Press Releases

Today, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced nearly $585 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Yemen at the 2022 High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. In recent weeks, life-saving humanitarian programs in Yemen have been halted or forced to scale back significantly due to a lack of resources. This newly announced funding will enable continued provision of life-saving aid for Yemen’s most vulnerable people amid the intensifying conflict and the country’s devastating economic deterioration. The United States remains one of the largest donors of humanitarian assistance to Yemen, providing nearly $4.5 billion since the conflict began seven years ago.

On March 14, 2022, USAID announced the launch of the new Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, which will report directly to USAID Administrator Samantha Power and will lead USAID’s efforts to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in its workplace and programs in support of President Biden’s ambitious reform agenda. USAID’s launch of this new office will elevate attention to these critical issues, better align and coordinate Agency-wide efforts, and support the continued implementation of USAID’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan, and will help USAID continue to create more respectful, inclusive, and safe environments in its workplace and programs, in support of USAID’s critical and lifesaving global mission.

On March 5-11, Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman traveled to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan to view USAID’s development work first-hand and meet with government officials, partners, and communities.

Today, Administrator Power met with United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Director Grete Faremo. They discussed coordinated efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Administrator Power shared that USAID has a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) based in the region coordinating with humanitarian partners to reach Ukrainians in need and the two discussed ways to increase communications and coordination.

On March 10, Administrator Samantha Power met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to discuss Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the devastating impacts the war is having in Ukraine as well as in countries around the world.

On Thursday, Administrator Samantha Power met with African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat to discuss a range of development, humanitarian, and security issues in Africa. Administrator Power and Chairperson Faki discussed the far-reaching negative repercussions of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine, on African livelihoods and food security, and the urgent importance of ending the war.

Today, Vice President Kamala Harris announced nearly $53 million in additional humanitarian assistance from the United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to support Ukrainians affected by Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine.

Today, on International Women’s Day, Administrator Samantha Power met virtually with members of the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Women’s Caucus. She began the conversation with an update on the United States’ humanitarian assistance to Ukranians in need, and shared how Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has disproportionately affected Ukrainian women and girls. She also provided an overview on the work of USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), who are leading the U.S. humanitarian response to the crisis.

Today, on International Women’s Day, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, along with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Shalanda Young, previewed that the President’s 2023 Budget will request approximately $2.6 billion for foreign assistance programs that promote gender equity and equality worldwide, more than doubling the amount requested for gender programs in the prior year. This marks the largest-ever gender budget request and would fund programming led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, with USAID taking forward the majority of this historic budget request to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls around the world. Administrator Power, Secretary Blinken, and OMB Acting Director Young, joined White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein for an event at the White House to mark the historic announcement.