Leahy: U.S. Aid to War Victims Is Moral, Beyond Politics
FrontLines - May 2009
WASHINGTON —Sen. Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.) commended
USAID’s work in using funds for
disabled victims of war at an April
1 hearing of the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on
State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs.
“It’s interesting when you
talk about the issue of foreign
aid, especially when you have a
time like this where our own
country, the economy is in dire
straits. It’s so easy to demagogue
it and say, ‘Let’s not send help
overseas,’” said Leahy, who
chairs the subcommittee.
Addressing Dirk Djikerman,
USAID’s acting assistant
administrator for Democracy,
Conflict and Humanitarian
Assistance, who spoke at the
hearing, Leahy said: “What you
and your colleagues do is demonstrate
that there’s a moral
aspect to this.”
“We’re the wealthiest nation
on Earth. And even with the economic
problems today, to not
respond, I think, goes to our very
conscience and our very morality.
It goes way beyond a political
or an economic issue.”
The Leahy War Victims Fund
has provided $165 million for
more than 250,000 civilians in
30 countries. The fund provides
assistance to people living with
disabilities, particularly those
who cannot walk as a result of
land mines, polio, and other preventable
diseases.
Last year, the fund spent $12
million on aid.
In addition to critical rehabilitation
care, the fund supports
increased economic opportunities,
the design and reform of policies
relating to people with disabilities,
and improved quality of care and
life for civilian victims of war.
“As a result of direct support
from USAID, 228 students from
more than 40 countries have or are
in the process of receiving standardized
training as rehabilitation
professionals,” Djikerman said.
Two other funds, the Marla
Ruzicka Iraqi War Victims
Fund and the Afghan Civilian
Assistance Program (ACAP), also
provide assistance to victims.
Since 2006, USAID has
received $15 million for the
Marla Ruzicka Fund. At least
1,500 Iraqis have received aid
from the program, and more than
1.5 million Iraqi civilians have
indirectly benefitted from 630
completed aid projects, according
to a recent audit.
“One project that I would
like to note is a bakery in Salah
ad Din,” said Djikerman.
“Establishing that bakery has
been a joint effort between 30
families, each of which has lost at
least one member, either injured
or killed, during the war.”
“With USAID assistance, a
sound business plan was developed
and now the bakery is up and
running and it is providing the primary
income for those 30 families
plus the people that they employ.”
ACAP provides medical assistance
to injured civilians in addition
to building infrastructure for
schools, clinics, and administration
offices. If a family loses a
breadwinner, ACAP provides
business training to surviving family
members. If the family’s source
of income was lost due to the loss
of livestock or a fruit orchard,
ACAP can replace that. The program
also allows orphaned children
to continue to attend school.
“We hear of somebody raising
bees and selling the honey, and it
seems like such a minor thing,
but it’s a major thing to that family,”
Leahy said.
★ —A.A.M.
For more information, please see the testimony of Acting Assistant Administrato Dirk Dijkerman on Assistance for Civilian Victims of War before the Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
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