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Country Program Materials
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USAID/WARP Links
USAID/WARP Mission
www.usaid.gov/missions/warp/
Mission Director:
Local Address:
- E. 45/3 Independence Avenue
P.O. Box 1630
Accra
Ghana
Tel: 233-21-228440, 225087, 225326, 770285, 770292
Fax: 233-21-770101
From the US:
- USAID/WARP
2020 Accra Place
Dulles, VA 20189
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USAID's Strategy in The West Africa Regional Program (WARP) The West African Regional Program (WARP), which is managed
out of Accra, Ghana, supports activities in the following
18 West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana,
Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
The conflict in Côte d'Ivoire, long the political and
economic hub of the subregion, is both symbolic and symptomatic
of the fragility of the West African region where overall
socio-economic indicators are among the worst in the world.
A military uprising in September 2002 has given rise to a
military and political crisis which so far has defied resolution.
The Côte d'Ivoire conflict has serious ramifications
for all of West Africa in the form of refugees and displaced
people as well as severe economic disruption. Population growth (averaging 2.8 percent), infant mortality
(100 deaths per 1,000 births), and literacy (below 50 percent)
all cast a shadow over the region's developmental potential.
These somber statistics, however, do not reveal the positive
impact of development assistance programs, because rampant
population growth, which requires ever greater levels of services
and investments, cancels out the gains, and because conflict
can instantaneously erase decades of development. The United States has a significant stake in the future of
West Africa. The region's extreme poverty and disproportionately
high number of unemployed youth, combined with deep-seated
ethnic and religious diversity, create an inherently unstable
environment. Failure to improve living conditions through
improved access to the global economy, along with failure
to instill tolerance and respect for individual rights through
good governance, could have devastating consequences for the
United States. For instance, it could undermine the global
war against terrorism and/or create a constituency for radical
fundamentalists. Therefore, it is in the interest of the United
States to counteract these trends through development assistance
programs such as the West African Regional Program.
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