Showing posts with label U.S. ASSISTANCE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. ASSISTANCE. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

U.S. AIRCRAFT LANDED IN NEPAL TO HELP AFTER 7.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Right:  U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 3. The Marines also brought a UH-1Y Huey, tools and equipment in response to the Nepalese government’s request for assistance after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake April 25. The aircraft are with Marine Medium Tiltotor Squadron 262, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Mandaline Hatch.  

U.S. Aircraft Land in Nepal to Assist Earthquake Recovery
By Terri Moon Cronk
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2015 – U.S. military aircraft landed in Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday to assist in recovery efforts following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck there April 25, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters today.

The Defense Department’s primary contribution to the recovery work involves rotary-wing assets, Warren said.

Five U.S. Marine Corps aircraft -- a UH-1Y Huey helicopter and four MV-22 Ospreys, began arriving in Nepal yesterday morning, he said.

“These aircraft will help emergency responders access [Nepal’s] remote areas, which are home to the earthquake’s poorest and most vulnerable [people],” Warren said.

DoD Authorizes $10 Million

Defense Secretary Ash Carter authorized $10 million in Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic Assistance Funding in support of the operation, he added.
About 121 U.S. service members are on the ground to assist in recovery efforts in Nepal, Warren said, adding that Joint Task Force 505 was established May 1 to organize military personnel operations.

“The joint task force consists of a forward element in Nepal, a logistics support group in Utapao, Thailand, which is assisting with aircraft throughput and additional support [is coming from] Okinawa, Japan,” he said.

Assessing Damage

DoD aircraft have also partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s disaster assistance response team to view and assess areas of Nepal that have been made inaccessible by landslides and debris, Warren said.
“We’re working closely with host nations to minimize the impact of these activities on local populations,” he said.

The earthquake in Nepal has left more than 7,300 people dead and at least 14,000 injured, according to the Associated Press.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

VP BIDEN'S OP-ED ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
March 10, 2015
Op-Ed by the Vice President on the Administration’s Efforts to Assist Countries in Central America

In an op-ed published in The Hill, the Vice President outlines the Administration’s commitment to Central America. The op-ed can be found HERE.

Investing in a secure, stable Central America

By Vice President Joe Biden

Earlier this month, I spent two days in Guatemala meeting with Central American leaders about our mutual efforts to tackle one of the most significant and urgent challenges facing the Western Hemisphere: bringing stability to this impoverished and violent region.

The President and I are determined to address conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and help these countries on their path to economic prosperity. To that end, we requested $1 billion in next year’s budget to help Central America’s leaders make the difficult reforms and investments required to put the region on a more stable and sustainable path.

But we are just as determined to see these countries make their own commitments to depart from business as usual and embark on a serious new effort to deliver opportunity and security to their long-suffering people.

As I told these leaders back in June — and I reiterated earlier this month — as long as you are on the path to meaningful and lasting change, the United States will be there with you.

What we have seen since then has not been business as usual in Central America. With our support, the leaders of the region have committed themselves to a joint plan with the Inter-American Development Bank called the Alliance for Prosperity. It includes reforms of the police systems, the expansion of community centers to create the conditions we know prevent migration, measures to reduce poverty, steps to attract foreign investment and the continuation of our successful efforts to target smuggling networks.

These are challenges the region has long faced but lacked the political will necessary to address. Even before my recent visit, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras had quickly taken steps to start implementing the Alliance for Prosperity. Honduras signed an agreement with an international nongovernmental organization to increase governmental transparency. Guatemala has added new law enforcement officers and reassigned others to areas most in need, helping to reduce Guatemala’s murder rate by one-third. El Salvador passed a law providing new protections for investors.

And during my visit, the region’s leaders signed on to time frames, benchmarks and a first set of measurable commitments. For example, they committed to:

Create independent governmental auditing mechanisms by the end of 2015 to ensure their citizens’ tax dollars — and U.S. assistance — are used as effectively as possible;

Update regulations to promote a regional electricity market and complete the construction of a gas pipeline from Mexico to Central America, making energy more affordable for consumers;

Train additional police officers and expand centers in high-crime neighborhoods for at-risk youth; and

Develop programs to address domestic violence and promote women’s domestic empowerment by 2016, and to send experts to help.

A great deal of work lies ahead.  We have requested $1 billion for Central America in 2016 because Central America cannot do it alone. If the United States is not present, these reforms will falter. But the combination of Central American political will and international support can be transformative, especially since the three governments have committed to match or exceed international assistance to their countries. We intend to focus our assistance in three areas.

