Fact Sheet: President Obama Increases Humanitarian Assistance to Syrians

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
June 17, 2013

Today, during his meeting with G-8 leaders in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, President Obama announced over $300 million in additional life-saving humanitarian assistance to help feed, shelter, and provide medical care for children, women, and men affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria. The United States remains the single-largest contributor of humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people, and this new contribution brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the Syria crisis to nearly $815 million since the crisis began.

The United States supports and appreciates the countries hosting the 1.6 million refugees who have fled the brutal conflict in Syria, and commends host-nation efforts to provide protection, assistance, and hospitality to all those fleeing violence. The United States recognizes the significant strains on host communities and the economic impact of providing refuge to such a large number of people. We call on all host governments to continue to keep their borders open to those still fleeing violence in Syria.

This $300 million in additional humanitarian aid from the United States will increase food aid, medical care, clean water, and provide shelter and other relief supplies for families suffering in Syria and neighboring countries. In addition, the United States is increasing support for activities to protect especially vulnerable populations—including women, children, and the elderly—and improving sanitation and hygiene to help prevent the spread of water-borne illness.

The United States is now providing aid to 3.2 million people in Syria across all 14 governorates and continues to work through all possible channels to deliver aid to those in need in Syria, including through the United Nations, international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and local Syrian organizations.

This new U.S. assistance includes:

INSIDE SYRIA: Over $128 million

Additional aid from the United States is increasing life-saving health and emergency medical capacity; providing additional food aid, including American wheat that will be milled into flour; providing more blankets, hygiene kits, clothing, and shelter materials; and supporting women, children, and those with special needs.

LEBANON: Over $72 million

The increased U.S. aid supports Syrian refugees as well as Lebanese host communities with shelter improvements for families hosting refugees, quick impact projects to improve local services in affected areas, along with vocational training, educational classes, and income generation activities to benefit Syrians and Lebanese in need. Additionally, new funding supports efforts to register newly-arrived Syrian refugees and provide them with food vouchers and cash assistance. Increased funding will provide food assistance to 165,000 Syrian refugees by July 2013.

U.S. funding ensures that 400,000 children under the age of five are immunized against measles, that water and sanitation services reach 70,000 refugees and host communities, and that more than 100,000 children have a safe educational environment.

In Lebanon, the number of Palestinian refugees from Syria now exceeds 56,500 and is anticipated to reach 80,000 by December. Palestinian arrivals from Syria are largely making their way to Lebanon’s existing Palestinian camps. These camps were already overcrowded and in disrepair before the influx from Syria increased the camps’ population by approximately 20 percent. U.S. support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon provides needed assistance to this population, including cash assistance, relief supplies, education, and medical care.

JORDAN: Over $45 million

Our increased funding increases our food assistance to Jordan, providing monthly food assistance to 192,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan by July 2013. The United States is also providing shelter support, protection services, education, and health care. We are helping provide health services in camps, host communities, and transit sites, especially for children under age five. In addition, U.S. funding will support a water network expansion at Za’atri camp, and reduce the reliance on water trucking and improve sanitation.

IRAQ: Over $24 million

Additional funding from the United States supports camp construction and much-needed relief assistance, protection programs, and education for children who have fled the conflict in Syria. U.S. assistance also contributes to vaccinations for 21,000 women and children, water and sanitation services in camps for 24,500 refugees, and mental health counseling to 8,700 children. The additional funding supports food vouchers and in-kind food assistance for 36,500 Syrian refugees in Iraq.

TURKEY: Over $22 million

Additional U.S. funding is helping offset the Government of Turkey’s generous spending on direct assistance to Syrian refugees. The United States is supporting costs of urban refugee registration and the provision of tents, blankets, kitchen burners, and kitchen sets for Syrians who have fled into Turkey. Our additional funding includes food vouchers for 69,000 refugees living in camps.

