US Disaster Relief for Turkey & Syria

The US announced (February 20) that it will provide another $100 million worth of humanitarian disaster relief assistance to Turkey and Syria, following initial assistance worth $85 million, bringing total assistance so far to $185 million.

Humanitarian assistance includes, among other things, hot meals, water, medical care and supplies; non-food items such as blankets, clothes, and hygiene kits, temporary shelter, and structural engineers; and essential mental health and psychosocial support – especially to affected children and to other vulnerable individuals.

(posted: 2-20-23)

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Emergency Assistance for Cuba

The State Department announced (October 18) that it will contribute $2 million worth of emergency assistance directly to Cuban people (i.e., not the Cuban Government) via “trusted, independent organizations operating in the country who have a long presence in hurricane-affected communities.” The emergency assistance is tied to recovery from Hurricane Ian.

The Agency for International Development (a separate Federal agency that is integrated from a mission standpoint with the State Department) is reviewing assistance applications from both the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to deliver this assistance.

U.S. funding towards Cuba has in the past been limited to democracy-building related funding, to include US-based radio and television broadcasting directed to Cuba.

(updated: 10-19-22)

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Global Food Security Aid

In a speech to the United Nations, President Biden announced (September 21) $2.9 billion to strengthen global food security via a package of food and agricultural development support.

The key elements of the support include:

• $2 billion in humanitarian assistance that goes to not only food and nutrition, but also health care, safe drinking water, and other relief purposes.

• $783 million in global development programs via the Agriculture Department such as assistance for smallholder farmers, school-based feeding programs, climate-smart agriculture, and trade facilitation.

• $150 million to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

The Administration claims that before this announcement, it had already contributed $6.9 billion toward global food security this year.

(updated: 9-23-22)

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Emergency Food Assistance for Africa

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced (July 18th) emergency food assistance to horn of Africa countries – Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. An estimated $1.2 billion in food assistance will be sent to meet “immediate needs.” The U.S. recently committed to $507 million in assistance, and therefore food aid to the region will now total $1.7 billion.

USAID says some of the food assistance will include staples like sorghum and split peas, and enriched cooking oil that can help sustain those who lack access to food. About $200 million will be used for Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic Food (RUTF) which the agency claims is the “the largest commitment that has ever been made to treat severely malnourished children.”

Another $200 million will be sent to UNICEF to “maximize the procurement of RUTFs,” and distribute them to the areas that most need them.

(updated: 7-19-22)

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Foreign Aid Increases Approved for FY 2022

Congress approved final FY 2022 funding for the Federal Government (March 10, 2022) to include a $2.3 billion, 14% increase in bilateral economic and global health assistance which includes development, global health, and humanitarian assistance. Also included is a $614 million, nearly 19% increase for activities covering global maternal and child health, and infectious disease control.

(updated: 3-15-22)

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Combating Global Malnutrition

The Biden Administration announced (December 7, 2021) that it intends to request from the Congress and invest up to an $11 billion investment over three years through a Feed the Future Initiative to combat global malnutrition, the underlying cause of almost half of childhood deaths globally. The announcement stated that "this investment will enable the U.S. government to equip partner countries’ governments and communities with the skills and resources for improved health, diets, and nutrition by supporting communities in crisis with critical emergency food and nutrition assistance." 

(updated: 2-2-22)

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U.S. Strategy on Corruption

The Biden Administration released (December 6, 2021) a comprehensive strategy to fight domestic and international corruption. Among the strategy actions:

• Elevate diplomatic and development efforts to support, defend, and protect civil society and media actors, including investigative journalists who expose corruption.

• Launch a new initiative to engage partner countries on detecting and disrupting foreign bribery.

• Establish a kleptocracy asset recovery rewards program that will enhance the U.S. Government’s ability to identify and recover stolen assets linked to foreign government corruption that are held at U.S. financial institutions.

• Work with the private sector to improve the international business climate by encouraging the adoption and enforcement of anti-corruption compliance programs by U.S. and international companies.

• Work with the G7 and G20 to implement strong transparency and anti-corruption measures across ministerial tracks.

The State Department subsequently announced (December 10, 2021) planned investments in support of the strategy, including:

• $6 million for the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC) to "enhance the GACC’s work to connect media and civil society organizations with one another, expose ill-gotten gains, and support legal or policy changes in support of anti-corruption objectives."

• $15.1 million to launch a Democracies Against Safe Havens Initiative to "build the capacity of partner governments to deny corrupt actors the ability to hide ill-gotten gains through anti-money laundering measures, to encourage like-minded partners to adopt anti-corruption sanctions and visa restriction regimes, and to detect and disrupt complex corruption schemes."

• $6.5 million to establish a Global Initiative to Galvanize the Private Sector as Partners in Combating Corruption, to "energize and institutionalize existing public sector anti-corruption engagement with the business community."

(updated: 2-2-22)

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