• First, improvements in security are essential. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have three of the five highest per capita murder rates in the world. But some communities in Guatemala and El Salvador are already seeing reductions in violence from well-proven U.S.-sponsored programs in community policing, specialized training, and youth centers similar to the Boys and Girls Clubs.  We want to help their governments extend these programs to help stabilize neighborhoods and eradicate transnational criminal networks that threaten Central America’s communities and our own.

• Second, in the 21st century, good governance is essential to attracting jobs and investment. Court systems, government contracting and tax collection are not widely perceived as fair or transparent. The countries of Central America have some of the lowest effective tax rates in the Americas. Central American countries need to do a better job collecting and managing revenues to invest in their own futures. We will assist in these efforts.

• Third, we are ready to offer technical expertise to help Central American countries attract significantly greater private investment. It’s no secret what is required: clear and streamlined rules and regulations, protections for investors, curbs on corruption, courts that adjudicate disputes fairly, and protections for intellectual property.

As we request $1 billion from the United States Congress to empower Central American leaders to address each of these challenges, our own government needs to move quickly to show results and hold ourselves accountable as well. That means rigorously evaluating our programs to build on what works and eliminate what doesn’t deliver the impact we need. The process is already underway, and we look forward to working closely with Congress to craft the most effective assistance package.

This level of support is nearly three times what we have provided to Central America in the recent past. But the cost of investing now in a Central America where young people can thrive in their own communities pales in comparison to the costs of another generation of violence, poverty, desperation and emigration.

The challenges ahead are formidable. Solving them will take years. But Central America’s leaders have now laid out a shared plan to move their region forward and taken the first steps to make it a reality. If they can deliver, Central America can become the next great success story of the Western Hemisphere.

We seek Congress’s help to make it so.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

SECRETARY HAGEL COMMENTS ON EBOLA MONITORING OF U.S. TROOPS RETURNING FROM WEST AFRICA

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Olmsted directs a C-17 Globemaster III in Monrovia, Liberia, during Operation United Assistance, Oct. 23, 2014. Olmsted is part of the Joint Task Force-Port Opening team assigned to the 621st Contingency Response Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gustavo Gonzalez. 


Hagel: Monitoring Returning Troops Provides ‘Safety Valve’
By Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jake Richmond
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2014 – A 21-day monitoring period for U.S. service members returning from areas affected by Ebola in West Africa provides a margin of safety that troops and their families wanted, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said here today.

During an interview at the Washington Ideas Forum here, Hagel said the policy he signed this morning was “discussed in great detail by the communities, by the families of our military men and women,” who very much wanted a “safety valve” in place.

The order implements a recommendation from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to place all U.S. military service members returning from Operation United Assistance into a 21-day controlled monitoring regimen. It applies to all military services contributing personnel to the fight against Ebola at its source, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement.

Review required within 45 days

Hagel’s directive to the Joint Chiefs also stipulates that they provide operational specifics for the program within 15 days and a review of the new regimen within 45 days. The review will take into account what officials learn and observe from the initial waves of personnel returning from Operation United Assistance, and will result in a recommendation on whether the controlled monitoring should continue, Kirby said.

“The secretary believes these initial steps are prudent, given the large number of military personnel transiting from their home base and West Africa and the unique logistical demands and impact this deployment has on the force,” the press secretary said. “The secretary's highest priority is the safety and security of our men and women in uniform and their families.”

Thursday, September 12, 2013

U.S. AIDS COUNTRIES AFFECTED BY COFFEE RUST

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
U.S. Assistance to Coffee Rust Affected Countries
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 10, 2013

Central America, southern Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean are experiencing one of the worst recorded outbreaks of coffee rust, a devastating disease for coffee plants, threatening the livelihoods and food security of smallholder coffee farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that coffee production in Mexico and Central America will decline by seven percent this year and may fall even further next year. The United States is working closely with affected governments, international organizations, civil society, coffee associations, and the private sector to combat coffee rust and mitigate its impacts in the following ways:

Through development diplomacy, the United States is raising the concern of coffee rust with senior government officials in affected countries and encouraging them to provide assistance to their producers.

Through the Unidad Regional de Asistencia Technica (RUTA), the United States hired a regional coordinator housed at the regional coffee association, PROMECAFÉ, in Guatemala to provide regional emergency coordination and disseminate best practices to combat rust.

The United States is providing field-based technical assistance to coffee farmers in El Salvador and Guatemala through the Food for Progress program to assist them to diversify and manage risk.

Through Feed the Future, the President’s food security initiative, the United States is working closely with the coffee industry and other stakeholders to provide training, resources and livelihoods support to affected communities and small scale farmers in Guatemala and Honduras.

The United States is working with national organizations and civil societies to support research on rust-resistant coffee varieties and address the shortage of appropriate coffee seedlings.

The United States is working through the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) in coordination with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) to provide a regional financing facility that would offer farmers medium and long term loans for plantation improvements and renovation.

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