USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance

Today, USAID - US Agency for International Development announced $4.9 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support drought-affected communities in Namibia, where an estimated 1.4 million people–nearly half of the country’s population–will likely face high levels of acute food insecurity and require urgent food assistance between July and September due to the El Niño-induced drought.

With this additional funding, USAID partners UNICEF and World Food Programme will provide life-saving food assistance and nutrition support to more than 80,000 of the most vulnerable children and their caregivers. We’ll continue to support communities in Namibia and across Southern Africa by providing life-saving assistance to meet basic needs and build resilience.

📷: WFP

USAID Southern Africa | U.S. Embassy Namibia

With nearly 600 firefighters from 11 Latin American countries, the annual Wildland Firefighters Mobilization Exercise – supported by USAID - US Agency for International Development – gives participants an opportunity to grow their skills in responding to wildfires across the region. The exercise included hands-on drills where fire brigades from Ecuador and Colombia could refine their skills in a controlled environment, helping to bolster their theoretical lessons with real world experience.

USAID Colombia | Embajada de los Estados Unidos Colombia | U.S. Embassy Ecuador

The ongoing monsoon in the Philippines has caused significant flooding and landslides across the country, including in Mindanao, the country's southernmost major island. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.

USAID - US Agency for International Development is working with World Food Programme, International Organization for Migration - Micronesia and the Department of Social Welfare and Development - DSWD to distribute shelter-grade tarps and family food packs to people who have been impacted. We are continuing to monitor the situation and are prepared to scale up our assistance if needed.

USAID Philippines | USAID Asia | U.S. Embassy in the Philippines

🚨STORM ALERT: We are tracking Typhoon Gaemi as it moves towards Taiwan’s capital city of Taipei with a maximum wave height of 40 ft & sustained winds of more than 109 mph. USAID - US Agency for International Development experts in USAID Asia, Washington D.C. & U.S. Indo-Pacific Command are monitoring. We stand ready to assist if needed.

We are honored to welcome the 2024 USAID Foreign Service National Fellows to our Washington D.C. office! These Fellows bring their expertise from USAID - US Agency for International Development Missions around the world – including Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Nigeria and Jordan – to support our humanitarian work from D.C. and grow as leaders in our agency.

They recently had the opportunity to meet with members of our leadership team, who got the chance to personally welcome them!

USAID Ethiopia | USAID Bangladesh | USAID Kenya | USAID Pakistan | USAID/Nigeria | USAID Jordan | USAID Asia

Today, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced $60 million in USAID - US Agency for International Development funding for the people of Haiti to support nutrition, food security, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene, protection, and more as 5.5 million remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance due to economic instability and insecurity caused by organized criminal groups.

USAID/Haiti | Ambassade des États-Unis, Port-au-Prince (Haïti)

https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/jul-22-2024-us-government-announces-60-million-humanitarian-assistance-haiti

In Ethiopia, USAID - US Agency for International Development partner World Vision International has been working with local economic and social organizations to help vulnerable people build more resilient livelihoods, making them better able to withstand shocks.

Hamza and Mulugeta, seen here, are two success stories. They have been able to attend local trainings that strengthen their soft skills and economic decision-making, helping their work as a driver and in animal husbandry, respectively.

USAID East Africa | USAID Ethiopia | World Vision Ethiopia | U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa

From 2010-2019, the cost of extreme weather and climate-related events reached nearly $1.5 trillion in economic losses. In contrast, resilience investments — like disaster-resilient construction and risk financing— can save up to $7 for every $1 spent.

At USAID - US Agency for International Development, our resilience-strengthening agenda has evolved to meet a new risk environment of global shocks, such as COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with ongoing and compounding crises such as the climate crisis and rising inequality and conflict. Our updated Resilience Policy will serve as a roadmap for the next decade in helping people, communities, and countries protect and improve their well-being in the face of shocks and stresses. Read more here:

USAID Releases Updated Resilience Policy | Press Release | U.S. Agency for International Development USAID released its updated Resilience Policy, providing a roadmap for the Agency’s work over the next decade in helping people, communities, and countries protect and improve their well-being in the face of accelerating shocks and stresses.

NEW Photos: Additional tarps and shelter kits just arrived in Jamaica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These critical relief items from USAID - US Agency for International Development airlifted from our Miami warehouse, will help some of the most vulnerable people, who are still feeling the impacts from Hurricane Beryl just a few weeks ago.

