
          USAID AND AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT IN THE WORLD 

                    RONALD W. ROSKENS, 33 
                     Administrator, USAID
                    Washington, D.C. 20523 


    WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF enormous and unprecedented world 
change. In nations all over the globe, American principles 
are taking hold, and the day of the despot is quickly coming 
to a close. Indeed, the recent rekindling of the Light of 
Freemasonry in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Hungary 
symbolizes the inexorable spread of freedom. 

    And yet, world change didn't occur suddenly or 
arbitrarily. It has been due in part to dedicated and 
determined American engagement in global affairs. One of the 
instruments of this foreign policy has been the United States 
Agency for International Development (USAID), which I am 
privileged to lead. 

        Overview of USAID 

   The mission of USAID is to foster economic and social 
development in a way that combines the American tradition of 
humanitarian concern and generosity with the active promotion 
of America's national interests. 

   The Agency is the grandchild of the Marshall plan which 
rebuilt the shattered nations of Europe more than four 
decades ago. Today, USAID manages more that $7 billion in 
assistance in over 80 nations around the world. 

   We help save the lives of children, promote freedom and 
democracy, prevent millions of people from starving to death, 
protect the environment, develop free markets, and help make 
people self-sufficient. We enter into partnerships with 
developing nations and with U.S. business. 

   We respond to demonstrated and sometimes desperate needs 
around the globe. Americans can be justifiably proud of the 
humanitarian works their government performs and the positive 
impact that our economic and developmental assistance has had 
in the last 30 years. 


        Success Stories 

   A brief look at some figures demonstrates the positive 
impact we've had. In the past three decades, for example, 
USAID has helped increase life-expectancy in the developing 
countries by 20 percent. Smallpox has been eliminated, 
measles and polio are almost eradicated, and a vaccine for 
malaria is being developed. All with the help of USAID. We 
have immunized nearly 320 million children against the major 
preventable diseases of diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, 
and tuberculosis. In addition, oral rehydration therapy 
(ORT), a simple solution of salt, sugar, and potassium used 
to treat diarrheal disease, saves the lives of almost 1 
million children every year. 
 
   Agency programs have helped increase literacy rates in 
countries assisted by USAID by 33 percent. In fact, there are 
now more literate people in the developing world than in the 
developed world! 

   Our Food for Peace Program has delivered some 350 million 
metric tons of food to nearly 2 billion people in more than 
100 countries. In 1985, USAID relief programs helped save the 
lives of 20 million people in Sub Saharan Africa during one 
of the worst droughts in history. Indeed, during the last 28 
years, USAID has responded to 1,048 disasters in 140 nations 
where billions of people have been adversely affected. 

        The United States and the Developing World 

   USAID's mission, however, also has a practical side: 
friends helping friends.  

   That is why I emphasize that in addition to improving the 
lives of millions and enhancing global stability, development 
has introduced Americans - and American know-how - to the 
developing world with spectacular results. For example: 
         
           Of the 50 largest buyers of U.S. farm goods in 
            1989, 43 were once recipients of food aid; 

          In 1990, U.S. exports to developing countries 
           totaled more than $127 billion dollars; 

          More than half of the agricultural products of the 
           United States are exported to developing nations 
           around the world; 

          U.S. investment in developing countries in 1988 
           was $77 billion, or one fourth of the total U.S. 
           overseas investment. 

   As the economies of America and the developing world grow 
ever closer, USAID is a unique asset in providing American 
business with a foothold in these nations. 

   All of us working with USAID know that U.S. foreign 
assistance is no substitute for self-help in the developing 
world. Rather, it can be a catalyst because foreign aid in 
the 1990s is an investment in democratic neighbors, 
healthier, more literate populations, and prosperous trading 
partners able to buy the products of America's factories and 
farms. 

   It is an investment in the future that will pay dividends 
not only to those in the developing world, but to future 
generations of Americans as well. 

______

Ronald W. Roskens was appointed head of USAID following 30 
years of distinguished service in education culminating in 
his appointment as president of the University of Nebraska. 
Bro Roskens is a member of George Lininger Lodge No. 268 and 
the Scottish Rite Bodies of Omaha, NE. 


