Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State
The United States has been, and continues to be, the undisputed leader in global foreign assistance, and our leadership in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues that record of generosity. Today, we’re providing approximately $93 million in new humanitarian assistance to bolster our ongoing response efforts, helping the world’s most vulnerable overcome the devastation inflicted by this deadly virus. This new funding will help people across the world, including throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Of the $93 million announced today, more than $75 million from the International Disaster Assistance account will support emergency health, water, sanitation, and hygiene, logistics and protection programs, as well as food assistance to address the secondary impacts of the pandemic. In addition, nearly $18 million from the Migration and Refugee Assistance account will enhance the ability of our international and non-governmental organization partners to provide water, sanitation and hygiene supplies; livelihood support; psychosocial services; food security; and access to health services and information for refugees, vulnerable migrants, and host communities while also protecting the health of humanitarian actors serving these populations.
This new assistance is part of more than $12 billion allocated by agencies and departments across the U.S. government to benefit the global response, including vaccine and therapeutics development, preparedness efforts, and humanitarian assistance. Today’s announcement brings State Department and USAID COVID-19 response funding alone to more than $1.3 billion in health, humanitarian, and economic assistance to date. Much of this funding has already been deployed, enabling programs that are saving lives and mitigating the second order impacts of the pandemic around the world. The generosity of the American people remains unmatched, and the positive impact of American taxpayer funds in the midst of the pandemic is profound.