and Crisis Prevention: Conflict and political instability across sub-Saharan Africa endanger core U.S. policy interests in the region by encouraging weapons proliferation and breeding poverty, disease, terrorism, and corruption. USAID's regional democracy and good governance (DG) program advances U.S. security goals by fighting corruption, strengthening weak civic institutions, and promoting human rights. USAID's work involves innovative projects integrating DG principles into other sectors' activities for stronger impact; giving guidance and grants to African non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for activities to build peace, human rights and democracy; and managing USAID's initiative to combat corruption in Africa, which is testing diverse models that can guide anti-corruption work continent-wide. In addition, recognizing how severely violence threatens development, USAID's regional crisis prevention/mitigation programs will continue to seek solutions to conflict before it becomes acute and to give African decision-makers the tools to identify and ward off approaching conflicts, lessen their impact and help nations recover from them. Activities focus on programs such as mediation, community-based reconciliation, peace media, reintegration, and psychosocial counseling. USAID field missions benefit from country-specific conflict vulnerability analyses, which not only discuss areas and issues that may spark conflict but note resources for avoiding conflict.
(Excerpted from the 2006 Congressional Budget Justification for the Africa Regional Program)
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