USAID Supports Africa With Additional $97m To Combat COVID-19

Posted by Eric Ojo African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Tuesday, June 29th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced its provision of additional $97 million humanitarian support to countries in Africa to enable them tackle the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

USAID Assistant to the Administrator, Sarah Charles disclosed this during the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Humanitarian Affairs Segment.

Charles said nearly $83 million of this amount is dedicated to addressing the growing COVID-related food insecurity in the continent.

This new funding, according to her, will provide urgently needed food and nutrition assistance, health care, protection services, and psychosocial support for people in seven countries across Africa.

“This funding includes, nearly $3.2 million in additional assistance for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to provide lifesaving health care, nutrition support, and protection for the most vulnerable, as well as rehabilitating health care facilities, and strengthening the resilience of communities affected by conflict and the pandemic.

“$2 million in additional assistance for Madagascar to provide urgently needed food assistance, agriculture support, and water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies to drought affected populations impacted by the pandemic”, she said.

She added that more than $9.2 million has also been allocated to Mali to provide food and nutrition assistance to people facing the compounding impacts of the pandemic and the lean season, and to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian workers and cargo to hard-to-reach areas.

Charles further explained that Niger will get $6 million to provide food assistance and the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition, while $35 million has been provided for Nigeria to meet basic food needs for the most vulnerable and to safely facilitate the transportation and logistics of humanitarian workers and supplies to hard-to-reach areas.

“$20 million in additional assistance for Somalia to provide emergency food assistance, including rations of sorghum, yellow split peas, and vegetables, as well as nutrition assistance for children, pregnant and lactating women, and other vulnerable people facing malnutrition, as well as $22 million for Uganda to provide food assistance to refugees”, she added.

Meanwhile, USAID has so far provided more than $1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.

She reassured that USAID will continue to work alongside partners to provide life-saving assistance to meet urgent needs in communities affected, as well as help them prepare for future outbreaks.