Djibouti
OVERVIEW
Djibouti's location in a hostile neighborhood-with Yemen, Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia at its borders-combined with its commitment to peaceful, pro-west, moderate views makes it a unique and strategic partner. Djibouti is home to the only warehouse not based in the United States that prepositions American food aid for Africa and Asia, and reduces delivery times by 75 percent. It also hosts the only U.S. military base on the continent, East Africa's Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the current peace talks on Somalia. Although a small country, it possesses lofty ambitions of social and economic achievement. The government has made great advances in the last five years, including the development of the only deep-sea port in the region, increasing private sector investment, and making gains in health and education. But despite these advances, Djibouti's future is threatened by a lack of arable land, successive droughts, high rates of livestock mortality, chronic food insecurity, urban migration, a severe lack of a skilled workforce, high unemployment, disease, dangerous and porous borders, an influx of refugees (estimated at over 1,000 a month), and nascent government and political systems.
PROGRAMS
GOVERNING JUSTLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY
Responding to reported high levels of corruption, political marginalization, and porous borders, USAID programs have attempted to strengthen civil society organizations, promote political competition, and address anti-corruption. To prepare for parliamentary elections, USAID provided the electoral commission its first-ever training on electoral administration and worked with civil society organizations on voter education. The elections took place in February 2008 and were declared free and fair by the African Union. In 2009, USAID is supporting two programs: one to harmonize two anti-corruption bodies for greater impact and another to assist in strengthening the legislature and establishing a permanent electoral commission in the run-up to the 2011 local and presidential elections.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: HEALTH
USAID's maternal and child health program, which ended in September 2008, was highly successful in helping the government improve health care and meet the needs of its people. Improved access to and use of maternal and child health services accelerated the decline of child mortality, which fell from 127 to 94 per 1000 live births over the four-year life of the program. USAID worked with the Government of Djibouti to improve the delivery of heath services by rehabilitating infrastructure and water points at rural clinics, strengthening the capacity of health providers, and creating capacity at the community level, especially for women. As Djibouti has one of the world's highest rates of tuberculosis, USAID is working with the government to improve the capacity of the national tuberculosis control program to reduce the spread of the disease. USAID supports program and laboratory management, creation of a quality assurance network for microscopy, and expansion of the "DOTS" approach to tuberculosis control in both the public and private sectors.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: EDUCATION
USAID focuses on increasing access to basic education, training teachers, strengthening parent-teacher associations, and developing the information, management, and planning capacity of the Ministry of Education. In 2008, USAID improved access for 50,000 primary school students-a significant achievement in a country with a population of 650,000. To improve teacher training, USAID employed a cascade approach where master trainers were trained, and they in turn trained primary teachers and directors throughout the country. USAID support to the Ministry established for the first time a nationwide set of quality and access standards, which will be used as the basis for a new education management system that will provide timely and reliable data for decision making.
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