May 22, 2003 - Washington File: More Details on "Volunteers for Prosperity", confusion over Geek Corps and the Digital Freedom Initiative
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By Admin1 (admin) on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 10:24 am: Edit Post

More Details on "Volunteers for Prosperity", confusion over Geek Corps and the Digital Freedom Initiative




Read and comment on this Press Release from the State Department's Washington File with more details on the "Volunteers for Prosperity" program. The program matches volunteers with non-governmental organizations and will also provide millions of dollars in new federal funding to non-governmental organizations to implement the president's program. The story also says that:
Another of Bush's international volunteer service programs, the Digital Freedom Initiative, has more than 40 computer specialists, called the Geek Corps, currently working as volunteers in Senegal. The program is designed to help 360,000 small businesses in Senegal grow with the introduction of information technology. The Bush administration plans to expand the initiative to 20 countries throughout Africa.
This information does not appear to be accurate. The Geek Corps is an NGO that has been working for many years to bring computers and technology to the third world. One of their biggest programs has been in Ghana. They have no volunteers in Senegal to our knowledge. The Digital Freedom Initiative is another program altogether and was announced on March 5 at the White House as a partnership between the Department of Commerce, USAID, the Peace Corps, and several private companies including Hewlett Packard and Cisco Systems. Read the story at:

Bush Announces New International Service Initiative*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.


Bush Announces New International Service Initiative

("Volunteers For Prosperity" to enlist professionals to help around world) (750) By Alicia Langley Washington File White House Correspondent

President Bush announced May 21 a new international service initiative known as Volunteers For Prosperity, a program to enlist and deploy highly skilled professionals such as doctors, nurses, computer specialists, engineers and educators to countries around the world to promote global prosperity.

He made the announcement during his commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.

Under Bush's plan, volunteers will be matched through USA Freedom Corps with non-governmental organizations working through the Millennium Challenge Account, the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Digital Freedom Initiative, the Water For the Poor Initiative, the Trade for Africa Development and Enterprise Initiative, and the Middle East Partnership Initiative. The initiative calls upon professionals to be deployed for a limited period of time, normally weeks or months.

The Executive Director of USA Freedom Corps, John Bridgeland, told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Connecticut that there are several organizations "prepared to accept skilled volunteers, for example, to work in hospitals to help prevent and treat AIDS patients, through City Links partnership to deploy individuals from city governments to help work on clean water and sanitation projects."

"We hope, eventually, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands" will work as volunteers in the new program, Bridgeland said.

Millions of dollars in new federal funding will be awarded to non-governmental organizations to implement the president's program. The organizations will then be responsible for paying for the volunteers and using those resources as leverage to solicit additional private contributions.

Bush told the graduating class of Coast Guard cadets that every citizen can be grateful that the Coast Guard stands watch for America and that the Coast Guard is also playing a vital role in America's strategy to confront terror before it comes to America's shores.

He also explained that "the national interest of America involves more than eliminating aggressive threats to our safety. We also stand for the values that defeat violence and the hope that overcomes hatred. We find our greatest security in the advance of human freedom."

"America's national ambition is the spread of free markets, free trade and free societies, Bush said. "These goals are not achieved at the expense of other nations. They are achieved for the benefit of all nations. America seeks to expand not the borders of our country but the realm of liberty."

"Free countries build wealth and prosperity for their people in an atmosphere of stability and order, instead of seeking weapons of mass murder and attacking their neighbors," the president said. "Because America loves peace, America will always work and sacrifice for the expansion of freedom."

Sadly, Bush said, the advance of freedom around the world is undermined by persistent poverty and despair, hunger and disease. He said it is his hope that a new U.S. approach to development aid, including the Millennium Challenge Account and his Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in 14 African and Caribbean nations, will save lives and pave the way for greater global prosperity.

He promised he would challenge America's allies to make a similar commitment to save lives when he visits Europe prior to the economic summit of the group of eight major industrialized nations (G8) in Evian, France, June 1-3.

"I will remind them that the clock is ticking, that every single day 8,000 more people will die from AIDS in Africa. There will be 14,000 more infections. I will urge our European partners and Japan and Canada to join a great mission of rescue, and to match their good intentions with real resources."

Bush also restated his commitment to double the capacity of the Peace Corps from 7,000 to 15,000 volunteers over the next five years.

"We remain on track to do that," Bridgeland told reporters. He said interest in the Peace Corps is greater than ever, noting that while there have been 183,000 requests for applications by Americans who want to serve, only 7,000 slots are available at this time.

Another of Bush's international volunteer service programs, the Digital Freedom Initiative, has more than 40 computer specialists, called the Geek Corps, currently working as volunteers in Senegal. The program is designed to help 360,000 small businesses in Senegal grow with the introduction of information technology. The Bush administration plans to expand the initiative to 20 countries throughout Africa.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)


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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; USA Freedom Corps; Volunteers for Prosperity; Digital Freedom Initiative; Geeks Corps; Computers; Internet

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