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International Disaster and Famine Assistance

The International Disaster and Famine Assistance (IDFA) account is the lead account for responses by the U.S. Government to non-food disasters in foreign countries. This account provides humanitarian relief and supports activities addressing the root causes of fragility. The funding for most USAID disaster responses is managed by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA). The IDFA account targets the most vulnerable populations with emergency assistance, including child- and women-headed households, nursing and pregnant women, the malnourished, the elderly, children, and those with mental and physical disabilities. In addition to providing monetary and material assistance in response to humanitarian crises, IDFA funds assists vulnerable communities in preventing, preparing for, and mitigating the effects of disasters.

Recognizing that the needs of victims in all disasters are of the utmost importance, there were a few humanitarian interventions in FY 2005 that were unique in their magnitude, urgency, or strategic importance. Several are cited here as examples of how USAID plays an important role in supporting U.S. national interests with IDFA funding.

In response to the Asia tsunami, USAID immediately deployed a multi-country Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the most affected areas. DART teams conducted assessments and oversaw the provision of U.S. Government relief supplies in India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In addition to the 55 DART members who were actively participating in the response on the ground, more than 100 field-based USAID staff worked on the tsunami response. To support efforts on the ground, USAID activated a Response Management Team (RMT) in Washington on December 27. During the height of the response, the 42-member RMT worked around the clock to support the DART, arrange the airlift of commodities, and coordinate USAID's response. USAID provided more than $100 million of IDFA funding for emergency programs that ranged from water, sanitation, and health initiatives, to cash-for-work activities that provided both vital income to people who had lost everything and the chance to participate in relief and recovery efforts. After the Asia tsunami, USAID reinforced its commitment to reducing the economic impact of disasters while providing emergency assistance. In order to help restore the livelihoods of affected populations, USAID funded cash-for-work and assets-for-work programs as a key part of the emergency response. Cash-for-work activities included waste management, land rehabilitation, debris removal, shelter construction, and care of livestock. These USAID-funded programs not only directly supported thousands of beneficiaries in the form of salaries but also indirectly benefited tens of thousands of community members.

Although recent progress on the North-South Sudan peace process brings hope for an end to Africa's longest civil war, the ongoing crisis in Darfur is deeply troubling. In FY 2005, IDFA funds were used to address vital humanitarian needs in Sudan while simultaneously providing an effective bridge to development activities in the south. Within the framework of USAID's Interim Strategic Plan for Sudan, the following were program priorities for IDFA funding: provision of basic humanitarian services in war-affected areas of Sudan, focus on areas of likely internal displaced persons (IDPs), and response to the Darfur crisis. The humanitarian emergency in Darfur now affects more than 3.5 million people, including more than 1.7 million IDPs and approximately 220,000 refugees in eastern Chad. Resolving the crisis in Darfur remains critical to consolidating a national peace and addressing the simmering conflict in eastern Sudan. In FY 2005, over $201 million of IDFA was provided for humanitarian assistance countrywide in Sudan.

In FY 2005, USAID continued its IDFA support to Iraq by providing over $69.6 million to Iraq to support programs in health and nutrition, livelihoods, education, and water and sanitation, with an emphasis on support of IDPs and other vulnerable populations. USAID's partners provided rapid humanitarian assistance to people suddenly displaced by increased conflict, provided income-generation activities, protected and assisted IDPs, and worked to ensure the safe return of IDPs to their communities.

Avian Influenza preparedness and response activities were a priority for USAID and OFDA in FY 2005 and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. USAID is working across the U.S. Government to ensure an effective and coordinated approach to this public health and economic threat. USAID is an active member of the Avian Influenza Working Group which was created in March 2005 to develop and coordinate activities.

In FY 2005, $522 million of IDFA were expended for emergency response, mitigation and preparedness projects around the world, responding to 84 declared disasters in 76 different countries, targeting an estimated 71.4 million beneficiaries. For a complete listing of IDFA major disaster responses by country and region for FY 2004 and FY 2005, please see the International Disaster and Famine Assistance table in the Summary Tables volume of this Congressional Budget Justification. Provided below is the IDFA Program Summary table.

For FY 2006, the Congress has appropriated $418 million in IDFA funding including FY 2006 supplemental funding of $56 million for avian influenza prevention. USAID is currently engaged in several protracted crises around the world and is prepared to respond to new humanitarian emergencies, wherever and whenever they occur.

The FY 2007 request for $349 million for IDFA consists of three components. First there is the traditional component for responding to disasters around the world amounting to $229 million that will be administered by OFDA. The next component, $100 million, is being requested for additional needs across Sudan, including humanitarian needs and reconstruction and recovery efforts in south Sudan. The third component, $20 million, is for famine prevention and mitigation.