USA goals in Pakistan.. The United States would support a functional role for the military under the democratic civilian rule, according to a US government report. The report had not detailed the modalities of this support, however, it could be through the newly established US Agency for International Development (USAID) by providing training and financial support to the legislators and political parties under the new system. The news reporting today..
Mark S Ward, USAID Director to Pakistan, said here on Wednesday the agency would focus mainly on education and health sectors, but a programme of imparting training to the newly elected members of parliament after October elections was part of it. He said that the USAID would bring in expertise in this regard to help train elected members and the political parties.
The USAID had $25 million programme for Pakistan, during current US fiscal year (October-September), in additional to $600 million special budgetary grants provided in response to support for anti-terror coalition. Mark said the USAID programme would increase to $50 million during 2003 and $80 million during the US fiscal year 2004. In addition, he said, the US government would provide about $200 million special budgetary grants annually during this period.
The USAID wound up Pakistan offices in mid 1990s, when the US government imposed sanctions on Pakistan after Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. During peak years of the Afghan Jihad, the USAID's operations totalled around $600 million per annum in Pakistan. President Bush, however, had temporarily waived these sanctions, when President Musharraf offered support against the Taliban and the al-Qaeda.
The USAID would focus on five major projects, including: Pakistan Democracy and Governance Programme; Pakistan Primary Education and Literacy Programme; Emergency Economic Assistance to Pakistan; Agricultural Growth and Employment and Improved Basic Health Services.
The USAID's democracy programme in Pakistan will work with civil society organisations and political parties, and will focus on fostering new leadership within issue-based civil society organisations and political parties and on the creation of new fora in which civil society, political leaders, and local civil administration authorities can discuss and reach consensus on priority development issues. It would also help improve the capacity to carry out research and analyses designed to inform decision-makers, lawmakers and civil society leaders on the state of political change in Pakistan.
The USAID proposes to strengthen the political party process by identifying mid-level party officials, who desire to reform their organisation's direction and policies to foster greater accountability. Assuming that such potential reformers exist, the USAID would provide assistance aimed at re-shaping the parties to make them, and the governments they form, more accountable, working directly with them on party organisation, message development and constituency building. Assistance would be available to all parties and to all members of parties, but the programme would encourage particularly those who want reform.
A report of the USAID says that Pakistan had shifted among various forms of parliamentary, military, and presidential governments in pursuit of political stability. The Pakistani people often looked to the military, during times of political crisis, to serve as the government of last resort. This had resulted in alternating cycles of military and civilian rule, a type of praetorian civil-military relationship that perpetuated the military's involvement in political process and arrested the development of a sustainable democracy. "As a result, the country has experienced considerable difficulty developing stable, cohesive political and civil-society organisations," the report maintains.
However, no explanation was given how this functional Army role would work under the civilian role. One possibility could be the proposed National Security Council (NSC) that includes three services chiefs and the chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) as members. Under the primary education programme, the USAID would assist in education policy planning and training; train teachers and develop curriculum; foster girls education; and develop community and private partnerships. This programme would particularly target areas bordering Afghanistan.
The USAID programme will expand teacher training and curriculum materials to improve the quality of public sector basic education, and as by-product offer an alternative to Madaris. There are roughly 350,000 government primary schoolteachers and 75,000 private primary schoolteachers in Pakistan. The training programme will operate in every province using the 123 teacher training institutions.
The USAID observed that the education sector, in particular, was in a critical state of disarray. While substantial investments have been made in building schools, access is not uniform and the overall quality of education remains very poor. Teachers are poorly qualified, frequently hired through political patronage, and receive little in-service training.
Indicators for literacy, enrolment, and retention demonstrate the dire need for systemic reform. Nation-wide, literacy rates are approximately 59 per cent for men and 35 per cent for women. The average years of schooling for a male are 1.9 years, while that of females is only 0.7 years. Thirty-seven per cent of boys and 55 per cent of girls never enter school of those who do, 50 per cent drop out within the first five years. Only 29 per cent of children make it to the secondary school level. This systemic failure of the education system stems from issues of both access and quality, seriously hindering Pakistan's future development prospects.
The USAID maintains that the overall goal of US assistance to Pakistan is to support peace in South Asia. Pakistan's political and economic stability continues to be important to US foreign policy objectives in the region, it says. Under the economic support fund, the USAID provides a grant of $600 million to the country, as balance of payments and budget support under PL 107-38, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States. It observed that US assistance would help the country during time of economic hardship that had resulted from its support to the international war on terrorism. The budget support was provided through a cash transfer agreement, and will help Pakistan sustain robust social spending for specific education, health, and employment-creation programmes.
A report of the USAID estimated that Pakistan's overt support to the United States to destroy the al-Qaeda had a tremendous economic impact on the country. Based on recent projections from the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan faced a reduction in foreign exchange earnings by approximately $2.5 billion, during 2001-02 alone, it says. During fiscal 2003 and 2004, the USAID plans to extend $200 million each under the economic support fund to meet critical foreign exchange needs, either for debt repayment or for the importation of acceptable US goods and services.
The USAID reckons that Pakistan faces the twin challenges of reviving growth and reducing poverty. This will require rapid economic growth in agriculture, which represents 26 percent of GDP and employs 44 percent of the labour force. GDP growth hinges on crop performance. Pakistan's agriculture depends on irrigation, yet over the past two decades the productivity of the sub-sector has declined steadily due to the deterioration of the physical infrastructure and the institutional capacity to manage water at all levels. The country also faces the challenge of land degradation.
Pakistan's major health indicators demonstrate large unmet needs. The total fertility rate is 4.8, contraceptive prevalence is only 28 per cent, and the population growth rate is 2.2 per cent per year (compared with India's 1.7 per cent). Estimated infant mortality is 85 per 1000 live births, under-five mortality is 103 per 1000 live births, and maternal mortality is 533 per 100,000. Immunisation rates are low with less than 60 percent of one-year olds fully immunised. Twenty-six per cent of children under five are moderately to severely underweight; only 1 per cent of young children receive vitamin A supplementation; and only 19 per cent of households use iodised salt.
US clears sale of six C130 cargo planes to Pakistan
WASHINGTON: The US Defence Department on Tuesday told lawmakers it had approved the sale to Pakistan of six C130E Hercules cargo aircraft valued at $75 million. Congress has 30 days to block the sale, although such a move is considered unlikely.
The Defence Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales, said the proposed weapons deal would contribute to US national security by improving the security of "a friendly country which has been and continues to be an important force for economic progress in South Asia."
Pakistan requested the six used cargo aircraft, as well as several engine and aircraft upgrades, spare parts and personnel training, to remedy a current and long-term airlift shortfall, and to better support the US war in neighbouring Afghanistan, the agency said. The planes are built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp.
It said the sale would not affect the basic military balance in the region, which has been racked by escalating tensions. In April, the United States said it planned to sell India eight sophisticated radar systems worth up to $146 million if all options are exercised. |