Our assistance provides immunizations and recreation spaces for Syrian children and youth, as well as counseling for those who have endured traumatic events. The United States is helping build the capacity of Syrian doctors and health clinics in Turkey through trainings, service coordination, and regularization of small clinics. Additionally, U.S. funding is helping implement a disaster risk management plan to reduce, mitigate, prepare for, and respond to public health risks to vulnerable populations with a goal of preventing avoidable mortality and morbidity through improved access to health care.

EGYPT: Over $6 million

U.S. assistance helps ensure 20,000 refugees have access to primary health care and helps provide pre-school and primary school for some 3,000 refugee children. The additional funding will support food vouchers for 11,500 Syrian refugees in Egypt.

For more detailed information on the U.S. Government’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, please visit: http://www.usaid.gov/crisis/syria.

Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2013/06/20130617276505.html#ixzz2WYYOZR6s

Africa Can Compete! Cases of Africa Succeeding in Global Markets: USAID Activities in Nut Value Chains

Geneva,
July 9, 2013

11:00am-1:00pm, Room D

Link for Latest Side Event Information:

More than 40% of the world’s cashews are grown in Africa. Yet for too long, Africa’s cashews have been exported to other countries for processing, denying Africa the value-added afforded by local processing. Sheanut is another indigenous African product that has served as a traditional source of nutrition in Africa but is only recently being recognized for its potential as a premium ingredient in food and cosmetic products.

This side event will tell the story of these two value chains and discuss the catalyzing role that USAID has played in the creation of the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) and the Global Shea Alliance (GSA). The session will offer insights regarding the role donors can play in bringing together a wide range of African and international stakeholders, all of whom have an interest in creating competitive industries, linked to global markets and providing economic growth opportunities for all involved.

Introduction: Eric Postel Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment, US Agency for International Development

Moderator: Tjada McKenna, Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, Bureau for Food Security, US Agency for International Development

African Cashew Alliance Discussants

a. Georgette Tarraf, President of African Cashew Alliance Executive Committee and President of NAD & Co, Cotonou, Benin

b. Theodore Partheeban, Vice President, Olam International and Board Member of ACA

c. Intersnack

d. Kraft

Global Shea Alliance Discussants

a. Hajiya Salima Makama, President, Executive Committee, Global Shea Alliance

b. Planet Finance/Star Shea

c. Body Shop

Question and Answer period

U.S. nutrition programs target mothers and children

By Kathryn McConnell
IIP Staff Writer
Washington,
June 11, 2013

The funds will accelerate activities aimed at reducing child stunting by 20 percent by 2018 in the 19 low-resource countries supported by Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

“Ensuring that a child receives adequate nutrition during the critical 1,000-day window from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday can yield dividends for a lifetime,” Shah said June 10 at a Washington event co-hosted by Bread for the World Institute and Concern Worldwide. Global nutrition has been a U.S. priority linking its Global Health Initiative and Feed the Future.

Undernutrition leads to more child deaths every year than any other cause, he said.

“To ensure that every child thrives,” then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin launched the global 1,000 Days Partnership in 2010, Shah noted. Ireland’s Minister of Trade and Development Joe Costello also spoke at the event, called “Sustaining Political Commitments to Scaling Up Nutrition.”

Shah praised Bread for the World Institute and Concern Worldwide for their commitment to ending hunger, for helping to get science, research and agriculture on countries’ development agendas, and for supporting a more flexible approach to delivering food aid. The approach announced earlier in 2013 by President Obama would include vouchers to purchase food in areas where U.S. food commodities cannot be distributed, he said.

Shah said that since 2011, the United States has more than doubled its spending on agricultural research and launched programs to help innovations reach smallholder farmers. In 2012, he said, Feed the Future helped 7 million farmers adopt improved technologies or management practices that helped them produce higher yields and earn higher incomes.

The U.S. spending recently was met by a pledge of $750 million in private funds for nutrition. Nongovernmental groups associated with the U.S. umbrella group Interaction made the pledge, Shah said.He previewed Feed the Future’s second annual report, to be released later in June. The report will highlight the program’s system for gathering and disseminating “timely, accurate data that measures everything from household income to the participation of women to the prevalence of stunting,” he said.

