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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks by Harriet C. Babbitt,
The Hispanic Council on International Relations
USAID Deputy Administrator
April 26, 2000
It's a pleasure to be here.
Let me begin by thanking you for the Council's participation in USAID's development education program with Partners of the Americas and the National Council of La Raza. With your help, we have helped inform thousands of Hispanic Americans about the importance of U.S. foreign assistance -- why it's the right thing to do, and why it's the smart thing to do.
You've all heard a lot today about the state of the world and the future of American foreign policy. Certainly we would all agree that knowledge of foreign affairs is critical to understanding the forces at work in this new era of globalization.
What I'd like to talk about today is something that often doesn't get quite as much attention, but is just as important -- international development. That is what my agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is in charge of.
I am often asked what exactly USAID does. To use an investment term, USAID's portfolio is highly diversified.
But, simply put, we use America's foreign aid dollars to help developing and transitioning countries strengthen their democracies, stabilize and open their markets, and provide a social safety net for their people.
We also provide humanitarian relief to the victims of conflict and natural disasters. We will spend about $1 billion on relief and reconstruction for the victims of Hurricane Mitch, for example.
But most importantly, USAID helps empower people, so they can lead better, healthier lives.
In the United States the "empowerment" of citizens is a fundamental theme of our Constitution and our lives -- and it is the fundamental theme of what we do at USAID.
The special glory of the U.S. concept of the empowerment of citizens came home to me when I was the US Ambassador to the Organization of American States.
Every document we negotiated at the OAS had to say the same thing in both the Spanish version and the English version.
And we struggled with how to say "empowerment" in Spanish. There was no Spanish verb "to empower." So we tried "enpoderar" and rejected it as Spanglish. Then we tried "potenciacion" and "habilitacion" and even "autodeterminacion" -- but none of them were quite right.
Today, "enpoderamiento" is used by policy experts -- but this is a new word for a new era.
When I came to USAID a few years ago and gained responsibility for programs in places like India, Russia, and the Middle-East, I found that most languages don't have a verb "to empower."
Now, I'm no linguist, but it's easy to surmise that few governments over the centuries -- whether they were monarchies or dictatorships or totalitarian regimes -- were in the business of empowering anyone but themselves -- and of course we have other words for that.
It is only in the very recent past that many countries have undertaken the process of empowering their citizens or allowing them to empower themselves. And USAID is helping them.
One of the ways we do that is by strengthening democracies. Just as all roads once led to Rome, in development, all roads lead to democracy.
Democracy-building is at the heart of what we do, not because it is an American ideal, but because it is a system where the government serves the people. In too many parts of the world, for far too long, it has been just the opposite -- the people have been at the mercy of dictators and authoritarian systems.
But how does one go about strengthening democracy?
We begin with the rule of law.
The rule of law is the cornerstone of democracy: it ensures that all people -- regardless of race, gender, religion or class -- are equal before the law. It protects basic human rights, guards against corruption, and provides the transparency that permits citizens to hold public officials accountable for their actions.
USAID works to strengthen the rule of law where it makes its home: in the courts.
In Guatemala, for example, it was commonplace for corrupt court officials to "lose" case files -- in a one year period from 1997 to 1998, for instance, over 1,000 files were lost in Guatemala City alone.
This meant that people charged with crimes sat in Guatemalan jails without trial -- and by extension, that officials could have people arrested for any reason, or for no reason.
But in 1998, USAID helped establish a Clerk of Courts office in Guatemala City, the first office of this kind in a Latin American capital.
For the first time ever, the court system has a caseload inventory, and, in the one-year period after the office opened, only one case file was lost.
In Georgia, one of the former Soviet republics, USAID helped create a system to ensure that only qualified judges would assume the bench. We helped Georgians establish a national qualifying exam -- which, incidentally, was broadcast on national television.
For the first time in Georgia's history, the people have judges who are required to know the law -- quite a novelty in a country where for decades judges were selected by the Communist Party more often on the basis of ideological purity than their knowledge of the law.
USAID is also working to strengthen the other pillars of a democratic society: an active NGO sector, strong local government, and an independent media, for example.
We are training journalists in Bosnia-Herzegovina and helping create municipal associations in El Salvador.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
We help create economic opportunity for people as well. In fact, one of our most successful activities is our microenterprise program, which gives men and women small loans -- often as little as $40 -- which they then use to start their own business.
