The United States Embassy in Guyana has announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to close its Mission in Guyana next year because of financial constraints. However, local authorities say this country and that organisation will continue their partnership in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
A press release from the embassy states that the decision to close the Guyana Mission in the fiscal year 2010 is “part of its worldwide strategy, in a tight budgetary environment, to be more efficient in the management of its aid resources.”
“The closing of the mission does not signal the end of USAID’s relationship with Guyana,” the statement added. According to the embassy, the U.S. government will continue to work with the government and people of Guyana in responding to key developmental challenges.
USAID and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) manage the President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) programme in Guyana, which focuses on reducing HIV transmission, mitigating the impact of illness, and strengthening the public healthcare system.
Commitment unchanged
Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
Health Minister Dr Leslie Guyana told Guyana Times International that USAID’s commitment to the HIV/AIDS programme will be unaffected, since the agency will be operating and coordinating with officials here through its regional office. “I don’t see it affecting our partnership in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Dr Ramsammy declared.
According to him, the partnership which this country has been sharing with that U.S. agency is a critical one that resulted in much success. “The success that we have had in the fight against HIV/AIDS was due largely to partnerships, and we have had a good partnership with USAID,” the minister revealed.
The U.S. embassy said Guyanese will continue to participate in and benefit from the U.S. government’s regional citizen security programme, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), which is focused on responding to the causes of crime and violence. The management of these programmes will be transferred to USAID’s Caribbean Regional Mission in Barbados to take advantage of efficiencies of scale.
But health was not the only area of cooperation shared between Guyana and USAID. In February 2010, USAID completed implementation of a US$6.7 million Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Programme that focused on providing technical assistance and support to improve Guyana’s fiscal and financial management infrastructure and policies by strengthening the administration of taxes and control of expenditure. It also focused on the creation of a more business-friendly environment, which would reduce the time and cost to register a business; worked at improving Parliament’s fiduciary oversight of government’s budget operation; and enhanced government procurement.
The partnerships include programmes on governing justly and democratically, economic growth, and health.
The latest funds that Guyana received from the agency relative to these very programmes came in August 2010 when Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Mission Director Carol Horning signed a US$13.1 million bilateral agreement.
At that event, Horning said: “USAID remains committed to continuing our programme’s alignment with Guyana’s development priorities and initiatives, and we look forward to fruitful collaboration in the future.”
Dr Singh had said that the agreement represented a “continuum of the very strong relationship and values” that the two countries shared. Guyana will benefit from some US$75 million from USAID until 2013.
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