He said one of the most significant challenges that remain is continued underinvestment in agriculture by some countries, particularly “in the infrastructure that connects farmers to their markets.”

The event followed Shah’s June 8 participation in a high-level meeting in London during which he signed the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact, with the goals of reaching 500 million pregnant women and children under age 2 by 2020, averting 20 million cases of child stunting by the same year, and preventing 1.7 million deaths through increased breast-feeding, zinc supplements and more treatment of severe, acute malnutrition.

At that meeting, Shah and the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening launched the Global Open Data Initiative for Agriculture and Nutrition to support international partners in efforts to make agriculture and nutrition data available to the public.

“By embracing high-impact partnerships, science and technology, we can achieve progress simply unimaginable in the past, including the end of extreme poverty, widespread hunger and chronic malnutrition,” Shah said.

Nutrition and agricultural development are likely to be discussed at a meeting of the Group of Eight major economies hosted by the United Kingdom June 17–18 in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

Children in a remote village east of Manila, the Philippines, attend the opening of classes for the 2013-2014 school year. USAID is helping Filipino teachers educate kids about disease prevention.

Washington,
June 7, 2013

In 2012, the agency helped revise school health kits that teachers use to educate students on how to avoid exposure to the three most prevalent NTD infections — soil transmitted helminths (intestinal worms), schistosomiasis (snail fever) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantitis) — which are endemic across much of the Philippines. More than 50 million are at risk, including most of the country’s children.

Because of the Philippines’ challenging political geography — more than 92 million people live across more than 7,000 islands, some of which have areas of armed conflict — major advances toward the elimination of NTDs have been an uncertain endeavor, and potentially expensive.

One extremely effective way to reach children, who are the most vulnerable to long-term mental and physical impairment from these diseases, is through the national school system. Even if these kids live in hard-to-reach areas, most go to school every day.

More than 775 schools across the country are now better prepared to teach children about how worm infections are spread, what symptoms children may have and ways to prevent exposure such as proper hand washing, using toilets properly and taking deworming tablets regularly. The teachers engage children in storytelling and role-playing so they can better understand and act on the lessons they learn.

“The new school health materials for NTDs are a really important contribution,” says Loida Ramos, supervisory health program officer at the Department of Education. “They are simple, clear, easy to understand and quite colorful. They have been designed to be easily understood by both the teachers and the students, and do not require any additional — and costly — training in their use. We are already hearing about the excitement these materials are causing in schools across the country.”

USAID’s work to bring treatment and prevention to Filipino schools is part of the regionwide End Neglected Tropical Diseases (END) in Asia Project. The agency’s support of $1 million per year is helping to strengthen communication materials, build local capacity, improve coordination and planning, and expand advocacy to both public and private partners, especially in those isolated and impoverished areas.

Ahmed Al Khaldi looks on as his wife and granddaughter pump water from their storage tank.

By Kathy Sullivan, USAID
Washington,
May 30, 2013

Zaatari village lies just south of Jordan’s border with Syria. In 2009, Ahmed Al Khaldi received a $1,700 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded revolving loan from his village cooperative to install a 30-cubic-meter cistern to store rainwater harvested off his roof.

Jordan is among the driest countries in the world. Rapid population growth has reduced the amount of fresh water available to the average Jordanian to less than 158 cubic meters per year — 10 times less than the average U.S. citizen consumes. The renewable water supply — the water that is replenished each year by rainfall — only meets about half of total water consumption. The rest of the water used in Jordan comes primarily from aquifers that are slowly being depleted, USAID said. Alternative sources such as desalination are very expensive.

As is typical across the country, municipal water was delivered infrequently in Zaatari. If the storage tank ran out, the Al Khaldi family had to buy expensive truckloads of water from local businessmen. “With the cistern, I feel secure. Every time I need water, I just pump it from the cistern,” he says. “We can even share with neighbors if they run out of water.”

