Annual consultations on development cooperation between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United States of America, represented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), were held in Pretoria on 4 May 1999. The Agreed Minutes of the consultations were signed during a short ceremony at the Union Buildings on 7 May 1999.
The consultations were preceded by a detailed discussion of the recently finalized report on the Joint Programme Assessment, a strategic planning process which was initiated during the previous round of Annual Consultations, in April 1998, and which evaluated the extent of the ongoing strategic alignment of the USAID Programme in South Africa with the development priorities identified by the South African Government.
The Annual Consultations were conducted in an amicable, very positive and constructive atmosphere, taking the form of a review of the significant progress which has been achieved thus far under the USAID Programme in South Africa. Discussions were also held between the various Government Departments involved and USAID on the practical implications of the Joint Programme Assessment for future joint planning, including possible opportunities for new areas of cooperation and ways to strengthen delivery at the provincial and local levels through a closer alignment of implementation strategies.
The South African delegation, led by Shaheed Rajie of the Department of Finance, expressed its sincere thanks and appreciation for the considerable efforts and resources that have been deployed by USAID in support of the reconstruction and development of South Africa.
USAID Director William Stacy Rhodes thanked the Government of South Africa for the opportunity to take part in a well-structured process which permits all parties to openly discuss development-related issues. Joining with its partners in the various line-function government Departments, USAID discussed its programmes in the six strategic areas that form the focus of the current Programme in South Africa, namely democracy and governance; education and workforce development; health and HIV/AIDS; economic policy capacity development; private sector development and housing and urban development.
Total funds that will be made available for development assistance during the 1999 USAID programme in South Africa amount to approximately US $47 million (R 282 million).
The USAID Programme in South Africa has provided more than US $ 1 billion in economic assistance since its inception in 1984, with an overarching goal of providing support for the consolidation of democracy and the process of political, social and economic transformation in the country.
For further information, please contact: Mr Daniel Ngwepe of the Department of Foreign Affairs, telephone (012) 351-0128, or 082-889-0071 and Mr Bruce Wharton of the United States Information Service, telephone (012) 342-3006, or Reverie Zurba of USAID at (012) 323-8869.
ISSUED JOINTLY BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE EMBASSY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PRETORIA
7 MAY 1999