The Role of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Myanmar

In 1961, the Foreign Assistance Act to administer long-range economic and humanitarian assistance to developing countries was issued by the U.S. Congress. President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The USAID aims to advance the political and economic interests of the U.S. through its development aid programs. After Myanmar regained independence on 4 January 1948, the U.S. assistance to Myanmar began with small grants to a variety of local and international non-governmental organizations. The U.S. has a long-standing commitment to improving the lives of the people of Myanmar. After the USAID Mission was terminated in 1989, the U.S. continued to deliver emergency humanitarian assistance through local NGO especially when the category-4 Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2 May 2008. Since 2011, Myanmar has become to liberalize in economics and politics, promoted press freedom and ensured protection of basic human rights. So, the U.S. re-established its USAID mission in Myanmar in 2012. Its assistance is mainly provided in five categories namely democratic system, economic, education, health, humanitarian assistance but this research will focus on democratic, health and humanitarian assistance. Therefore, this research attempts to explore why the USAID program does normalize relations with the U.S. and Myanmar government since 2010. It also analyzes the defects of the USAID implementation in Myanmar