Despite the devastation from March 11’s earthquake and tsunami, Japan has assured Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh of continued development assistance.
Japan is granting a total of 2.54 billion Japanese yen ($31 million) to support Tanzanian projects to upgrade a substation and transmission line in Kilimanjaro region, and build the Rusumo International Bridge. In Sri Lanka, Japan has extended 44 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($398 million) under its annual loan package to support development initiatives in the South Asian nation.
Meanwhile, the Japan International Cooperation Agency has said its aid to Bangladesh will not decrease, but rather it will increase.
In Poland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on a draft act that will help define the country’s foreign aid activities, including support to democracy and the civil society as well as to development initiatives.
The Inter-American Development Bank, meantime, will employ its revamped process of investigating and sanctioning corruption cases in activities financed by the regional lender starting April 1.
The U.S. and African Development Bank say they are ready to offer support to Tunisia’s transition to democracy following the ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime in January. The U.S. plans to provide $20 million to encourage economic and political reforms in the Arab nation, while AfDB says it is ready to lend as much as $1.2 billion to help the country recover from January’s political crisis.
On World Water Day (March 22), the World Bank and several U.S. government agencies signed an agreement to expand their cooperation in helping developing nations address water problems, including the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, diminishing aquifers, drought, flooding and climate change impacts.
Meantime, the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Stop TB Partnership on World Tuberculosis Day (March 24) urged countries with rapidly expanding economies and many cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR-TB, to boost domestic financing and commitment toward fighting the disease.
Appointments:
Tharman Shanmugaratnam – chairman of the International Monetary Fund’s International Monetary and Financial Committee.
Denis Morozov – Russia’s representative on the board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Kenneth L. Hoadley – principal associate and scientist at the international economic growth division of Abt Associates.