The cistern does not meet all the water needs of the Al Khaldi family. But it does provide important support for three generations of Al Khaldi’s immediate family — 15 members in all — living under one roof.

This cistern would eventually help Al Khaldi throw a lifeline to relatives living hundreds of kilometers away in Homs, Syria. Like many Jordanians in the north, his tribe lives on both sides of the border. In 2011, his Syrian cousin, Ahmad Swaidan, fled to Jordan with his wife and five children and his brother’s five children. “The shelling threatened our lives daily,” Swaidan says.

Like 200 other families in Zaatari, the Al Khaldis took in their Syrian relatives, housing them in an adjacent family property. By local estimates, the village’s Jordanian population of 8,000 had absorbed 2,000 Syrian refugees by November 2012.

1,500 REFUGEES A DAY

Since 2006, the USAID-supported initiative to establish simple water-harvesting and conservation habits across Jordan has empowered rural families to take control of their water security. When conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, these communities were better prepared for what was coming. As conflict intensified in 2012, about 500 Syrians fled across the border daily. By the end of 2012, as many as 1,500 refugees a day were escaping into Jordan, USAID says.

Water shortages in the area have intensified with the arrival of Syrians and the establishment of the 60,000-capacity refugee camp just outside Zaatari village. Thanks to the water-harvesting system, though, which pipes water down to the cistern at ground level, water supplies and expenses are manageable for the joint Al Khaldi-Swaidan household of 27 people.

“If we didn’t have the cistern, we would need to buy extra water four times a month at a total cost of JD 80 [$113],” Al Khaldi says. “Now it’s only twice a month.”

The same applies for 22 other Zaatari families who bought cisterns with USAID-backed loans.

The Al Khaldi family is also sharing their water-conservation habits with their Syrian relatives. “We never worried about water in Syria, but now our family understands,” says Swaidan, a plumber, adding that he hopes one day to bring these practices back with him to Syria.

Along with the cistern, the Al Khaldi family started using some simple water-saving devices provided by the USAID project. On his own initiative, Al Khaldi installed a tube to divert dishwater from the kitchen out to the vegetable garden. “The family needs to wash and clean every day, but we are more careful about how we use water,” says Al Khaldi.

The USAID-funded program, known formally as the Community-Based Initiative for Water Demand Management, is implemented by Mercy Corps with its partners: the Jordan River Foundation, the Royal Scientific Society and 135 local community-based organizations throughout Jordan.

For the 23 Zaatari households that bought cisterns with USAID/Mercy Corps–funded loans, the terms require them to pay back $57 a month over 30 months. The Zaatari Cooperative Society, a local partner, reports a 100 percent on-time loan repayment rate for every family. The project also provides grants to schools, community centers and other public buildings so they too can benefit from water collection and saving practices.

The project has changed the ways households and communities understand, discuss and manage their water resources.

“People are now aware of Jordan’s water shortage, not only at the individual level but as a shared problem of the country,” says Ahmad Bani Ata, a Mercy Corps monitoring and evaluation manager.

A recent $20 million grant from the U.S. government’s Complex Crises Fund will build on this project’s efforts to help Jordanians and an increasing number of Syrian refugees meet their water needs.

The Fishing with 3G Nets project in Bahia, Brazil, is one of three successful collaborations to date between USAID and Qualcomm.

Washington,
May 22, 2013

Building on several successful projects in Latin America and Asia, USAID and Qualcomm Inc. signed an agreement that aims to help close the mobile phone gender gap, expand access to broadband, enhance education outcomes, mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, improve information access for front-line health workers, connect small-scale farmers and producers to market data, and enable entrepreneurs to grow their companies by leveraging digital literacy skills.

“USAID is proud to work with Qualcomm. As a global technology leader, they are innovative, nimble and strategic. We share a vision of how to address the challenges in the developing world. Qualcomm has helped us design solutions that make our joint efforts go further,” USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg said at a ceremony held at USAID.

