U.S. Emergency Assistance to Horn of Africa Over $797M to Date
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 2008
Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810
www.usaid.gov
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State, has provided more than $797 million in assistance to date to help people affected by the complex emergency in the Horn of Africa in fiscal year 2008.
This funding provides emergency food assistance, nutrition, health, agriculture and food security, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions, as well as assistance to refugees and conflict-affected people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
Consecutive seasons of failed rains, localized civil insecurity, periodic trade disruptions, and rising local and global food prices have created a complex food insecurity crisis in the Horn of Africa. Approximately 16 million people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are in need of emergency assistance.
According to reports from the USAID-supported Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), which is a specialized information network that analyzes information provided by multiple technologies located both in the skies and on the ground, the number of food insecure people in the Horn of Africa region is expected to continue to increase in the coming months due to rising food costs and reduced crop production resulting from the poor performance of the March to May rains. Poor urban populations are particularly vulnerable to rising food prices due to a dependency on the market for the purchase of the majority of staple food needs.
An augmented USAID East and Central Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya, and a U.S. Government Humanitarian Assistance Team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are monitoring conditions throughout the region and coordinating with United Nations and international relief agencies to identify response priorities and provide assistance to affected areas.
For more information about USAID and its emergency humanitarian assistance programs in the Horn of Africa, please visit: www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance.html.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.
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