Due to erratic rainfall, high food prices, and localized dry spells in 2011, areas of West Africa’s Sahel region will likely experience acute food insecurity in 2012. According to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), localized areas are expected to reach Acute Food Insecurity and Livelihood Crisis—Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) 31—in 2012, particularly from April to September.
Harare, February 15, 2012: U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray officially handed over US$50,000 in grants to five Zimbabwean community-based groups at a grant signing ceremony in Harare on Wednesday. The grants are part of the 32-year-old U.S. Ambassador’s Self Help Fund, a U.S. government grassroots assistance program for small community-based development projects. Since 1980, the Fund has awarded approximately $3 million through 300 grants to groups in all 10 provinces.
Antananarivo, Madagascar – In the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Giovanna which barreled through Madagascar with winds up to 150 miles/hour, the United Stated Government announced it will provide 50,000 USD in immediate emergency relief to the victims of the cyclone in the coming days and weeks.
Mozambique - L'OIM au Mozambique a réceptionné du matériel de construction d'abris d'urgence donné par le gouvernement américain pour plus de 5 000 familles touchées dans la province de Zambézia.
Plus de 67 000 personnes ont été touchées lorsque le cyclone Funso s'est abattu sur la province mi-janvier. Quelque 4 000 familles ont vu leurs maisons complétement détruites et 8 000 autres sérieusement endommagées.
KAPCHORWA---U.S. Mission Uganda, in collaboration with the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries, and Fisheries, officially opened a new $1.4 million-dollar grain warehouse in Kapchorwa today. The warehouse, funded by the American people through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will allow small farmers to sell quality grain at fair prices in both local and regional markets.
IOM Mozambique has taken delivery of emergency shelter materials donated by the US government for over 5,000 cyclone-affected families in Zambézia Province.
Over 67,000 people were affected when tropical cyclone Funso hit the province in mid-January. Some 4,000 families saw their homes completely destroyed and another 8,000 homes were left badly damaged.
The US donation, which arrived in Maputo on Friday on a US-chartered 747, included enough plastic sheeting to provide shelter for 5,000 families, as well as roofing for 200 classrooms and health clinics.
By Kathryn McConnell | Staff Writer | 10 February 2012
Washington — The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the government of Indonesia are putting in place a structure to implement the five-year, $600 million compact signed in November 2011.
The President’s FY 2013 Budget for the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) strengthens U.S. national security, advances America’s economic interests, and elevates America’s global leadership through diplomacy and development. It supports U.S. businesses, protects Americans at home and abroad, and stops the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It supports our allies and partners, prevents conflict, promotes democracy, and reflects our core values.
Ethiopia, one of Africa's poorest countries, is among the few on track to achieve the goal of universal primary education by 2015. Our correspondent in Addis Ababa, reports on how, according to analysts, an otherwise repressive government is winning praise for its campaign to bring learning to the people.
“I can say we made [an] education revolution in the history of this country," said Petros Woldegiorgis.
The United States of America is assisting the people of Fiji by responding to the recently declared state of emergency in the western parts of the main island, Viti Levu, caused by the severe flooding of homes, towns and villages.
The Embassy of the United States in Suva, Fiji, has donated USD 50,000 to the Fiji Red Cross for the provision of non-food emergency relief supplies – including blankets, water purification tablets and hygiene kits – to the areas and people affected by the devastating floods.
Revised procurement regulations mean that firms in developing countries can, for the first time, be granted contracts from the US agency for international development
Claire Provost
guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 February 2012 10.54 EST
The US agency for international development, USAid, will no longer have to "buy American", thanks to a policy change that will open up the agency's contracts to firms in developing countries and could herald a significant shift in how the world's largest aid donor does business.
Written by Nancy Lindborg, USAID Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance
On Friday the United Nations declared that famine is no longer present in Somalia. This is great and welcome news to the humanitarian aid community. The newly released data shows the positive impact of the massive international effort to rush life-saving assistance to millions of people in Somalia. What we are doing is working, and it is saving lives.
LOUISVILLE, United States, February 3 (UNHCR) – One rainy winter day in a working class neighbourhood of Louisville, Kentucky, Hsar Say flipped through the classified ads looking for jobs while his wife cooked a fish curry in the kitchen of their damp basement apartment.
Above his tattered, second-hand sofa, the flag of an ethnic Karen separatist movement hung as a potent reminder of the long journey that brought him to the United States after years stuck in the Umpium Mai refugee camp on Thailand's border with Myanmar.
Alexandria, VA—Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) continues to coordinate efforts with Catholic Social Services (CSS) Birmingham to provide relief for those impacted by the January 23rd tornadoes, which destroyed hundreds of homes throughout Jefferson County, Alabama.
“The damages are severe—with areas of destruction spanning up to a mile wide,” says Katie Oldaker, Director of Disaster Response for CCUSA. “Though we have mobilized local volunteers and resources, the communities are also in need of monetary donations.”