USAID and Qualcomm have worked together on three successful collaborations:

• Brazil: The Fishing with 3G Nets project has provided small-scale fishermen in Bahia with mobile devices and customized applications to help them practice sustainable fishing, connect with buyers, track sales, access technical assistance, and receive weather and navigation updates.

• El Salvador: USAID and Qualcomm collaborated to develop a wireless mobile and web-based crime system that enables law enforcement in five municipalities to track, report and analyze real-time crime data.

• Philippines: The Wireless Access for Health project established an electronic medical record platform in rural and provincial health clinics that has led to more efficient patient care, having reduced the four to five minutes needed to search paper records to just seconds.

“Given the increasing complexity of the local and global social challenges the world faces, public-private partnerships such as this one with USAID become essential to creating both social and business value,” said Nathan Fletcher, senior director of corporate development at Qualcomm.

This strategic collaboration with Qualcomm builds on USAID’s priority to promote public-private partnerships to help reach underserved communities, USAID said in a May 21 press release.

Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

Geneva, Switzerland

May 21, 2013

Ambassador Betty E. King
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Since the last Global Platform, the world has been struck with an unprecedented number of disasters.  These include one of the most severe droughts ever recorded in the United States in 2012, followed by the catastrophic Hurricane Sandy that struck one of our most densely populated and urbanized areas in the United States.  This year, we have already experienced significant destruction resulting from earthquakes in Iran, China, and elsewhere.  Today, we are experiencing the tragic impact of yesterday’s tornado in Oklahoma.  The challenges have never been greater, nor our collective efforts more important, to reducing disaster risk.

These and other events have accounted for some of the most destructive and costly disasters in recent history.  For example, Hurricane Sandy was the second-largest Atlantic storm on record.  The severity of the weather system and characteristics of the impacted region highlighted several areas for improvement, including the need for more advanced planning to address issues specific to emergencies in densely populated areas.  However, scientific and technological advancements in early warning greatly reduced the loss of life, and innovative and collaborative efforts helped mitigate the storm’s impact on critical urban infrastructure.

Unfortunately, the global pattern of extreme weather and devastation has become routine, and governments must be prepared to adjust policies and practices and consider directing resources to manage risk in order to minimize devastation.  To be sure, resources to address these risks are limited as many countries face significant and complex economic challenges that will not be resolved overnight.  Consequently, disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts must be smarter, accessible at the local level, and aimed at achieving practical results.

The international community must remain steadfast in pursuing the markers set out in the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) even as we lay the groundwork for post-HFA.  The United States continues to endorse the framework’s goals and apply its principles through our own institutions and internationally.  For example, recognizing that preparedness is a shared responsibility, President Obama signed the National Preparedness Policy in March 2011.  This policy engages the whole community – government, business, and individuals – in a systematic effort to make the United States safer and more resilient to hazards.  The policy embraces many of the HFA’s five priorities for action, such as reducing underlying risk and building a culture of resilience through our recently released National Mitigation Framework.  U.S. programs support governments, communities, and civil society in reducing the risk of and preparing for natural disasters by safeguarding lives, livelihoods, services and facilities – ultimately increasing resilience to adverse transitory events globally.

The United States supports the HFA as a strong basis for the HFA 2, recognizing that the follow-on framework must reflect increasingly prevalent challenges and trends, such as climate change.  The United States supports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Managing the Risk of Extremes and Disasters (IPCC/SREX) conclusions that disaster risk reduction measures are an effective way to adapt to climate variability and change, and we support closer integration of the two issues.

Additionally, DRR should be integrated into sustainable development and poverty eradication policies, plans, program and budgets at all levels, and should be considered within relevant future frameworks.

