Press Releases
U.S. Ambassador John Ordway Opens Photo Exhibition About U.S. Government Assistance to Kazakhstan
June 22, 2007
Today U.S. Ambassador John Ordway opened a photo exhibition about USAID assistance programs at the Karaganda Oblast Museum of History. “These 26 photographs depict projects implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development in partnership with Kazakhstan's government and civil society over the past fifteen years. The photographs portray how this partnership has improved and modernized the country’s institutions, laws, and services across a variety of sectors," the ambassador noted in addressing the audience of U.S program alumni and guests.
Since 1992, the American people through USAID have provided over $500 million in programs that assist the development of the country’s economic sector, healthcare system, and democratic institutions. During the first years of work in Kazakhstan, USAID helped strengthen the banking sector and create Kazakhstan’s stock market, supported privatization, helped introduce family health practices, and assisted in the implementation of such health initiatives as national immunization for polio eradication. More recently, USAID has focused its assistance to support diversification of the country’s economy, increase access to information, and improve prevention of infectious diseases, such as TB or HIV/AIDS.
Assistance to the Government of Kazakhstan TB efforts helped save 18,000 Kazakhstani lives over the past eight years. Approximately 50 thousand students learn about their rights and duties as citizens from civic education textbooks and classes, developed with USAID support. Mortgage-backed securities, introduced with USAID assistance in 2002, now comprise $300 million in outstanding mortgage bonds.
USAID operates under a bilateral agreement with the Government of Kazakhstan, and is the largest single-country donor organization in Kazakhstan. USAID programs in Kazakhstan are implemented through contracts and grants by nearly 40 local and international organizations, including U.N. agencies, for profit companies, and non-governmental organizations.
The exhibition can be viewed at the museum at 38 Yerubayev Street through July, on Monday through Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm.
Contact person:
Virginija Morgan,
USAID Regional Outreach Coordinator for Central Asia
Phone: 8-327-2507612
Email: vmorgan@usaid.gov
http://centralasia.usaid.gov