Near East Foundation 2003 Annual Report
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<strong>2003</strong> INITIAT I V E S<br />
E G Y P T<br />
D J I B O U T I<br />
◊ NEF launched a pilot project to<br />
i n c rease farm pro d u c t i o n ,<br />
i m p rove transportation and<br />
marketing, promote the<br />
development of on-farm<br />
enterprises, and improve health<br />
and nutrition for over a thousand<br />
rural families.<br />
◊ NEF is working to enhance and upgrade nursing schools in<br />
Aswan Province and promoting nursing as a career thro u g h<br />
community-based organizations and local radio, television,<br />
and newspapers. With support from the Governor of Aswan,<br />
N E F ’s eff o rts have raised enrollments in local nursing<br />
schools, and the 276 nurses who graduated from Aswan’s six<br />
nursing schools in May <strong>2003</strong> all secured immediate<br />
employment.<br />
◊ NEF worked to expand its youth involvement program by<br />
making available reliable, Arabic-language information on<br />
re p roductive health and sexually transmitted diseases,<br />
p a rticularly HIV/AIDS, and to provide an Egyptian youth<br />
o rganization with the training and technical assistance to<br />
disseminate this information locally.<br />
◊ Funded by the Ford <strong>Foundation</strong>, NEF began a two-year<br />
study of Egyptian philanthro p y.<br />
over forty tons of bottled water, food, water purification<br />
systems, and medical supplies from Jordan and Kuwait.<br />
◊ The <strong>Near</strong> <strong>East</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong> was a member of a consort i u m<br />
led by Research Triangle Institute (RTI International) that<br />
won a multi-million dollar USAID contract for local<br />
g o v e rnance work in Iraq. As a member of this consort i u m ,<br />
NEF will send up to ten staff members to work with the<br />
local governance team to advise on issues concern i n g<br />
p rogram development, rule of law, public administration,<br />
community development, and urban management and<br />
d e v e l o p m e n t .<br />
J O R D A N<br />
◊ N E F ’s long-term investment in fish farming continued to<br />
p rovide re t u r ns for small farmers in the Jordan Va l l e y. By the<br />
end of the 2002 season, 200 families were raising fish in<br />
small, on-farm irrigation ponds, providing income for them<br />
and better nutrition for their neighbors.<br />
◊ In Amman, NEF’s "Cans for Kids" collection and re c y c l i n g<br />
p roject resulted in more efficient pickup and gre a t e r<br />
community awareness; collections reached nearly 90 tons<br />
per month.<br />
◊ NEF completed the setup of 17 new rural, communitybased<br />
credit funds. By the end of <strong>2003</strong>, these funds had<br />
p rovided $365,000 in loans to 300 small businesses, 35<br />
p e rcent of which were owned and operated by women.<br />
E T H I O P I A<br />
◊ NEF began work on an integrated rural development<br />
p roject south of Addis Ababa. The project centers on natural<br />
re s o u rce management, water use, rural sanitation, and<br />
income-generation, together with initiatives in re p ro d u c t i v e<br />
health care, maternal and child health services, and girls’<br />
education.<br />
I R A Q<br />
◊ To address urg e n t<br />
humanitarian needs, NEF’s<br />
J o rdan office assumed<br />
responsibility for a<br />
p rogram of emerg e n c y<br />
assistance, coord i n a t i n g<br />
with other partners to<br />
p u rchase and ship to Iraq<br />
L E B A N O N<br />
◊ NEF and its partner Human Concern International are<br />
p roviding access to credit for low-income borrowers and for<br />
b o rrowers with disabilities chiefly caused by land mines. A<br />
loan fund of $180,000 made possible over 250 loans ranging<br />
f rom $700 to $2,000.<br />
L E S O T H O<br />
◊ Because so many adults<br />
have died of AIDS, leaving<br />
many children with no<br />
extended family, NEF’s<br />
GROW began a program to<br />
help these orphans<br />
develop survival skills and<br />
to train community<br />
members to provide care .<br />
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