06/18/2013 03:23 GMT

by Jo Biddle

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2013 (AFP) - This month somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa the one millionth baby will be born without HIV to a mother who suffers from the disease, thanks in large part to a decade-old US aid program.

It is yet another remarkable step in the long fight against HIV and AIDS, as the United States and its global partners work towards what they call an AIDS-free generation, which just a decade ago would have been unimaginable.

HIGHLIGHTS

• President Obama announces more than $300 million in additional USG humanitarian assistance for conflict-affected Syrians

• U.N. documents 93,000 deaths as a result of the crisis

• Access remains limited to Al Qusayr and surrounding areas

Release Number: HQ-13-62.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands under the Compact of Free Association between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as amended, due to the ongoing severe drought in the northern half of the country.

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC

June 13, 2013

Australia has joined the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and over twenty other governments in a commitment to beat hunger and improve nutrition. Signed at a Summit in London on June 8, the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact will bind the international community in its efforts to make nutrition one of the world’s top development priorities.

Everyday more than 8,000 children across the world die from complications caused by a lack of nutrition. In some countries such as Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Cambodia and Laos, over 40 per cent of children are stunted.

Monday, June 10, 2013 USAID Press Office 202-712-4320

Washington, D.C. -- Today, during a global nutrition-focused event co-hosted by Bread for the World Institute and Concern Worldwide, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah underscored the U.S. Government’s long-term leadership in the effort to reduce undernutrition around the world. Administrator Shah made remarks along with The Minister of Trade and Development of Ireland, Joe Costello.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State of Qatar Fund for the Reconstruction of Haiti (Qatar Haiti Fund) signed a partnership agreement today for earthquake reconstruction efforts, including the building of permanent houses, a vocational school and a commercial area.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• On May 16, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed warned that Yemen’s long-standing humanitarian crisis threatens to undermine recent moves toward political stability. RC/HC Ahmed called for increased support for humanitarian organizations, which continue to scale up efforts to meet the needs of IDPs, host communities, returnees, and other displaced populations.

ADDIS ABABA, 6 June 2013 (IRIN) - Ten years ago, a shipping container was converted into Ethiopia’s first HIV treatment centre, in Addis Ababa, the capital. Created in response to a dramatic rise in new HIV infections and AIDS -related deaths, the centre offered the only hope for HIV-positive Ethiopians, who had to pay to access the life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART).