United States Agency International Developement

Support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will Help Transform Public Libraries in Ukraine into Community Centers through Computers and Internet Access. The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine to foster the development of a modern public library system in Ukraine through the Bibliomist program. Bibliomist will work together with national and local governments across Ukraine to help libraries better serve their communities through training and technology. Bibliomist is supported by a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

USAID’s Municipal Heating Reform (MHR) Project was officially launched in Yevpatoria November 19 at a meeting between city officials and project representatives. A similar event was held in Kramatorsk on November 12. City mayors, attended by local power authorities, signed memoranda of understanding, which details how they will work together with the MHR Project to reform the heat supply system in both cities. International Resources Group (IRG), an American-owned company, will implement the project on USAID’s behalf.

Irina Alekseenko, a bacteriologist and an exemplary laboratory specialist, has been working as the head of the TB lab in Feodosia, Crimea, for 10 years. She vividly remembers the time when chest X-ray was the primary method for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB). Candidly sharing her opinion on the practice, she notes: “This method had questionable efficacy for TB case detection. In addition, resources associated with mass photofluorography were far from cost-effective.”

USAID Insight is a monthly newsletter that focuses on on specific development issues. Improvement in the well-being of citizens – the aspiration of any economic development activity – is the paramount goal of USAID’s new project, the Local Investment and National Competitiveness project (LINC). LINC will assist Ukrainian cities and regions to shape a strategic vision and move down the path to community sustainability by enhancing their economic competitiveness and thus creating more jobs and investment opportunities. The LINC project kicked off in mid-April, and since then it has established itself in Crimea.

E-Spotlight is a bi-monthly news summary of current Mission events. This issue's headlines: Integrating Orphans into Society, Improving Market Regulation and Enforcement, and Municipal Heating Reform Project Helps Ukraine Define Government Policy on Individual Unit Heating Option.