Attachments
Regional Profile
Countries in East Africa and the Sudans face a range of complex and interrelated crises, including armed conflict, disease outbreaks, food insecurity, pest infestations, widespread population displacement, and recurrent climatic shocks, such as drought and flooding. In FY 2022, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) provided approximately $3.8 billion in emergency assistance to respond to crises in six countries across the region. With USAID/BHA support, humanitarian partners delivered critical food and nutrition assistance to at-risk populations—including host communities, internally displaced persons, and refugees—affected by conflict and climatic events and expanded access to emergency health care, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. USAID/BHA also provided approximately $164 million for standalone early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience (ER4) programming in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia to expand the availability of safe and nutritious foods, improve emergency preparedness and response capacity, and strengthen the financial stability of marginalized households.
Humanitarian Situation in FY 2022
Acute food insecurity, armed conflict, and climatic events—including the Horn of Africa’s most prolonged drought in recent history—remained the primary humanitarian concerns in East Africa and the Sudans during FY 2022. More than 55 million people required humanitarian assistance across Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan in 2022, according to the UN. The compounding effects of heavy flooding and growing insecurity generated further displacement and restricted humanitarian access across the region. Moreover, the effects of four consecutive below-average rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa contributed to widespread livestock deaths and poor crop yields, exacerbating acute food insecurity in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Relief actors warn that severe drought will likely continue across the Horn of Africa in 2023 and called for an urgent scale-up of humanitarian assistance to prevent the further deterioration of food security outcomes.
USAID/BHA Priorities
In FY 2023, USAID/BHA plans to help advance an integrated, strategic response drawing on the diverse contributions of affected communities, donors, national and local governments, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and other relief actors to address surging levels of humanitarian need throughout East Africa and the Sudans. As conflict, flooding, and recurrent drought continue to affect countries across East Africa and the Sudans, USAID/BHA intends to maintain support for life-saving assistance responding to acute food, health, nutrition, protection, shelter, and WASH needs. USAID/BHA will also continue to advocate for local and national authorities to grant relief actors sustained and unhindered access to populations in need of assistance, while strengthening systems to monitor and respond to access restrictions. Moreover, in support of local capacity-building and disaster preparedness efforts, USAID/BHA and its partners will continue to integrate ER4 activities into humanitarian programming to bolster livelihoods, strengthen long-term food security, and support the early recovery and resilience of affected communities.