Pakistan, Afghanistan Assistance and Millennium Development Goals on the Agenda

Washington, DC - Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, today conferred with Shiro Sadoshima, the Director-General of the International Cooperation Bureau in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on matters of mutual interest such as flood relief for Pakistan, assistance for Afghanistan, the Millennium Development Goals and other areas of overlap in development efforts worldwide.

Shah and Sadoshima met for the first time at USAID headquarters in Washington.

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WASHINGTON, DC - Kevin Kelly has been sworn in as the Mission Director for USAID’s Mission in Guatemala. He brings more than 30 years of development experience, having worked on projects in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Former Soviet Union.

In addition to over 25 years of experience as a USAID employee, Kelly has also worked with Chemonics, a USAID implementing partner, where he supervised a large development project in Peru and worked on initiatives involving legal and regulatory reform, judicial partnerships, privatization, and other issues.

During his tenure with USAID, Kelly was senior project advisor to the Office of Democracy and Governance in USAID’s Europe and Eurasia Bureau.

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The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is expanding support for food-insecure people and acutely malnourished children in Niger. USAID has committed more than $105 million in humanitarian assistance to date in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010.

In response to alerts from early warning systems and field assessments as early as October 2009, USAID began to procure U.S. food aid in November 2009. When later assessments indicated increased needs, USAID increased funding for emergency programs supporting food security, nutrition, agriculture, and economic recovery and market systems and drew on the resources of the newly authorized Emergency Food Security Program to provide grants to the U.N.

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World Humanitarian Day honors all humanitarians who have lost their lives in the cause of duty, as well as those who have worked in the promotion of the humanitarian cause. Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), released the following statement on the occasion.

“Today, I am proud to honor the men and women that are part of the USAID family – staff, implementers, and host country partners. From Haiti to Kyrgyzstan to Sudan, each day these individuals work tirelessly to save lives and improve the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe.

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WASHINGTON — A salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and led to the recall of hundreds of millions of eggs from one Iowa firm will likely grow, federal health officials said Thursday.

That’s because illnesses occurring after mid-July may not be reported yet, said Dr. Christopher Braden, an epidemiologist with the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Almost 2,000 illnesses from the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported between May and July, about 1,300 more than usual, he said. No deaths have been reported. The CDC is continuing to receive information from state health departments as people report their illnesses.

“I would anticipate that we will be seeing more illnesses reported likely as a result of this outbreak,” said Braden. Read more…

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry officials issued a recall of “ready-to-eat” meats on Saturday.

Veron Foods LLC, a Prairieville, La., company, recalled about 500,000 pounds of sausage and hog head cheese products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestrys Office of Animal Health and Food Safety said.

The following products are subject to recall: all size packages of Veron Hot Smoked Sausage, all size packages of Veron Mild Smoked Sausage, all size packages of Martin Hot Smoked Sausage, all size packages of Martin Mild Smoked Sausage, all size packages of Veron Andouille Sausage, all size packages of Martin Andouille Sausage and all size packages of Veron Hog Head Cheese.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number LA 22 inside the LDAF mark of inspection, as well as date codes of 010110 through 111310 and were distributed to retail establishments and institutions within the state of Louisiana.

Officials said the problem was discovered through a food borne illness investigation that resulted in a product sample testing positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease, officials said. Read more…

Two New Grants Utilize Cash and Food Vouchers to Complement In-Kind Food Aid

PORT-AU-PRINCE -The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that it will award two separate, high-impact grants in Haiti to help earthquake-affected families meet their food needs from local markets with cash or vouchers. The innovative grants, the first two made in Haiti under USAID’s new Emergency Food Security Program, were awarded to the and .

The Emergency Food Security Program is a new initiative managed by USAID’s Office of Food for Peace. It provides grants for local or regional procurement of food commodities or for the use of cash or vouchers for the purchase of food in response to an emergency.

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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says Medicare will exist for many more years, thanks to new legislation that helped put the health care program for America’s seniors on stronger financial footing.

Seniors already are benefiting from that new health care law, said Obama, noting that many have received $250 rebates to help buy medicine, for example.

Obama said the law and efforts by his administration to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse both in Medicare and across government generally are making the program stronger and cutting health care costs for seniors.

“Medicare isn’t just a program,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet message. Read more…