By Richmond Blake, Matthew Wollmers on October 17, 2017

Today the international community celebrates International Day for Disaster Reduction. The International Day for Disaster Reduction was started in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. Held every October 13th, this day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face. The United States is committed to this effort.

USAID’s Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally project (SPRING) is a six-year project to strengthen global and country efforts to scale up high-impact nutrition practices and policies, and improve maternal and child nutrition outcomes. SPRING focuses on preventing stunting and maternal and child anemia in the first 1,000 days. Here USAID shares a story highlighting how added vitamins and minerals are improving nutrition where it is needed most in Uganda.

In Liberia, Mmonbeydo N.J. Harrell is one of two female candidates running in a competitive 11-candidate race to fill a seat representing her native county in the country’s House of Representatives.

Fueled by her passion for public service, the 32-year-old Mmonbeydo says she is not intimidated in the least.

Mmonbeydo — whose name means “one of you” in the Bassa language — has returned to Grand Bassa, a county in west-central Liberia, after a lifetime marked by violence and displacement.

At the invitation of the Myanmar Government, we visited Northern Rakhine today. We went to a number of villages in Maungdaw and Rathedaung districts and met a mixture of local communities.

This initiative by the Government of Myanmar allowed us to show support for the many people of all communities in northern Rakhine who have suffered and still feel great insecurity.