U.S. Providing $32 Million in Aid to Kyrgyzstan
Washington - The United States is providing Kyrgyzstan with $32.267 million to support "programs for humanitarian relief, reconstruction, and community stabilization," the U.S. State Department said in a press release.
The assistance will go toward meeting immediate humanitarian needs, provide assistance to displaced and returning families and address the roots of the conflict through community development and conflict mitigation programs in the south of the Kyrgyz Republic, the statement said ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/June/20100617144440SBlebahC0.190437.html ). A week of ethnic violence between the country's Kyrgyz and Uzbek populations ( http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2010/June/20100614155558esnamfuak0.8137323.html ) erupted June 10 in southern Kyrgyzstan.
"The United States is deeply concerned and is closely monitoring developments in the Kyrgyz Republic and the affected border regions of Uzbekistan and supports international efforts to facilitate peace and order and the provision of humanitarian assistance coordinated by the United Nations and other international organizations," the State Department release said.
The U.S. government and other international donors are "making plans for safe distribution of food and supplies, including medical supplies where they are most needed," a statement on the website of the U.S. Embassy Bishkek said.
"I know that no words can take away the sorrow the families and all Kyrgyz people feel at this time," U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Tatiana C. Gfoeller said in a statement on the embassy website. "We hope that life will return to normal as soon as possible for all those affected by these tragic events."
The United States historically has aided Kyrgyzstan with nonemergency assistance as well. According to the annual Congressional Budget Justification on Foreign Assistance, the United States will provide Kyrgyzstan, a nation of 5.5 million people, with almost $54 million in nonemergency aid money in 2010. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been active in Kyrgyzstan since soon after the country's independence in 1992.
Most of the $54 million in nonemergency funding, distributed via USAID and the U.S. State Department, will be used to support humanitarian and economic assistance. Funding will go to support the growth of businesses within Kyrgyzstan, agricultural development, improved health care and a stronger education system. The remaining $5 million will go toward improving Kyrgyzstan's international security apparatus.
USAID programs, such as the Business Environment Improvement Project and the Land Reform and Market Development Project, dedicate more than $14.5 million a year to aid Kyrgyz business growth and help attract overseas investment. The money is used to train business owners in better management techniques, fund new business expansion and increase knowledge of international trade policy. These programs also seek to strengthen the government's regulatory standards while still keeping the Kyrgyz economy open to competition.
Programs aimed at increasing agricultural productivity in Kyrgyzstan focus on reforming land ownership laws and building small but significant infrastructural improvements, such as better irrigation systems.
USAID health care programs, including the Health Outreach Program and Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program, spend millions a year to improve Kyrgyzstan's public health system, provide technical assistance and training to its medical practitioners and enhance the government's ability to prevent and control diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Additional health-related projects seek to improve Kyrgyzstan's food security by providing more than 8,000 metric tons of food to those citizens most at risk of starvation or malnutrition.
Programs such as USAID's Quality Learning Project provide more than $6 million a year to Kyrgyzstan to improve on its basic education system, train new teachers and improve student assessment methods. Further, in a country where 98 percent of the population is literate but few have the money to attend university, the United States works with local financial institutions to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans to Kyrgyz students and is helping to gain accreditation for the American University of Central Asia, located in Bishkek.
The United States also supports programs aimed at improving democratic governance in Kyrgyzstan through the development of political parties, assurance of free and fair elections, advancement of human rights and strengthening of local communities.
