Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance Overview Strategic Objective Notifications Democracy and Governance Conflict Management and Mitigation Food for Peace Private and Voluntary Cooperation American Schools and Hospitals Abroad International Disaster Assistance Transition Initiatives P.L. 480 Food For Peace Summary Tables Abbreviations & Acronyms Last updated: Wednesday, 29-May-2002 18:53:11 EDT

THE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE: The magnitude and unpredictable nature of most disaster events requires that the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) respond rapidly while remaining flexible and creative in its approaches to relief and mitigation. OFDA's Disaster Assistance program objectives are to:

(1) meet the critical needs of targeted, vulnerable groups in emergency situations;
(2) increase adoption of mitigation measures in countries at risk of natural disasters; and
(3) enhance follow-on development prospects in priority, post-conflict countries.

To accomplish these objectives, OFDA has a well-established management structure and disaster relief experts who can draw on public and private sector resources to respond within 24 - 72 hours after a disaster occurs. OFDA deploys assessment teams to identify needs and provides disaster assistance response teams (DARTs) to coordinate appropriate emergency responses and facilitate information flows. OFDA also provides search and rescue teams, medical assistance, health interventions, shelter, and water purification units. More specifically, OFDA's programs:

• Support the capability to provide timely emergency response to disasters worldwide;
• Support capacities to prepare for and mitigate vulnerability in disaster situations;
• Provide emergency commodities and services for immediate health care and nutrition;
• Support the training of local health care staff in basic hygiene, nutrition and surveillance;
• Support the provision of potable water and appropriate sanitation facilities to reduce the probability of disease outbreak;
• Support the provision of basic shelter and cooking tool needs of targeted vulnerable groups with plastic sheeting, tents, blankets and household kits;
• Support the emergency food needs of vulnerable populations with the purchase, transportation, and distribution of high-energy blended foods; and
• Support critical agricultural needs with the provision of seeds, tools, and a seed multiplication and distribution system.

THE USAID PROGRAM: Under the authority of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, the President has designated the USAID Administrator as the Special Coordinator for International Disaster Assistance. The disaster assistance program is implemented through the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The International Disaster Assistance funds obligated and implemented through OFDA play an important part in U.S. foreign policy by providing humanitarian assistance to victims of crisis and disaster. Prevention, preparedness, emergency response, economic recovery and rehabilitation are all part of a comprehensive response to reduce developing country vulnerability to emergencies. Selected details of major OFDA responses for FY 2001 follow.

• Afghanistan Complex Emergency: Prior to September 2001, two decades of war in Afghanistan, including a decade-long Soviet occupation and ensuing civil strife, left Afghanistan impoverished and mired in an extended humanitarian crisis. Government infrastructure, including the ability to deliver the most basic health, education, and other social services, collapsed. Significant local and national resources were directed to the war effort. Severe restrictions by the Taliban, which controlled as much as 90 percent of the country, including a restriction on women working outside the home, added to the impact of poverty, particularly on the many households lacking able-bodied adult men. Humanitarian prospects worsened sharply in Afghanistan in September 2001 due to developments both inside and outside the country. Fears of an United States reprisal to the attacks of September 11 triggered a population exodus from major Afghan cities, both towards other points in Afghanistan and towards the country's borders. The beginning of U.S. air strikes on October 7 caused additional movement. International staff of all relief agencies withdrew after September 11, complicating the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Despite these developments, OFDA provided $12,648,522 in assistance during FY 2001.
   
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Complex Emergency: In FY 2001, violence and insecurity continued to destabilize the DRC, limiting humanitarian access to vulnerable populations. Despite the new DRC President's commitment to foster peace and support the Lusaka Peace Accords, fighting intensified in the eastern part of the country throughout FY 2001. International humanitarian agencies only had access to approximately 60% of the displaced people as a result of the continued insecurity in some areas, deteriorated physical infrastructure, and logistical constraints. In FY 2001, OFDA's humanitarian assistance for the DRC totaled more than $21.8 million, with funding focused primarily on health services and food security programs. In addition, OFDA supported emergency market infrastructure rehabilitation and agricultural programs for war-affected, vulnerable, and internally displaced persons.
   
