World Summit on Sustainable Development Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York
	Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2002	29 August 2002

UNITED STATES PRESS CONFERENCE ON PARTNERSHIPS   The United States delegation to the Johannesburg Summit announced at a press conference today their Government's five "signature partnerships", which they described as a "vital step down the road toward sustainable development", aimed at water for the poor, clean energy, cutting hunger in Africa, conserving the Congo basin and fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs and head of the United States delegation Paula Dobriansky recalled President George Bush's pledge last week for the United States to come to Johannesburg with "concrete and practical proposals for strong and lasting partnerships" to advance some of the priorities, namely, clean water, modern energy, good health and productive agriculture -- leading to a world without poverty. Under the "Water for the Poor Initiative", the United States would invest $970 million over three years, which could leverage private resources to generate more than $1.6 billion for water-related activities globally, Ms. Dobriansky continued. That plan sought to expand access to clean water and sanitation services, improve watershed management, and increase the water efficiency in industrial and agricultural activities. That initiative would help achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of cutting in half by 2015 the proportion of people who lacked safe drinking water. For the "Clean Energy Initiative", which sought to provide millions of people with new access to energy services, increase energy use efficiency, and significantly reduce readily preventable deaths and respiratory illnesses associated with motor vehicle and indoor air pollution, she said her Government would invest up to $43 million in 2003 to leverage about $400 million in investments from the United States and other governments, the private sector, and development organizations. The "Initiative to Cut Hunger in Africa" would receive an investment of $90 million in 2003, including $53 million to harness science and technology for African farmers and $37 million to unleash the power of markets for small-holder agriculture. That initiative sought to spur technology sharing for small-holders, strengthen agricultural policy development, fund higher education and regional technology collaboration, and expand resources for local infrastructure in transportation, marketing, and communications. Aimed at promoting economic development, alleviating poverty, improving governance, and conserving natural resources, the "Congo Basin Forest Partnership" -- involved seven central African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Republic of Congo). The United States would invest up to $53 million over the next four years to support sustainable forest management and a network of national parks and protected areas and assist local communities. That sum would be matched by contributions from international environmental organizations, host governments, the Group of 8 industrialized nations (G-8), the European Union and the private sector. Ms. Dobriansky said the reaffirmation of the commitment to help fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria would be through financial and technical support for the Global Fund and the International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative. Her country's bilateral programmes and research would contribute to that effort. The Bush Administration had requested $1.2 billion in 2003 to combat those three diseases. Those efforts would also help achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halting by 2015 the spread of HIV/AIDS and the scourge of malaria and other communicable diseases, she said. Those partnerships, embraced at Monterrey in March, were based on a shared accountability among developed and developing countries, she said. Over the coming months and years, there would be a lot of talk about those partnerships and the commitment and resolve to maintain them. "Hold us accountable for the initiatives we identify and for their successful implementation," she urged. At the same time, she urged correspondents to hold all governments -- developed and developing -- accountable for concrete actions to improve the lives of all their citizens. Speaking next on the work of the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) in promoting agricultural productivity and relieving famine, Andrew Natsios, Agency Administrator, having just returned from a visit to countries affected by drought in southern Africa, said the United States had delivered 100,000 tons of food already, and another 100,000 were on the high seas, with thousands more being ordered from the United States' grain market. His country was doing its part, but political issues were complicating things, such as in Zimbabwe, where the wrong policies were in place. There was an alarming rapid slide there. If the relief effort were not stepped up, the situation would be tragic by December, or mid-January or February. He added that the long-term answer was to develop the agricultural capacity of countries, so that they were not dependent upon outside help. With 70 per cent of the world's poor living in rural areas, if the world did not deal with agriculture, it could not deal with the problem of poverty. On the issue of monitoring, Ms. Dobriansky said her delegation had proposed at Bali that the Commission on Sustainable Development should be used as a forum to take stock of the pace and trends of that process, not only on the part of the United States, but for all countries concerned. That was a very good forum in which to look at partnership developments and initiatives. Responding to a question, the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality James Connaughton said that he had not calculated the percentage of new money, but an example of an infusion of new funds included an announcement last fall if a 50 per cent increase in development aid through the "Millennium Development Challenge Account", which would rise annually, on top of aid already provided. That funding stream was separate from today's partnership proposals. The funding streams there were programmes worked into the President's budget for 2003 and involved multi-year commitments aimed at ensuring their adoption by Congress. Mr. Natsios added that the budget for fiscal year 2004 would have a $1.7 billion increase beyond "all the stuff we're talking about". Over three years that figure would grow to $5 billion -- or a 50 per cent increase in foreign aid, "the largest in 40 years", he said.   Press Conferences Summit News