USAID
announces $12 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Hurricane
Matthew response
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced more
than $12 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help
communities affected by Hurricane
Matthew. With this funding, the United States is providing nearly $14
million for immediate Hurricane Matthew relief efforts in Haiti,
Jamaica, and The Bahamas.
The funding announced today will provide critical food
assistance and relief supplies to hard-hit areas in Haiti's
southwestern peninsula, as well as transportation and logistics support
to help USAID's United Nations and non-governmental organizations partners
reach communities in the Grand' Anse and Sud regions. There are
currently 1.4 million Haitians in need of humanitarian assistance,
according to the UN, which issued a flash funding appeal to the
international community on October 10.
Nearly $7 million of this additional funding will support
the UN World Food Program's (WFP) efforts to provide urgently needed
food assistance to 750,000 people for three months. It is also being
used to provide and transport 6,600 boxes of ready-to- use supplementary foods
to prevent and treat malnutrition. More than $2 million of this
assistance will help ramp up WFP's logistics and telecommunications
capacity to enhance efficiency and coordination of land, sea, and
air cargo operations in Haiti.
The remaining nearly $3 million has gone toward the
provision of more than 515 metric tons of relief supplies-including
blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, chain saws, water
containers, generators, and heavy-duty plastic sheeting-that USAID
has been airlifting to Haiti and The Bahamas. USAID is also
providing a three month's supply of chlorine to be used in piped
water systems throughout Haiti, with an immediate focus on high-risk
areas, as well as water purification tablets that will help provide
safe drinking water for 475,000 people.
USAID deployed an elite Disaster Assistance Response Team
(DART) to Haiti, Jamaica, and The Bahamas on October 3 in advance of
Hurricane Matthew's arrival to lead the U.S. government's response
efforts to the strongest storm to hit the central Caribbean in almost a
decade. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is providing airlift and
logistical capacities to support USAID's efforts to deliver critical
humanitarian assistance to areas cut off by the storm. DoD has also
authorized up to $11 million in Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and
Civic Aid funds to be spent in support of USAID's disaster relief
efforts.
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