• Sudan Complex Emergency: Sudan's 18-year civil war between the Government of Sudan (GOS) military and militia forces and mostly southern Sudanese rebel groups, including the Southern People's Liberation Army/Movement, continued on numerous fronts along the traditional North-South divide and transitional zones (i.e., the Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile). Populations in these areas were adversely affected by forced displacements due to the continued fighting, raiding, and GOS aerial bombings. In FY 2001, more than 900,000 people were affected by drought conditions in GOS-controlled areas of the country. The World Food Program (WFP) estimated that more than 158,000 people are in need of emergency food assistance in the Nuba Mountains area that is an isolated transitional zone heavily affected by war. In May 2001, President Bush named USAID Administrator Andrew S. Natsios as Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan. In September 2001, President Bush appointed former Senator John Danforth to be his Special Envoy for Peace to Sudan. OFDA's humanitarian assistance for Sudan totaled more than $27.2 million in FY 2001. Funding focused primarily on health care and food security projects targeting children, war-affected, drought-affected, and internally displaced persons in geographic areas of critical need.
   
• El Salvador Earthquakes: In FY 2001, El Salvador suffered the devastation of two major earthquakes. According to the El Salvadoran National Emergency Committee as a result of both earthquakes, 1,159 people died and 1,582,428 people were affected, nearly a quarter of the country's population. OFDA responded to the twin earthquake disasters with $14,329,607 of emergency assistance, focused primarily on meeting the needs of those left homeless through the provision of temporary shelter. OFDA also funded emergency assistance in search and rescue, and the local purchase or airlift of commodities to meet pressing needs in the areas of health, water and sanitation, and household necessities such as blankets and mattresses.
   
• India Earthquake: According to the Government of India (GOI), the earthquake of January 26, 2001 in western India resulted in the death of more than 20,000 people, the injury of another 20,700 people, and the temporarily displacement of approximately 600,000 people. OFDA, after completing a humanitarian needs assessment, provided more than $7.4 million. This assistance included three airlifts of relief supplies distributed to the most affected populations by CARE, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the GOI. In addition, OFDA provided $878,657 in technical equipment to assist with debris removal; $100,000 to the Prime Minister's National Disaster Relief Fund; $25,657 for OFDA DART support costs; and more than $4.8 million to U.S. private voluntary organizations (PVOs) for interventions in the shelter, water, sanitation, health and nutrition, emergency food, and coordination sectors.
   

In FY 2002, OFDA plans to program $235,500,000 and part of the $146,000,000 Supplemental to address the challenges of projected increases in frequency and severity of natural and human-caused emergencies. National and international climatologists have forecast that more severe climate events entailing droughts, fires and famine in some parts of the world and hurricanes, cyclones, heavy rains and flooding in others will occur more frequently and severely. Scientists also predict more devastating earthquakes and severe volcanic eruptions. OFDA will strengthen the disaster response, mitigation and preparedness capacities of targeted at-risk countries worldwide. OFDA will also continue to use innovative approaches to strengthen its own capabilities to respond to disasters effectively and efficiently. OFDA will continue to incorporate risk-reduction measures in disaster response programs.

OFDA will strengthen internal capacity by upgrading training for Washington and field staff on new methodologies, systems and tools. OFDA will strengthen the Washington-based response management team (RMT) through improved training of staff. The RMT is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals, brought together to respond to disasters and support DARTs in the field. At the same time, OFDA will continue to collaborate with USAID missions, and draw on the resources and expertise of other U.S. Government entities through participating agency services agreements, and resource sharing and service agreements to respond to disasters. OFDA will strengthen its collaboration with numerous regional and multinational organizations, including the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Organization of American States. OFDA will improve the technical capability of its internal technical assistance group (TAG), created in the mid-1990s, to provide innovative approaches to emergency response programming in the face of evolving challenges through specialized technical advice. The TAG team is composed of specialists who provide scientific and technical expertise to long-term planning and disaster preparedness.

