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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FACT SHEET
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-43202003-008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2003
USAID ASSISTANCE TO SIERRA LEONE
BUDGET (in '000s) FY 2001
(Actual)FY 2002
(Estimated)FY 2003
(Request)Development Assistance/ Child Survival $ 8,000 $ 7,487 $ 3,868 Economic Support Fund $ 4,850 $ 10,225 TBD PL 480 Title II $ 32,975 $ 24,554 TBD Democracy and Human Rights Fund $ 55 $ 70 TBD Special Self-Help Fund $ 54 $ 63 TBD Foreign Disaster Assistance $ 11,890 $ 11,649 TBD Transition Initiatives $ 3, 667 $ 1,158 N/A Total $ 61,491 $ 55,206 $ 3,868 Note: USAID's program in Sierra Leone is one of eight direct U.S. assistance programs in West Africa. Sierra Leone programs are monitored in USAID/Washington and from the USAID/Guinea office in Conakry.
OBJECTIVES
The United States has several important issues at stake in Sierra Leone. The U.S. has a humanitarian interest in preventing a recurrence of the lawlessness and brutal violence that produced thousands of deaths, injuries, and war crimes, and hundreds of thousands of refugees. Broad U.S. goals are to help foster an environment in which the government of Sierra Leone can control its own territory, protect its citizens, manage the country's resources, hold free and fair elections, and make important strides toward economic development.
MAJOR PROGRAM AREAS
Advancing Reintegration Process for War-Torn Populations in Targeted Communities: USAID/Sierra Leone's Reintegration and Reconciliation program will assist severely war-affected communities in Kono, Kailahun, and Koinadugu districts to rebuild the social and economic fabric of their societies. Program elements include: training for ex-combatants and war-affected youth, to help them prepare psychologically, financially, and socially for re-insertion into community life. Program elements also focus on funding small grants for community rehabilitation, including child survival, agricultural production, health services, and economic growth; providing technical assistance to communities on priority-setting and rehabilitation project design; and micro-credit facilities.
Strengthening Democratic Processes: USAID/Sierra Leone plans to strengthen the capacity of key democratic institutions and processes through targeted assistance that supports USG priorities through the following: training and technical assistance for civic education and political party development; technical assistance for radio programming through which democratic issues are debated, both by on-air experts and by members of local communities; technical assistance to support women and girls whose human rights were abused during the conflict; and technical assistance to strengthen the management, monitoring, and marketing of Sierra Leone's diamond resources and to increase the benefits from the resource to local communities.
OTHER PROGRAM AREAS
Economic Support Fund (ESF): Congress established ESF to promote economic and political stability in strategically important regions where the United States has special security interests. In Sierra Leone, ESF has funded election-related activities, infrastructure rehabilitation, and governmental institutional strengthening in the diamond sector.
Public Law 480 Title II (PL 480): Nearly 800 million in the world are food insecure, and many live in sub-Saharan Africa. Chronic poverty, the persistent lack of economic opportunity either to produce adequate amounts of food or to exchange labor for income needed to purchase food in adequate amounts, is the chief cause of food insecurity. USAID, through funding provided by PL 480, makes commodity donations to cooperating sponsors to address the needs of food security through 5-year development projects and emergency food assistance. In Sierra Leone, USAID is providing PL 480 emergency food commodities.
Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF): USAID supports a small grants program which provides assistance through indigenous organizations who implement small, short-term, highly targeted country-level activities in support of human rights and democratic institutions. In Sierra Leone, DHRF activities include support to a human rights clinic and efforts to address sexual and gender-based violence.
Special Self-Help (SSH) Fund: SSH supports community-based development activities that have an immediate impact. In Sierra Leone, SSH funds skills training and income-generating activities.
Foreign Disaster Assistance: In Sierra Leone, USAID's foreign disaster assistance activities provide support to a variety of sectors, including agriculture and food security, emergency health, therapeutic and supplementary feeding, water and sanitation, and shelter.
Transition Initiatives: USAID helps local partners advance peace and democracy in priority conflict-prone countries. Seizing critical windows of opportunity, USAID works on the ground to provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted at key transition needs. USAID's presence exited Sierra Leone in March 2002 and handed over on-going activities to the USAID Mission in Conakry, Guinea. While in Sierra Leone, USAID was involved in working with youth reintegration, conflict diamonds, media, and election assistance.
Public Private Alliance (PPA): PPA is USAID's business model for the 21st century-our commitment to change the way we implement our assistance mandate. The PPA will serve as a catalyst to mobilize the ideas, efforts, and resources of the public sector; corporate America and non-governmental organizations in support of shared objectives. In Sierra Leone, these funds are being used to support the creation of a partnership among USAID, the diamond industry, NGOs, the Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL), and communities in the diamond-rich district of Kono. This partnership will work to increase legal diamond mining activity, improve working conditions for miners, and increase the flow of benefits to diamond-producing communities.
Grants Program: Since 1961, USAID has operated the ocean freight reimbursement program to subsidize registered U.S. PVOs for their ocean freight transportation costs. Several grants were approved for Adventist Development and Relief Agency International, for Blessings International, for the Brother's Brother Foundation, for the Christian Relief Services Charities, for Direct Relief International, for the Lutheran World Relief, for the MAP International, and for the Salesian Missions to defray part of the transportation costs for selected commodity shipments to Sierra Leone.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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