We need to strengthen the existing physical infrastructure.  In developed countries, aging infrastructures not built to withstand the increasing frequency and/or intensity of the natural hazard events we see today in some regions will exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.  In many developing countries, infrastructures supporting clean water, sanitation, decent housing, transportation systems, and electricity are poor, unreliable, or nonexistent.  Improving these systems, along with incorporating some degree of accountability in the HFA 2, may increase livability, reduce diseases, and strengthen the resilience of populations.

Disaster risk reduction is a shared responsibility and calls for the involvement of everyone.  HFA 2 processes should therefore encourage active participation of a broad range of civil society actors, including affected communities, the private sector, and academia.  The HFA 2 must pay increased attention to integrating the whole community into DRR measures, including individuals – such as persons with disabilities and older persons – who may experience a disproportionate impact during and after a disaster.

While these challenges may seem daunting, the opportunities for collaboration are numerous.  The United States remains committed to working with the international community toward the common goal of reducing disaster risk worldwide.

Thank you.

Washington,
May 16, 2013

On May 15, 2013, at the Mali Donors’ Conference in Brussels, USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Nancy Lindborg and Department of State Acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Don Yamamoto reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Mali as the country returns to democracy, peace, and stability.  Assistant Administrator Lindborg also announced that the United States is providing more than $32 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support Malians affected by the crisis.

The new assistance builds on the significant ongoing commitment of the United States to address the crisis in Mali.  Although over $188 million in assistance to Mali, mostly to the government, was either terminated or suspended after the coup, the United States has continued to provide over $7 million in democracy assistance programming, $83 million in health support, $4.8 million in peace and security assistance, $33.5 million in economic growth programming, and, with today’s commitment of $32 million, more than $180 million in humanitarian assistance to Mali and Malian refugees.

This additional assistance will support the life-saving humanitarian work of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations in Mali and in neighboring countries.  This includes essential protection and assistance through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, food assistance through the World Food Program, humanitarian logistics through the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, and shelter, food security, and health through other international organizations and NGOs.

Because the crisis in Mali is closely intertwined with regional dynamics we are also providing significant assistance to key partners in the Sahel region. Since fiscal year 2012, the United States is providing more than $550 million in humanitarian assistance to the Sahel, including this latest contribution.  We are bringing our relief and development teams together for joint analysis and joint planning in support of efforts that build resilience to the region’s recurrent shocks.

Since January of this year, conflict and insecurity have generated more than 175,000 Malian refugees and internally displaced more than 300,000 Malians.  The United States recognizes the hospitality of all countries hosting Malian refugees, in particular the governments and people of Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Niger who have continued to keep their borders open to those fleeing the situation in Mali.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact Deborah L. Sisbarro at sisbarrodl@state.gov or (202) 463-9339, or visit www.state.gov/j/prm.

President Obama and British Prime Minister Cameron leave the stage after their news conference May 13 at the White House, where they talked about various topics, including Syria’s civil war.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
IIP Staff Writer
Washington,
May 13, 2013

British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Obama in the Oval Office at the White House May 13 to discuss trade and economic cooperation, Syria, countering terrorism and priorities for the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) Summit in Northern Ireland, which Cameron will host.

On global development, Obama told journalists at a morning press briefing that he and Cameron were encouraged by the ambitious reforms underway at the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where both nations have been stepping up efforts. Obama also said that Cameron will make nutrition and food security significant topics for the June G8 Summit.

Obama thanked Cameron for his leadership, partnership and support going into the annual meeting of the world’s largest and most advanced economies.

Britain holds the G8 presidency in 2013, and Cameron will lead the meeting to be held June 17–18 in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. A significant portion of his Oval Office meeting with Obama was to review the summit agenda.

“I appreciate [Cameron’s] updating me on the agenda as it takes shape, and we discussed how the summit will be another opportunity to sustain the global economic recovery with a focus on growth and creating jobs for our people,” Obama said during a White House press conference.

The G8, which is a forum for the world’s eight wealthiest nations, includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Cameron told reporters that open trade will be at the heart of the agenda for ambitious action for economic growth during the G8, but also greater openness for advanced and developing economies. He also said that as nations open up their economies to get business growing, there is an equal need for corporations to pay taxes properly and enable citizens to hold their governments and businesses to account.

