COVID-19
Speeches Shim
The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing $100,000 in immediate assistance to support response efforts to the devastating Sri Lanka cargo ship fire. The cargo ship, MV X-Press Pearl, which began sinking on June 2, discharged plastic debris and chemical waste into the surrounding waters near the capital city of Colombo, endangering coastal resources and the livelihoods of nearby fishing communities.
Seven months into the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, human rights atrocities and the full-blown humanitarian crisis are alarming, currently pushing 400,000 innocent people to the brink of famine and loss of life. This must be addressed immediately. We do well to remember the 1980s famine in Ethiopia, which led to an estimated one million deaths, many as a result of food assistance being blocked.
Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced new actions at the G7 to tackle the global climate crisis by helping countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Through three important multilateral partnerships, USAID is helping countries prepare for and mitigate climate-related disasters.
On June 9, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power held a day-long series of high-level meetings on the humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray, Ethiopia, convening humanitarian partners, diplomats, aid workers, donor countries, and U.S. Government officials for urgent discussions on fighting famine and ending ongoing atrocities, including widespread and systematic sexual violence. Administrator Power also announced more than $181 million in additional USAID humanitarian assistance to help Ethiopians affected by this spiraling crisis, and met with Ethiopian-Canadian recording artist The Weeknd to discuss raising global awareness about the scale of the need facing those impacted by the conflict.
Today, Administrator Samantha Power announced that the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing more than $181 million to deliver life-saving food, agricultural supplies, safe drinking water, shelter, health care, and essential services to protect the most vulnerable in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where a worsening humanitarian catastrophe threatens millions of civilians.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power is co-hosting an event with the European Union focused on the humanitarian catastrophe in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and the need for a strong international response to meet urgent humanitarian needs and prevent further atrocities, including widespread sexual and gender-based violence. Approximately 5.2 million out of 6 million people —or some 90% of the population in Tigray—are in need of assistance because of the ongoing conflict and efforts by armed actors to delay and prevent food and other critical supplies from reaching vulnerable populations.
The below is attributable to Acting Spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala:
Yesterday, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power spoke with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan to discuss USAID’s enduring partnership with the government and people of Afghanistan, especially Afghan women and girls.
Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sent a second plane from Travis Air Force Base in California to Dhaka, Bangladesh carrying 1,200 pulse oximeters and personal protective equipment to protect healthcare and other frontline workers. This shipment includes a generous donation of five million surgical masks from Melville, New York-based Henry Schein, Inc. and 52,000 pairs of protective goggles donated by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Today, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power met with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi to discuss how USAID and UNHCR can better work together to ensure that refugees can participate fully in the economy and society of host countries.
On June 5, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) commemorates World Environment Day. In line with this year’s theme of “Ecosystem Restoration,” we recognize the importance of a healthy environment for global prosperity and security, and we reiterate our commitment to address the urgent environmental challenges we face.
Forty years ago, on June 5th, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the first official report of what later became known as AIDS. Since then, USAID has made great strides combating HIV as a lead implementer of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Last night, as part of its ongoing emergency assistance to countries in South Asia, the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), airlifted urgent medical supplies to help Bangladesh battle its latest COVID-19 surge. The U.S. Air Force C-17 flight departed from Travis Air Force Base in California for Dhaka, Bangladesh carrying over 2 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect thousands of health care workers in Bangladesh.
The Biden-Harris administration has been clear that combating corruption is a key domestic and foreign policy priority. Yesterday, in line with that commitment, President Biden released a National Security Study Memorandum (NSSM) that establishes the fight against corruption as a core national security interest of the United States. USAID applauds President Biden’s leadership in acknowledging that corruption poses a deep threat to U.S national security, shared prosperity, and democracy itself.
Thirty-two years ago, soldiers and tanks sent by the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) descended on Tiananmen Square, beginning a violent crackdown in which thousands of Chinese citizens were arrested and a still-untold number killed. “I will never forget my fellow students being mown down by machine-guns,” one of the young protesters who was in the Square later recounted. “Others selflessly, and with complete disregard for all danger, dragged away the corpses and tended to the wounded. Women students took off garments to make bandages for people’s wounds.
Belarus informed the United States yesterday that it is imposing new limits on American diplomatic and technical personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, effective June 13. Despite an increasingly restrictive environment for U.S. government programming in Belarus, USAID’s partnership with the Belarusian people continues and remains more important than ever.
Today, the United States announced it is providing more than $266 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help the people of Afghanistan, whose lives are being impacted by ongoing conflict and who now are facing extreme food insecurity. This funding includes $157.5 million through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Total U.S. humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan is more than $543 million since Fiscal Year 2020.
Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced $57 million will be dedicated to urgently needed tuberculosis (TB) recovery efforts in seven high burden countries: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. Alongside COVID-19, TB is the leading infectious disease killer, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, sickening ten million people and taking 1.4 million lives every year. To address the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on TB services, this assistance will strengthen simultaneous testing for both TB and COVID-19, improve TB diagnosis services, and identify TB cases through contact investigations and community screenings. This commitment represents approximately 19 percent of USAID’s annual TB funding.
I am very pleased to announce the start of reforms that will improve USAID’s ability to advance U.S. interests and values and tackle the toughest challenges of our time.
USAID is creating an additional Deputy Administrator position and shifting to a two-Deputy Administrator structure.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power met with Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan today to discuss reinvigorating USAID’s partnership with Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, MASHAV, the resumption of assistance to the Palestinian people, and supporting the humanitarian response in Gaza.
Today, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced more than $239 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Syria while in Turkey at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Syria. Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), this new funding will provide critical aid to families in need in Syria, Syrian refugees, and host communities in neighboring countries.
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Last updated: July 11, 2024
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