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USAID/ Eritrea - Success Stories
›A Concerted Approach to Fighting HIV/AIDS
›Sustainable Development under Challenging Conditions
›Emergency Recovery Credit Scheme
›Connecting Eritrean Villages to the Global VillageA Concerted Approach to
Fighting HIV/AIDSIn December 1999, Eritrea was considered a low priority for HIV support. This began to change when a REDSO/ESA representative explained to senior officials that the situation in Eritrea was like that in Uganda before the epidemic exploded there. Troops were mobilized and shared the same commercial sex workers, spreading HIV among them rapidly. When the Ugandan troops were demobilized, they took HIV home with them to all parts of the country. Realizing that actions during the next two years would determine whether Eritrea would manage to keep HIV prevalence relatively low or not, USAID joined forces with other U.S. government agencies and UN organizations for a concerted effort to mobilize support for HIV prevention and care.
During the last year, USAID and Global Bureau cooperating agencies have helped the Ministry of Health (MOH) to design many new programs including behavior change communications, care and support for people living with AIDS, voluntary counseling and testing, and expansion of the HIV prevention condom social marketing program. The U.S. Embassy hosted a lunch on HIV for business and labor leaders. The public diplomacy office sponsored three international visitor programs focused on HIV to the U.S., as well as numerous Africa Journal programs, discussion groups, and a teleconference for students and journalists in Eritrea. The Africa Bureau's Office of Sustainable Development sent a specialist to reinforce MOH efforts to involve religious leaders in the HIV/AIDS fight and added Eritrea to the countries represented at the December 2000 White House Summit of Religious Leaders on HIV/AIDS. USAID, UNICEF, and UNAIDS jointly sponsored an Ambassadors of Hope Mission through which Ugandan HIV activists met with thousands of Eritreans, from cabinet ministers to front line troops, to convince them of the threat of HIV.
The result is a new, multi-sectoral commitment to fighting HIV, which is evident in many ways. The Chamber of Commerce organized an AIDS Walk in January 2001 led by the minister of defense, other cabinet ministers, and religious leaders. Once determined to avoid debt, Eritrea has signed a $40 million credit agreement with the World Bank to control HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. This project was launched by President Isaias, who spoke to the nation for the first time about the threat of HIV. This concerted effort has made it possible to prepare programs needed to prevent the spread of HIV during demobilization and create a compassionate environment for people living with AIDS. It is still a race against time, but one in which all players are now on the same team.
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Sustainable Development under
Challenging ConditionsFrom 1996 to 1997, USAID/Eritrea provided technical assistance, training, and computers to help the Eritrean Ministry of Health (MOH) establish its first health information system. This USAID support ended in 1998 when the Global BASICS contract ended, and the first of three conflict-related evacuations kept the mission from putting new assistance in place. Nonetheless, the MOH continued to implement the system, achieving 100 percent reporting from health facilities in 1998 and producing a comprehensive annual report in 1999.
Building on this foundation, the MOH and USAID are developing a new plan to increase the frequency of reporting, make charts and graphs easily available to users, and provide feedback to reporting units at all levels. This effort will fully exploit the data for targeting services and policy development, and use the data network as a medium for continuing education.
The findings on the sustainability of USAID's health information system efforts in Eritrea are similar to those reported last year for the pharmaceutical logistics system. The ability of Eritrea to pursue developmental programs in the midst of conflict, massive population displacement, and drought is due primarily to intense national commitment, reinforced with an approach to development assistance designed to enhance self-reliance.
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Emergency Recovery Credit Scheme
In 2000, the occupation of large parts of southern and western Eritrea by Ethiopian forces resulted in severe damage to businesses. USAID/Eritrea and its Eritrean partners decided to allocate $US5 million within the Enterprise Investment Fund for a fast-disbursing emergency credit facility available to entrepreneurs in Gash Barka and Debub who had lost their businesses as a result of the war. The main criteria were: 1) being a known entrepreneur in the community; 2) having sustained damage or a loss of a business; 3) expressing an interest in rebuilding the same business; and 4) accepting a commercial loan from the Commercial Bank of Eritrea (CBER) at the lowest interest rate available at the CBER.
Between August 25, 2000 and January 31, 2001, 215 loans were made for a total of $3.6 million (72 percent of the allocated amount). Following is a sample of comments from borrowers regarding the appropriateness of the emergency credit program:
Ms. Ghenet Yohannes owns a grocery store in Barentu. She is a young mother whose husband is still in the army. In August 2000, she borrowed food items from wholesalers to restart her business. With an emergency loan of $15,000 in local currency, Ms. Yohannes was able to repay the wholesalers and return to running her business on a cash basis. Her shop is well stocked, with inventory in the adjacent storeroom. She emphasized that the emergency loan was well timed and effective in providing critical funding to restart a small business.
Mr. Mohamed Jime is a CBER client who owns the most prominent snack bar in Barentu. He obtained an emergency loan of $15,000, which he used for working capital to purchase a refrigerator, furniture, and kitchen items to restart his business in August 2000. Mr. Jime stated "I started from zero. What you see today was all purchased with the loan. That opportunity came at the time when we were at a loss about what to do. The snack bar is doing well because of our longstanding goodwill in the community."
Mr. Estifanos Tesfamariam owns a small metal shop in Barentu. He used a loan of $10,000 in early January 2001 for working capital and to replace fixed assets. Mr. Tesfamariam is currently producing school furniture under a contract with the Ministry of Education. He said "The loan permitted me to restart my old business after losing everything, including my household items. The interest rate is reasonable." His major concern is whether the peace will hold.
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Connecting Eritrean Villages to
the Global VillageWith significant USAID assistance, the Internet has made major changes in Eritrea less than five months since its launch in November 2000. Though the total number of subscribers is currently only estimated at 1,500 for four internet service providers (ISPs), but business is booming at the four cyber-cafes in Asmara, and overall demand is so great that USAID has already completed a new design for a bandwidth upgrade.
The texture of life and communications is changing as students, professors, and journalists routinely surf the Internet for news and research purposes and use their Internet based e-mail accounts to communicate freely with friends and family, colleagues, and peers. Eritrean businesses are also quickly taking advantage of e-commerce opportunities. For example, Eriflora.com is a popular website used by the Eritrean diaspora to order flower deliveries all over the world. This business is owned by a demobilized female soldier, an example of information technology's power as an effective gender equalizer.
The Internet is also opening up the political process; new draft laws on elections and political parties are posted on Eritrean websites for comment. This would have been inconceivable less than six months ago.
With the hook-up of ISP branch offices in Mendefera, Dekemhare, Keren, and Massawa in April, three more of Eritrea's six regions will be covered, for a total of four. Once these secondary cities are connected, the next phase of USAID's project will begin, including planning for the establishment of telecenters in Eritrean villages. State-of-the art communications will clearly be critical to Eritrea's economic recovery and political development. USAID, complemented by the Public Diplomacy Office's efforts, will continue to make key investments in this field consistent with the policy reforms needed to ensure a private-sector led industry.
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More about USAID/ Ethiopia
USAID/ AFR Success Stories
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Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2002
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Last Updated on: July 19, 2004 |