The Administration requests for FY 2003 $235,500,000 in International Disaster Assistance for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities by OFDA. The resources will be used to broaden response capability of RMTs and DARTs and to strengthen the Response Alternatives for Technical Services program, established in FY 2000 to enhance OFDA's "surge capacity" by ensuring that additional professional expertise is available, if needed, for immediate field deployment or emergency Washington support. In addition, OFDA plans to apply to maintain staff in its regional offices in Latin America (San Jose, Costa Rica), Africa (Nairobi, Kenya), and Asia (Manila, Philippines) in order to continue with improved monitoring of potential crises, and the capability to provide regionally managed disaster response.

Through innovative team building, staffing and training, OFDA will hone the professional skills of its staff and partners to make available specialized disaster response capability. OFDA also intends to work to reduce the time it takes to mobilize staff and resources in response to natural and complex crises. Increasingly, OFDA incorporates preventive, risk reduction and livelihood protection measures in disaster response activities. This reduces risk, and in some cases, lessens the vulnerability of populations to disaster events.

Of declared disasters, natural disasters adversely affected approximately 173 million people, their livestock and livelihoods, and killed more than 24,000 people. The total number of natural disasters in 2001 was approximately 700, with economic losses estimated at $36 billion. Storms and floods account for two-thirds of all losses. Civilians continue to suffer the horrifying consequences of conflict and natural disasters. During FY 2001, millions of people have been forced to flee their homes and communities, and have lost access to health care, clean water, food, and other basic essentials for survival. These people look to the international humanitarian community for life-saving and life-sustaining support.

Droughts and floods made up the largest number of natural disasters in FY 2001, impacting nearly one of every two countries in which OFDA responded to a disaster declaration, and accounting for 85% of the total number of people affected by declared natural disasters of all types. Droughts in Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Central America led to significant crop failures, livestock losses and potable water shortages which increased the vulnerability of more than 130 million people. Flooding in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America damaged or destroyed the houses, electric and water systems, roadways, bridges, croplands, and fish farms of more than 14 million people.

OTHER PROGRAM ELEMENTS: USAID/OFDA is not the only office within the U.S. Government that provides humanitarian aid to foreign countries. All of the contributors to humanitarian relief work in unison to provide timely, coordinated, and effective programs where they are needed most. USAID's Office of Food for Peace is responsible for administering P.L. 480 Title II emergency food aid targeted to vulnerable populations suffering from food insecurity as a result of natural disasters, civil conflict, or other crises. USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives is responsible for providing assistance to countries that are in a stage of transition from crisis to recovery. Equally as important is the collaboration with other parts of USAID, such as the regional bureaus and field missions, that provide foreign development aid. Development aid often complements humanitarian relief programs or can be regarded as disaster recovery assistance. Countries that have achieved sustainable development are less likely to require massive U.S. Government humanitarian assistance. Three of the biggest providers of U.S. Government humanitarian assistance are the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration and the U.S. Department of Defense's Office for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs.

OTHER DONORS: OFDA collaborates closely within USAID and with other donors in the international relief community. This is particularly important both to coordinate programs and to share the burden of relief costs. For example, 15 donors, not including the U.S. Government, have pledged over $23 million of assistance for the recent Goma volcano disaster. U.S. PVOs are essential partners who play a fundamental role in raising resources, providing humanitarian assistance, and implementing relief programs. OFDA's partnerships with U.S. PVOs and nongovernmental organizations include support for mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of information among international partners and to prevent duplication of effort.

Program Summary

(in thousands of dollars)

Category	FY 2000 Actual	FY 2001 Actual	FY 2002 Estimated	FY 2003 Request
International Disaster Assistance	152,014	164,637	235,500	235,500
Transition Initiatives*	50,000
Supplemental**	25,000	134,703	0	0
Emergency Response Fund	0	0	146,000	0
Total Program Funds	227,014	299,340	381,500	235,500

*TI funded under separate account in FY 2001 and FY 2002, and requested separately for FY 2003.
**Supplemental for FY 2001 was for Southern Africa floods. Supplemental for FY 2002 is for Afghanistan Emergency Response Fund.