Butch Meily is President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Ideenpace and QBO Innovation. He is the author of the New memoirs From Manila to Wall Street: the journey of a immigrant with the first black Tycoon America.
1961 was US President John F. Kennedy created a new federal authorityThe United States International Agency for Development (USAID). It is The purpose was “To support the recovery of countries from the disaster, to try to escape poverty and to get involved in democratic reforms.” Among the more than 100 countries, USAAID helped around the world in the next 64 years worldwide worldwide was my ownThe Philippines.
Last week USAID officially hired operations. Only the day before, the respected British Medical Journal The Lancet published a study Warning about the potential consequences that are now being rejected. The elimination of USAid could contribute to 14 million additional deaths in the next five years. The researchers described the effects for some countries as “similar to a global pandemic or a large armed conflict”, which is based on a “conscious and avoidable political choice”.
I was born in the Philippines shortly after the Second World War, once a US colony. But even from afar, I always felt a relationship with the United States. In 1977 I decided to follow my ambitions – and a master’s degree – in America. The day on which I became a swore in Manhattan and American citizens will always be among the proudest of my life.
At that time I had no idea how much USA’s achieved in the Philippines, let alone I was personally involved.
The fight for USAID
In February about the social truth, President Donald Trump explained the USA ID editions “It’s completely inexplicable … close it.” He claimed that the agency had been carried out by “Radical Lunatics Left.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk – who was calculated by Trump for the management of the newly shaped Ministry for Government Efficiency and Slash Federal, was calculated garbage and abuse – the agency previously referred to the “beyond repair”, “corrupt” and “a criminal organization”. “Time to die”, Muschus Posted on X.
In a short time, Microsoft Co -founder and philanthropic Bill Gates intervened and met with President Trump in the White House to defend the funding for USAID – and to represent them for the support. Gates named USAID as the “best” of all development agencies all over the world. In May, he accused musk of “Kill the poorest children in the world.” Until then, the cubes were triumphantly thrown as Trump characterized the budget and personnel cuts Already added to the USA as “devastating”.
Nevertheless, other prominent opponents of the controversial cuts came into the violation. In a private video conference that shines on USAID employees worldwide at the end of June, President George W. Bush and Barack Obama, together with U2 singer Bono, delivered a warm farewell to the agency. “USAD’s lining is a travesty,” said Obama, “and it’s a tragedy.” Bush asked the USAID employees present: “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who have now died live?
USAID services
As I have learned since his return in 2000 to live in the Philippines, USAID did an absolutely Yeomanian job in every respect. Eating from American farmers feeded hungry families and starving refugees. The employees distributed drugs for malaria, HIV and other infectious diseases that saved lives. It enabled the communities too Fighting poverty and developing economicallyIn the process of determining new consumer markets for American goods.
In the 1960s, in which the country still recovered from the devastation of the Second World War, USAID helped to found national government agencies and educational institutions. Later, USAID focused on Strengthening the democratic institutions.
2012 a big new USAI program too Expose tuberculosis Improved treatment success rates by 92%.
Go home
From 1995 to 2013, 28,000 former combatants in my own country trained 28,000 former combatants with skills and tools to land land and otherwise earn his livelihood, which has contributed to integrating these civilians back into society and raising the economy in a southern Philippines that was still torn by war.
Thanks to the USA’s hand from the USA, our mothers-die rate was almost halved over a period of 23 years, from 209 per 100,000 live births in 1993 to 114 per 100,000 live births in 2015. More than 1.5 million Filipinos benefited from the support of the USAID support of sustainable management for coastal fishing in order to stop overfishing and environmental delimitation.
But that’s hardly all. USAID trained more than 19,000 Filipino teachers in English, mathematics and natural sciences. As a result, the percentage of students at locations supported by USAID and filled the national benchmarks for reading liquid and understanding almost quadrupleFrom 20% in 2013 to 76% in 2016.
In the destructive In 2013, one of the largest storms that have ever rebuilt country, USAID, stormed schools, health clinics and water systems and helped the survivors to rehabilitate their business and companies. Recently it started programs in which the economies of cities outside of Manila were strengthened to promote sustainable growth.
Today the Filipino economy ranked as The 32nd largest in GDP in the world – and ninth Asia in Asia, according to the International Monetary Fund. This year the Said the World Bank“His economic dynamics reflect the increasing urbanization, a large and young population and a strong demand from consumers who are supported by a lively labor market and robust transfers that have increased the income of the most at risk.” The case can be done that USAD’s means and volunteer work on the ground have contributed significantly to the current socio -economic stature of the Philippines.
As head of a disaster management organization of the private sector, I Cooperation with USAID for numerous projects in the past 10 years. Together we helped communities and communities Prepare for disastersIt made it possible for the Ministry of Energy to improve the electricity sector during the frequent storms, increased the resilience of the most important provinces and led the Office for Civil Defense in cooperation with private companies in order to provide the areas affected by a disaster.
I also had the opportunity to go to the shoulder with USAID as a lead for two start -up -enbler shoulder. We have joined the stride program, strengthening entrepreneurship and innovation.
“From the American people”
The result is that USAID embodies the best ideals for us and created an aura of good will between our countries. It was more tangible to do the most vulnerable, while it was also building the demand for American know -how and products.
All of these programs ended abruptly this year, and almost everyone I knew on USAID, packed and went home. Around 1,600 USAID employees as the first step in a “reduction in Force” were recorded in “global administrative holidays”.
Last month, Marykay Carlson, the US ambassador to the Philippines, officially replaced the curtain for this long-time lifeline between our two countries. She organized a farewell party in her residence with members of the local employees of USAID to celebrate the partnership. I took on a divorce, which felt less like a wake.
After the party and all of her speeches, someone gave me a bag with souvenirs from USAID’s role in the Philippines – a pen, a cup, a cup, a calendar, a book that recorded its many successes, all of which are enrolled with the USASID motto “from the American people”. When I went into the damp tropical night, I kept the bag with a tight grip that was very grateful to America and all Americans.
Even in view of this disappointment, when someone with a bilateral perspective whose life has spanned both countries, I still hope that the USA and the Philippines will remain friendly – and better that the US foreign ministry will resume the heroic crusade of USAID.
In Speech to the congress on foreign helpPresident Kennedy said: “We not only have to fulfill obligations, we also have great opportunities to realize.” Months later, When he started USAIDHe repeated these words with a message that we would consider well today. He said: “The people who are against help should recognize that this is a very strong source of strength for us. It enables us to influence the maintenance of freedom … since we do not want to send American troops to many areas, we send them.”
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