U.S. launches help for female Muslim entrepreneurs

From the Voice of America, the U.S. government is beginning some projects that they hope will help it's relations with Muslim nations. The projects involve giving support to women entrepreneurs.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced a series of initiatives designed to boost America's relations with entrepreneurs in countries with large Muslim populations. Clinton's remarks came at the end of a two-day summit on entrepreneurship.

Secretary Clinton announced the new programs she says are designed to help entrepreneurs in mostly-Muslim countries and eventually expand worldwide.

"I am pleased to announce the launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Programs' first pilot program, in Egypt, coordinated by a team of entrepreneurs in residence from USAID. We will soon launch our second program in Indonesia and we plan to expand to a dozen countries within the next two years," she said.

The new initiatives are intended to expand the availability of capital so entrepreneurs will have access to credit to enable them to put their ideas to work.

Clinton also announced new partnerships between business schools in the United States and educational institutions worldwide to share knowledge and expand business education.

Another program will link U.S. mentors with aspiring entrepreneurs to provide expertise on issues such as securing financing or writing a business plan.

"Now these initiatives comprise a first wave of programs to promote global entrepreneurship, but they reflect the Obama administration's commitment to a new approach to development, one based on investment, not aid, on supporting local leadership and ideas rather than imposing our own," said Clinton.

Clinton's announcements came on the final day of a conference that brought to Washington more than 250 entrepreneurs from 50 countries with large Muslim populations.

Rashad Hussain, the Obama administration's special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, says nearly a year after the president's speech to the Muslim world last June in Cairo, the U.S. is making significant efforts to address issues of mutual concern.

"We see a world in which the United States continues to be committed to leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, is continued (dedicated) to finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that we would have the seeds planted for various programs in the areas of entrepreneurship, such as we see here," said Hussein.

One of the entrepreneurs at the conference is Tri Mumpuni, who has put together small financing programs and economic incentives to bring electricity to 60 rural villages scattered throughout Indonesia.

"We know that electricity is the backbone of economic development. We would like to start with giving electricity because from the electricity people can be directed to many different [aspects] of the welfare and improvement of their life," said Tri Mumpuni.

The U.S. also announced a new program at the summit to assist women in technology fields who will have the opportunity to come to the United States for internships and professional development.

One of the best known entrepreneurs at the summit was Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank and transformed the lives of millions of poor women in Bangladesh through micro-credit (small loans).

"Today we have over eight million borrowers, 97 percent of them are women. And they own the bank. We made the rule right from the beginning that the bank will be owned by the borrowers. So it is a bank that not only serves the poor women, it is also a bank which is owned by the poor women. They sit on the board, they make the decisions," said Yunus.

While the entrepreneurship summit is officially over, dozens of private groups will hold sessions for the delegates over the next few days to bring together venture capitalists, development bankers and other business experts to promote the partnership between the U.S. and the Muslim world. A follow-up summit is scheduled to take place next year in Turkey.

A recap of World Water Day

Yesterday was World Water Day, as leaders throughout the world took some time to address and discuss water use issues. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made remarks to the National Geographic Society yesterday, where she said that the water crisis is a central issue to US foreign policy.

From the Inter Press Service, writer Matthew Berger gives us some background on World Water Day which began in 1992.

Eighteen years later, those crises are only becoming more immediate. Glaciers and snow packs in the Himalayas and East Africa are disappearing, as are the rivers and streams into which they feed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that 75 to 250 million people in Africa will suffer increased water stress due to the climatic changes by 2020.

But climate change is only part of the equation. A booming global population, poor sanitation, and unsustainable agricultural and household water use all contribute to strain the water cycle that sustains life on Earth, putting both the quantity and quality of the planet's most important resource in danger.

The World Health Organisation says that water scarcity affects one in three people on every continent and that one-fifth of people live in areas where water is physically scarce. Another quarter of the world's population face water shortages due to a lack of infrastructure to transport water from river and aquifers.

These are not just humanitarian but security matters, Clinton said Wednesday. "And that's why President [Barack] Obama and I recognise that water issues are integral to the success of many of our major foreign policy initiatives."

She noted that addressing water shortages and quality is central to ensuring the "stability of young governments in Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations depends in part on their ability to provide their people with access to water and sanitation."

Among the other specific initiatives that must take water issues into account, Clinton cited the Global Health Initiative, which commits 63 billion dollars over six years to improve children's health and fight preventable diseases in poorer countries, among other health goals.

The effects of poor water access or sanitation are well-known. A report from the U.N. Environment Programme released Monday said 1.8 million children under five years old die due to a lack of clean water. The report also said diarrhoea, mostly caused by dirty water, kills about 2.2 million people a year and that over half the world's hospital beds are occupied by those suffering "illnesses linked with contaminated water."

Analysis of Africa's priority in the Obama administration

Some analysis now of Hillary Clinton's trip to Africa. The U.S. Secretary of State just finished her visit of a couple of nations on the continent.

Many thought that Africa would become a priority for the Obama administration with new priorities and new aid. But the visit proved that it would be more of the same from this administration.

From this Associated Press analysis peace, reporter Sue Pleming surveys some of the reaction to the visit.

For the most part, experts said the 11-day, seven-nation trip was a goodwill and listening tour, following up after U.S. President Barack Obama's one-stop Africa trip to Ghana in July.

"I expected more than just the hugging of the status quo," said Africa expert Bronwyn Bruton of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

"I have the impression that she reached out and let it be known that Africa is on the radar, but Clinton is also trying to make the most of the existing framework," she added.

The trip was her longest as secretary of state and aimed at proving Africa was a priority for the first African-American U.S. president, whose father was from Kenya.

But no major initiatives or "goodies" were announced, except for $17 million in new aid for sexual violence victims in Democratic Republic of Congo and funding for AIDS programmes.

"There were enormous expectations after Obama was elected and after the inauguration. People thought that the flood gate of aid will be opened but now they are aware of the limitations," said Tom Wheeler of the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Africa policies are still being formulated in two key places -- Sudan and Somalia -- and domestic politics from health care to the economic crisis are priorities.