And more is on the way.

U.S. Embassy Bridgetown | US Embassy Jamaica | USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean

🚨ALERT: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake, along with several aftershocks, struck northern Chile overnight at approximately 9:50 P.M. local time, near the country’s borders with Bolivia and Argentina. USAID - US Agency for International Development disaster experts in Washington D.C. and the region are monitoring the situation and are prepared to respond if requested.

U.S. Embassy Santiago | Embajada de Estados Unidos en Bolivia | Embajada de Estados Unidos en Argentina

Today, USAID - US Agency for International Development announced more than $69 million in humanitarian assistance for nearly 1.5 million people in Chad's east and Lac province.

Chad is facing crises in various parts of the country, including the worst lean season ever, an influx of more than 800,000 refugees and returnees from neighboring Sudan, and persistent armed group activity in Lac province that continues to generate significant humanitarian needs.

This funding will support partners providing food assistance, health care, nutrition, protection, shelter, clean water, and more for those in greatest need.

USAID West Africa | U.S. Embassy N'Djamena

Sudan: Today, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced nearly $203 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Sudan. This funding, from USAID - US Agency for International Development and U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, will support humanitarian partners to continue providing food, nutrition, health, protection, market systems strengthening, water and sanitation, and other critical assistance to the people of Sudan amid historic levels of food insecurity and other humanitarian needs.

USAID Sudan | U.S. Embassy Khartoum

Zimbabwe is facing a historic drought driven by El Niño weather patterns. To help, USAID - US Agency for International Development is providing more than $39 million in humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe as they deal with food insecurity, widespread crop failure, and loss of livelihoods. With this support, humanitarian partners will provide more than 500,000 people with food aid, in addition to agricultural, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance.

Read more here: https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/jul-18-2024-united-states-announces-more-39-million-assistance-people-zimbabwe

Photo: AFP

USAID Zimbabwe | U.S. Embassy Zimbabwe | USAID Southern Africa

It’s Mandela Day 2024, and people across the globe are honoring Nelson Mandela’s legacy by serving others and working to make their communities and the world a better place.

Today, and every day, we are thankful for our USAID - US Agency for International Development disaster experts and partners. They embody this spirit through their continuing efforts to save lives and reduce suffering in crisis-affected communities around the world.

USAID Southern Africa | US Embassy South Africa

Let’s be frank, we relish any opportunity to ketchup on pics of our heroic USAID - US Agency for International Development search-and-rescue 🐕! is no exception. Join us for some fun as we look back on their work around the world.

Virginia Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue | Los Angeles County Fire Department

NEWS: Today, USAID - US Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia Michael Schiffer announced $3.5 million in disaster preparedness assistance for the people of Papua New Guinea, a country that frequently faces extreme weather events and natural hazards, including earthquakes, floods, storms, and volcanic eruptions. This assistance will support IOM - UN Migration to pre-position critical relief supplies and work with local governments to build disaster response capacity.

U.S. Embassy - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | USAID Asia | IOM Asia-Pacific

In the aftermath of the horrific missile strikes across Ukraine last week, USAID - US Agency for International Development’s partners were able to surge support to help people where it was needed most. Фонд Народонаселення ООН в Україні - UNFPA Ukraine was able to quickly deploy mobile psychosocial support teams, while Save the Children in Ukraine was able to immediately provide assistance that allowed families impacted by the attacks to purchase items to meet basic needs.

USAID Ukraine - USAID Україна | U.S. Embassy Kyiv Ukraine

In June, a team of USAID - US Agency for International Development experts, including Senior Humanitarian Advisor Ibrahim Younis, visited the Far North Region of Cameroon to observe our partner World Food Programme’s work providing nutrition support in displaced communities. Just this year, they’ve been able to screen more than 335K children for the most severe types of malnutrition.

Visits like this one provide our teams an opportunity to see firsthand how our assistance can help save lives. You can learn more here:
https://cm.usembassy.gov/world-refugee-day-2024/

U.S. Embassy Yaounde | World Food Programme West Africa | USAID West Africa

🚨100K people have taken the online course: Building a Better Response! You too can complete this training, funded by USAID - US Agency for International Development and International Medical Corps, and receive an eLearning certificate from the Humanitarian Academy at Harvard University.

Building a Better Response is an online course that aims to strengthen the capacity of NGO staff, as well as other humanitarian professionals, to engage with the international humanitarian coordination system in a way that improves overall response coordination.

