For Immediate Release: March 16, 2005

REACH Awards an Additional $5.5 Million in USAID Grants

Kabul, Afghanistan, March 2005 - The USAID-funded REACH Grant Program for delivery of the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) in Afghanistan has announced a third round of awards totaling $5,535,650. The five newly-named NGO recipients work in six Afghan provinces providing 3.5 million people access to primary health services, including maternal and newborn health, child health and immunizations, and control of communicable diseases.

The grantees are Care for Afghan Families, an Afghan NGO, for delivery of health care in Takhar, Baghlan, and Kabul provinces; Save the Children US, for its work in Faryab province; STEP Health and Development Foundation, for service in 3 districts of Kabul province; the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC), for service in 7 districts of Ghazni province; and Merlin, for health care delivery in Takhar and Badakhshan provinces.

Since the REACH Grant Program’s inception, in May 2003, USAID has funded 61 BPHS service delivery, training, and bridge grants totaling nearly $67.8 million. The grants have been awarded to 21 Afghan and International NGOs working in 13 Afghan provinces. Altogether, these NGOs provide access to health care to some 7.1 million people.

For more information on Rural Expansion of Afghanistan’s Community-based Healthcare (REACH) visit program website.