Butch Meili is president of the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation, Ideaspace and QBO Innovation. He is New Memoirs From Manila to Wall Street: The Immigration Journey of the First Black Tycoon in the United States.
In 1961, US President John F. Kennedy Created a new federal agencythe United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is The purpose is “Expand aid to countries recovering from disasters, trying to evade poverty and participate in democratic reforms.” Over the next 64 years, more than 100 U.S.AID has helped around the world over the next 64 years. It’s mine,the Philippines.
Last week, the United States Agency for International Development Officially stop operation. Only the day before, the outstanding British medical journal Lancet published a study Warning now the potential consequences are imminent. The study found that eliminating U.S. Agency for International Development could result in 14 million deaths over the next five years. Researchers describe the impact on certain countries as “similar to a global pandemic or major armed conflict” based on “conscious and avoidable policy choices.”
I was born in the Philippines shortly after World War II and was once a colony of the United States. But even from a distance, I always feel a relationship with the United States. So in 1977, I decided to seek my own ambitions and a master’s degree in the United States. The day I swear to be sworn in at the federal court in Manhattan and become a U.S. citizen will always be listed as the proudest person of my life.
At that time, I had no idea about the achievements of USDA in the Philippines, not my personal involvement.
US Agency for International Development’s Battle
President Donald Trump in February about the Truth Society Announces USDA spending “It’s totally unexplainable… close it.” He Claims that the agency is “Radical Left LUNATICS.” Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, led by Trump, is responsible for the newly-cast government efficiency and cutting federal fraud, waste and abuse, which has previously called the agency an agency that “beyond repair,” “corruption,” “corrupt,” and “criminal organizations.” “It’s time to die,” Musk Posted on X.
Very short, Microsoft Co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates intervened and defended President Trump at the White House and advocated support for U.S. Agency for International Development. Gates called USAID the “best” of all development institutions around the world. In May, he Musk accused “Kill the poorest child in the world.” But then, when Trump won, death was defeated Characteristics are budget and personnel cuts USAID has been seen as “destructive.”
Even so, other prominent opponents of the controversial cuts were caught in violation. In a private video conference to USAID employees around the world in late June, George W. Obama said: “AAT is a danger, it’s a tragedy.” Bush asked the staff at the USAID staff: “In our national interest, are there 25 million people who could have died now alive? I think so, so do you.”
Achievements of USAID
As I have learned since I returned from living in the Philippines in 2000, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has done an absolute Yoman job in any way. American farmers’ food raises hungry families and hungry refugees. Its staff distributes drugs for malaria, HIV and other life-saving infectious diseases. It enables the community Fighting poverty and economic developmentIn the process of establishing a new U.S. commodity consumption market.
In the 1960s, the country was still recovering from the destruction of World War II, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) helped establish national government agencies and educational institutions. Later, USAID focused on Strengthen democratic system.
In 2012, a major new USDA program Eradication of tuberculosis Increased treatment success rate by 92%.
Call home
In my own country, from 1995 to 2013, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) trained 28,000 former combatants with the skills and tools to farm and make a living, helping to reintegrate these civilians into society, resulting in an economic strengthening that remains ripped apart by war in the southern Philippines.
Thanks to a hand from the United States Agency for International Development, our maternal mortality rate will be cut nearly half over the 23-year period, from every 100,000 live births per 100,000 live births in 1993 to 114 live births per 100,000 live births in 2015. More than 1.5 million Filipinos benefit from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) support for the suspension of overfishing and environmental degradation from coastal fisheries.
But that’s not all. USAID trains more than 19,000 Filipino teachers in English, mathematics and science. As a result, the percentage of USDA-assisted website students is the percentage of read fluency and understanding that meets national benchmarks. Almost triplefrom 20% in 2013 to 76% in 2016.
exist Destructive arousal of Typhoon Haiyang In 2013, U.S. International Development rebuilt schools, health clinics and water systems were one of the biggest storms ever and helped survivors recover stores and businesses. Recently, it set out to develop plans to strengthen urban economies outside Manila for sustainable growth.
Today, the Philippines economy Ranked as According to the International Monetary Fund, the world has the 32nd largest GDP and the ninth largest in Asia. This year The World Bank says“Its economic vitality reflects the growing urbanization, the large and young population, as well as strong consumer demand, and has received a vibrant labor market and strong remittances, which add to the most vulnerable income.” It can be proposed that U.S. International Development’s funding and on-site volunteering have made a significant contribution to the current socio-economic status of the Philippines.
As the head of a private sector disaster management organization, I Cooperate with USAID In many projects over the past decade. Together, we help communities and municipalities Prepare for disasterenabling the Ministry of Energy to upgrade the power sector during frequent storms, enhance resilience in key provinces, and guide the Civil Defense Office to work with private companies to provide relief to areas where disasters are hit.
I also had the opportunity to fight alongside the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as the leader of two launch promoters. We have joined forces to strengthen entrepreneurship and innovation.
“From the American people”
The result is that USDA embodies the best ideals of the United States for us, which creates a halo of goodwill among our countries. More obviously, it helps the most vulnerable while building demand for American knowledge and products.
All of these plans came to an abrupt end this year, and almost everyone I knew at the USAID packed up and went home. About 1,600 USAID employees were placed on “global administrative leave” as the first step in “reducing power reduction”.
Last month, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Marykay Carlson, formally put down the curtains on the long-term lifeline between our two countries. She held a farewell party at her residence with members of local staff of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to celebrate the partnership. I participated in a divorce that didn’t feel like a divorce compared to awakening.
After the party and all of its speeches, someone handed me a bag filled with souvenirs of the role of the Agency for International Development in the Philippines – a pen, a cup, a calendar, a book that captured many of its achievements, all of which were engraved among the American people, “from the American people.” As I walked into the wet tropical night, I clutched my bag tightly, expressing my greatest gratitude to America and all Americans.
Even in the face of this disappointment, as a person with a bilateral perspective, whose life has spanned two countries, I still hope that the United States and the Philippines will continue to maintain friendly conditions on friendly terms and more clearly, the U.S. State Department will resume the U.S. Agency for International Development’s heroic crusade.
exist Speech to Congress on foreign aid“We not only have obligations, but we have a great opportunity to achieve this,” President Kennedy said. A few months later, When he launched the United States Agency for International DevelopmentHe responded to these words with a message, and we will be confident today. “People who oppose aid should realize that this is a very powerful source of power for us … It allows us to exert influence in maintaining freedom … because we don’t want to send American troops to many areas, we will send you.”
Comments expressed on fortune.com are entirely the opinions of its author and do not necessarily reflect opinions and beliefs wealth.