Learn more and sign up here: https://buildingabetterresponse.org/

Though heavy rains recently brought floods to El Salvador, USAID - US Agency for International Development was ready. Our prepositioned supplies were quickly deployed to help people impacted by the waters. This included hygiene kits, mattresses, and water filters like those you see here, being distributed by Embajada de los Estados Unidos en El Salvador Ambassador William Duncan as well as Catholic Relief Services and World Vision International.

USAID El Salvador | World Vision El Salvador

BREAKING: Today, Administrator Samantha Power announced that the United States, through USAID - US Agency for International Development, will provide an additional $100 million in critical humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in dire need throughout Gaza and the West Bank.

This new funding will support our logistics efforts to get aid into Gaza and support our partner World Food Programme deliver urgently needed food assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, where nearly the entire population is facing emergency levels of food insecurity.

USAID West Bank/Gaza | USAID Middle East | WFP MENA برنامج الأغذية العالمي الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا

https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/jul-11-2024-administrator-power-announces-100-million-palestinians-gaza-west-bank

Eight days after first made landfall in the Caribbean, USAID - US Agency for International Development disaster teams remain on the ground. Recently, our team member Ann Baptiste met with U.S. Embassy Bridgetown Ambassador Roger Nyhus to hand over vital relief supplies during an event at the Grenada Red Cross Society.

USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean | CDEMA - Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

Because USAID - US Agency for International Development knows that disaster can strike anywhere, any time, we are providing $500k to People in Need Armenia to help communities perform risk assessments, develop emergency response plans and enhance early warning systems to better prepare for risks such as floods and landslides.

USAID Armenia | U.S. Embassy Yerevan

United States Announces Expanded Support for Armenia | Press Release | U.S. Agency for International Development During her trip to Armenia this week, Administrator Samantha Power announced expanding partnerships that reflect the deepening relationship between the United States and Armenia. The Administrator announced $11.9 million in new funding commitments in digital transformation, food security, communicat...

Today, we celebrate 70 years of the Food for Peace Program. Since 1954, this program has made it possible for USAID - US Agency for International Development to respond to global crises thanks to food grown here in the United States, as well as the farmers, grain elevator operators, truckers, bargemen, freight forwarders, and port operators who grow that food and help transport it to the world’s most vulnerable. On average, over the last decade, this support has come from American farmers in more than 21 U.S. states.

Food for Peace, which was one of the first permanent, peacetime foreign aid programs, remains to this day a cornerstone of our lifesaving work overseas.

Join us in taking a look at USAID emergency food responses through the years.

American Farm Bureau Federation | U.S. Department of Agriculture

NEW: USAID - US Agency for International Development is providing $4.5M in immediate humanitarian assistance to help affected communities following the destruction caused by in Grenada, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Jamaica, $2.5M will help partners repair homes, address water and sanitation needs, support logistical operations, and provide essential relief items, such as clean-up kits, hygiene kits, and tarps to those most affected.

In Grenada and in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, $1M in funding for both countries will allow partners to provide shelter support and emergency relief items for several thousand people who have been displaced due to storm damage.

As the largest donor to this response, USAID stands with these communities and will continue to help them in this time of need.

USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean | US Embassy Jamaica | U.S. Embassy Bridgetown | International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Our teams recently met with four Village Savings and Loan Associations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where we are working with ADRA International to help families build their financial capacity.

Programs like these also help ensure families have the resources needed to be able to withstand any future shocks and stresses. This includes training in literacy and financial management, as well as ensuring they have access to seeds and other agricultural tools and assets.

USAID DRC | L'Ambassade des Etats Unis, Kinshasa

Aid continues to reach countries and communities affected by in the Caribbean. Here, at a port in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, USAID - US Agency for International Development worked with World Food Programme to offload these vital relief supplies, including food kits – which can provide food to 15,000 people for 10 days – and other materials, which will then continue on to reach people in need in some of the most badly impacted areas of the country.

USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean | U.S. Embassy Bridgetown | CDEMA - Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

UPDATE: Today, USAID - US Agency for International Development disaster experts officially delivered these mattresses to Jamaica Red Cross in order to help families in the aftermath of . After leaving this warehouse, these supplies will be distributed to people in some of the most heavily impacted areas of the country.

US Embassy Jamaica | International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies | USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean