Congressional Briefing
February 23, 1998
- FY 1997 Development of Assistance: $ 31,650,000
- FY 1997 International Narcotics Fund: $ 20,000,000
- FY 1997 P.L. 480, Title II Requests: $55,600,000
- Total 1997 funding requested for population and health:
- $13,047,000 is planned for population activities
- $6,019,000 is planned for health activities
- To address Peru’s evolving development needs and U.S. foreign
policy objectives, USAID pursues four strategic objectives. They are:
(1) broader citizen participation with more responsive public
institutions; (2) increased incomes of the poor; (3) improved health,
including family planning, of high risk populations; and (4) improved
environmental conditions in targeted areas. - P.L. Title II activities are used to achieve dual humanitarian and
development assistance objectives. Approximately two million poor
Peruvians are direct or indirect beneficiaries of the Title II funds,
and are thus vulnerable to coercion (see next point below). - Preliminary Ministry of Health data show a nationwide rise in
contraceptive use of 33% with all methods experiencing an absolute
increase. “USAID’s achievement, as the major donor in family planning,
has been great,” according to the agency. - Many NGOs provide temporary food support to extremely poor women
while simultaneously working to educate them on nutrition, health and
family planning. - “Contraceptive prevalence” increased by 33% between 1986 and 1995,
according to the agency. - In FY 1997, USAID will continue to support U.S. and local NGOs and
Peruvian public-sector institutions in efforts to: (1) strengthen the
quality of basic health care services, such as immunization, family
planning and related maternal and child health services. - USAID remains the largest donor in family planning, investing
annually about seven times more than the second one, the United
Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). UNFPA and the Overseas
Development Administration (the United Kingdom bilateral agency)
donate complimentary contraceptives and fund small-scale activities in
population research, management and service delivery. Other bilateral
donors, such as the Netherlands, Canada, Germany and France, as well
as the European Union, hold regular meetings with USAID, particularly
in reproductive health issues, following the Cairo and Beijing Plans
of Action. Estimated host country counterpart contributions for the
life of the strategic objective are $68,760,000.