“We need to know who really owns a company, who profits from it, whether taxes are paid,” Cameron said. “And we need a new mechanism to track where multinationals make their money and where they pay their taxes so we can stop those that are manipulating the system unfairly.”

Cameron said that he and Obama have championed the development of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union. He said there’s a real chance now for progress to launch the agreement in time for the G8 in the next five weeks.

Obama said that trade with Britain is central to the United States’ broader trans-Atlantic economic relationship, which supports more than 13 million jobs.

On Afghanistan, Obama said he and Cameron reviewed progress in shifting the security lead to the Afghan National Army.

“As planned, Afghan forces will take the lead for security across the country soon this spring. U.S., British and coalition forces will move into a support role, our troops will continue to come home, and the war will end by the end of next year, even as we work with our Afghan partners to make sure that Afghanistan is never again a haven for terrorists who would attack our nations,” Obama said.

The two leaders also discussed the civil crisis in Syria and “the appalling violence being inflicted on the Syrian people.”

“Together, we’re going to continue our efforts to increase pressure on the Assad regime, to provide humanitarian aid to the long-suffering Syrian people, to strengthen the moderate opposition and to prepare for a democratic Syria without [Syrian President] Bashar Assad,” Obama told reporters.

A Zimbabwean farmer prepares to sow maize seed in Harare in 2011.

Washington,
10 May 2013

The agreement will support farmers in these regions, USAID said in a news release from Cape Town, South Africa, the same day.

“Every night, nearly 870 million people in the world go to bed hungry,” said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. “Scaling the adoption of innovative technologies like drought-tolerant seeds and crop insurance can build the foundation for sustainable food security.

“By strengthening our partnership with Syngenta,” Shah said, “we can reduce hunger and undernutrition across three different continents and help bring the end of extreme poverty within reach.”

Under the agreement, USAID and Syngenta will further collaborate in research and development and smallholder capacity building, working with scientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers and other donors. Syngenta and USAID already work together in many countries and will broaden their current relationship.

The new commitment advances agricultural development and food security goals set by developing countries and supported by USAID through Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, which is part of the U.S. contribution to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.

As announced in May 2012, Syngenta has committed to invest more than $500 million over 10 years in Africa. Under the agreement, Syngenta and USAID together will build the capacity of smallholder farmers to adopt and safely use technologies that increase their yields through training, demonstrations and other approaches. With USAID, Syngenta will work in specific New Alliance countries and explore ways to increase growers’ use of technologies in crops such as potatoes and will expand smallholder access to tools such as crop insurance and seed treatment.

Syngenta is one of the world’s leading companies, with more than 27,000 employees in some 90 countries. Its purpose is to bring plant potential to life through science by increasing crop productivity, protecting the environment, and improving health and quality of life.

“Our collaboration with USAID is part of our ambition to enable a worldwide step-change in farm productivity,” said Syngenta Chief Executive Officer Mike Mack. “Public-private partnerships such as this, drawing on the strengths of each party, will be catalysts for transforming agriculture by improving knowledge and technology in farming, especially in developing markets.”

The New Alliance, announced by President Obama at the 2012 Group of Eight (G8) Summit, is a shared commitment between African governments, G8 members and the private sector to work together to accelerate investments in agriculture to improve productivity, livelihoods and food security for smallholder farmers. As part of this global effort, Feed the Future supports countries in developing their own agriculture sectors to generate opportunities for economic growth and trade, particularly for smallholder farmers, many of whom are women.

In 2012, Feed the Future helped more than 7 million food producers adopt improved technologies or management practices that can lead to more resilient crops, higher yields and increased incomes. The initiative, led by USAID, also reached nearly 12 million children in 2012 through nutrition programs, which can prevent and treat undernutrition and improve child survival.

To learn more about Feed the Future, visit the initiative’s website.