Changes

In addition to its main office in North Carolina's Research Triange, RTI has eight U.S. regional offices, five international offices (in the [[United Arab Emirates]], [[Indonesia]], Britain, [[South Africa ]] and [[El Salvador]]), and one international subsidiary, [[RTI Polska LLC]] in Warsaw, [[Poland]]. [http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?nav=155#subsidiaries] RTI's "worldwide staff of more than 2,500 individuals" is divided into four research teams - Social and Statistical Sciences, Science and Engineering, International Development, and RTI Health Solutions - and administrative support. [http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?nav=6] In October 2007, a [[Private Military Corporations|private military contractor]] working for RTI International in [[Iraq]] shot and killed two Iraqi women civilians in Baghdad. "The guards in the shooting worked for [[Unity Resources Group]], an Australian-run security company registered in [[Singapore]] and with headquarters in Dubai," reported the ''New York Times''. <ref>Andrew E. Kramer, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html 2 Killed in Shooting Mourned Far Beyond Iraq]," ''New York Times'', October 11, 2007.</ref> The Unity contractors provide protection for RTI International. "Statements from both Unity and RTI have made clear the guards were not escorting RTI clients when the shooting occurred," reported Associated Press. RTI "promotes governance projects in Iraq for the [[U.S. Agency for International Development]]." <ref>Qassim Abdul-Zahra, "[http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8S6ECN80 Funeral for 2 Slain in Security Shooting]," Associated Press, October 10, 2007.</ref>

* "helping [[China ]] prepare for the 2008 Olympics"

* "addressing [[HIV/AIDS ]] among high-risk populations," including sex workers and homeless people

In addition to the countries listed below, RTI has also worked in [[Mali]], the [[Philippines]], [[Venezuela]], [[Tunisia ]] and the [[Ivory Coast ]] (''The Washington Post'', April 12, 2003, and ''Triangle Business Journal'', Raleigh NC, May 3, 1996).

From 2003 to 2004, RTI won an up to $167 million contract to "foster democratic local government in Iraq"; it spent some $156 million. In 2003, RTI set up local "elections" in Iraq whereby selected individuals were invited to choose from candidates (nominated by anyone in the community) to be on city councils. However, everyone - nominees and voters - were vetted by the occupation authority. [[Pratap Chatterjee ]] wrote that the goal of these "elections / selections" was "to create a new five-tier council system, which would not reject the American overseers. These neighborhood councils would select district councils, which in turn would select county councils, which would select a provincial council, which, finally, would select a governor." [http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11403]

RTI's other Iraq work is "a $15 million contract ... to develop a training program for Iraqi health-care providers. ... Optional work with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which would be worth $10 million more, could be added later to that contract," wrote ''The News & Observer'' (Raleigh, North Carolina, April 28, 2005). Four months after the contract was awarded, U.S. Congressman [[David Price ]] (Dem.-N.C.), said RTI was "implementing a training and management program for 150 model health care centers in Iraq" (''US Fed News'', August 25, 2005).

RTI heads the "Managing Basic Education" program for USAID, part of the agency's $157 million "Indonesia Education Initiative." [http://www.mbeproject.net/indexe.html] [http://www.usaid.gov/id/about/edu.html] According to a July 2004 [[Focus on the Global South]] article, "In [[Indonesia]], RTI trained bureaucrats to 'restructure local water utilities into profit making entities' by obliging Indonesian city-dwellers to pay for urban services." [http://www.focusweb.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=355&Itemid=26]

RTI is "establishing a small LRC Library at the Ministry of Education Curriculum Wing to promote awareness about Education Sector Reform Assistance (Esra) in [[Pakistan]]," according to the ''Business Reporter'' (September 17, 2005).

Through early December 2005, RTI was advertising for key media personnel for "donor-funded independent media development projects in [[Egypt ]] and the Middle East region." Duties in the anticipated three-year project include "in-country media training and capacity development for journalists, students, broadcasters, media owners, and editors; independent media development and decentralization; legal and regulatory reform; newsroom and institutional development; advertising; and English language training." [http://www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact_show.htm?doc_id=315675]

Also on a USAID contract, RTI works with "3 municipalities in five [[South African Africa]]n provinces," to "improve municipal performance and increase revenue." The $4 million contract is part of the South African Department of Provincial and Local Government's "Project Consolidate," which USAID called "an initiative to provide hand-on assistance to local governments."

In January 2005, USAID awarded a $24 million, five year project "to increase the use of community health services in [[Rwanda]]," called the Twubakane Decentralization and Health Project, to RTI, fellow North Carolina contractor [[IntraHealth International]] and Tulane University's Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer. "In addition to strengthening community-based services in family planning and reproductive health, child survival, malaria and nutrition, the Twubakane Project will focus on financial management, anti-corruption and local participatory governance," reported the ''Chapel Hill Herald'' (Durham, NC, January 29, 2005).

According to the ''Washington Post'', RTI was working to "build local governments from the ground up" in [[El Salvador]], "while its civil war was still underway" (April 18, 2003).

In April 2005, RTI "won an $8.8 million contract ... to develop and manage public-private alliances in [[Guatemala]]. Under the five-year project, RTI and partner University Research Co. will use funds from USAID and cash and in-kind contributions from the Guatemalan private sector and multinational corporations to finance local initiatives aimed at improving basic health, nutrition and education services in Guatemala. RTI also will provide technical assistance and training to strengthen the alliance-building and fund-raising skills of its partners," reported ''The Herald-Sun'' (Durham, NC, April 19, 2005).

In April 2005, RTI "received an $8.7 million contract to support municipal budget reform in [[Ukraine]]. The contract, RTI's third from the U.S. Agency for International Development in the past week, funds a three-year project that will help Ukrainian officials achieve budgetary goals consistent with their long-term development strategies," reported ''The Herald-Sun'' (Durham, NC, April 26, 2005).

In November 2005, RTI won an $8 million, three year USAID contract to "provide technical assistance and training to support [[Armenia]]'s efforts to strengthen local governments." The ''Triangle Business Journal'' reported, "RTI staff will work alongside local government officials to implement financial management systems and controls, increase accountability and transparency of local government and increase the capacity of local governments to deliver services." [http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2005/11/07/daily31.html]

* [[Bayer|Bayer CropScience]]* [[DuPont|E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc.]]

* [[Nielsen|Nielsen Media Research]]

[[category:US foreign policyCorporations]] [[category:International issues]][[category:US foreign policy]]