WASHINGTON, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - The United States on Monday signed an aid pact with Lesotho in which the impoverished African country battling an HIV/AIDS epidemic would receive 363 million dollars to stem poverty.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Lesotho's Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili witnessed the signing of the agreement between officials of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and the African nation.
The corporation is a pet project of President George W. Bush aimed at providing assistance to governments of developing countries that adopt democracy, sound economic policy and are determined to weed out graft.
The aid pact "signifies America's enduring bipartisan support for Africa's development, our commitment to working together with the peoples of Africa to resolve conflicts, to combat disease, to fight poverty with economic growth, and to expand education for the poor," Rice said.
The five-year pact with Lesotho aims to increase water supplies for industrial and domestic use, mitigate the devastating effects of poor maternal health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases, and remove barriers to private sector investment, officials said.
Since its inception in 2004, the Millennium Challenge Corporation has signed pacts totaling nearly four billion dollars with 13 countries -- Madagascar, Cape Verde, Honduras, Nicaragua, Georgia, Armenia, Vanuatu, Benin, Ghana, Mali, El Salvador, Mozambique, and Lesotho.
pp/rlp AFP 232317 GMT 07 07
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