When I accompanied the First Lady to Bolivia we visited BancoSol, a bank in La Paz that has been a leader in microlending. In 1998, the total active portfolio of BancoSol was $74 million dollars. In that same year, BancoSol loaned to over 80,000 borrowers -- three quarters of them women. Repayment rates are extremely high -- BancoSol's portfolio at risk was only 2 percent.
The glory of the concept of empowerment really hits home when you see what access to credit has done to improve the lives of previously marginalized Andean women: many of them have taken a tiny initial loan to buy cloth to make garments to sell in the market.
After repaying their loans and qualifying for one large enough to buy a sewing machine, they've expanded their business enough to perhaps buy a cart or employ a neighbor to help with distribution.
And as a result, the family has more income for better food and education for their children.
On a more macro level, we are also helping countries establish the economic institutions they will need to attract and keep foreign investment: autonomous central banks that set monetary policy, for example, or regulatory institutions -- like our SEC and FDIC -- to provide the necessary accountability and security for a stable business environment.
In India, our Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion program helped establish India's first securities depository and helped bring India's capital markets in line with international standards of efficiency and transparency.
And finally, last but certainly not least, USAID helps halt the spread of disease.
As many of you may know, AIDS is devastating the continent of Africa -- in some countries as many as one-fourth of the adult population is believed to be infected. It is killing off people in the prime of life -- and creating a population of AIDS orphans whose numbers are expected to mushroom from 8 to 40 million in the next ten years.
USAID is the largest donor to anti-AIDS efforts in Africa; by the very nature and scope of the problem, it will be some years before we see concrete results, but we are seeing some progress.
In Uganda, for example, the infection rate among adults has fallen in recent years -- from 12.1 percent in 1994 to 9.5 percent in 1997.
USAID is also helping in the fight to eradicate polio. The Western Hemisphere was declared polio-free in 1994, but small pockets of the disease still remain in parts of Africa and Asia: we are working with the UN and others to eliminate even those by the year 2005.
It is important to remember that while neither AIDs nor polio is as big a problem in the U.S. or Latin America-and certainly polio is not -- these are infectious diseases, and as such do not respect national borders.
This is true not just of disease, but also crime and narcotics. Under Plan Colombia, for example, USAID will be helping Colombian coca farmers plant and sell alternative-and legal-crops, like coffee.
Today, as international borders open up to allow the free flow of goods and services, we are more vulnerable --not less.
Which brings me to my next point: I've talked about a lot of things today, from the importance of the rule of law to stopping the spread of disease. But development is not any one of these things -- it is all of them, together.
A respected rule of law doesn't just protect human rights, but, by ensuring that the terms of a contract are met and kept, attracts foreign investment, which in turn creates jobs and stimulates the economy.
An independent media doesn't just expose official corruption, but, by keeping people informed, it helps regulate stock markets and protect the environment.
And epidemics don't just destroy families -- they also have the potential to destroy labor markets, which of course makes it harder for businesses to operate.
All these things working together create a developed society, one which offers its citizens freedom and opportunity while meeting their basic needs.
We hear a lot these days about globalization, about how the world is not just moving faster, but also smarter.
If this is true, then development must become even more important than it was in the last half of the 20th century.
As the richest, most powerful country in the world, I believe we have an obligation to ensure that this faster, smarter world benefits everyone -- not just a lucky few.
Growing inequities within and among nations threaten us all -- Latin America, for example, has the most unequal income distribution in the world.
Because globalization is making the whole world one neighborhood, this inequity threatens political stability not just in Latin America, but in the whole neighborhood.
From where we stand today, just past the threshold of the 21st century, we have an enormous opportunity to reach across oceans and help others. We do this because it is in our own interest -- even today, 4 out of 5 consumers live in developing countries. And healthy, educated, and prosperous people make better consumers for American products.
But I also believe Americans want to help others because it is the right thing to do.
We can act as catalysts and partners with people in developing countries to create positive, lasting change -- in short, to empower men and women both politically and economically.
As we prepare to face the new challenges of the new century, we must all work together with our leaders and diplomats to make the world safer, healthier, and more peaceful -- because in today's interconnected society, this means that we will be safer, healthier, and at peace.
As President Clinton has said, "[T]he common good at home is not separate from our efforts to advance the common good around the world. They must be one and the same if we are to be truly secure in the 21st century."
USAID is proud to be helping advance that common good.
Thank you again for inviting me here today.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 12, 2001 |
