USAID grant of $56 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Sudan

US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power yesterday announced more than $56 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Sudan.

This funding will help the Sudanese people cope with conflict, food insecurity, economic crisis, and cycles of drought and flooding, the effects of which have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID reported in a press statement on Tuesday.

“Approximately 13.4 million people in Sudan need humanitarian assistance,” the statement reads. “With this additional aid, USAID partners will work to meet the most immediate needs by providing emergency health care, delivering medical supplies, training health care workers, supporting survivors of gender-based violence by improving case management and training personnel on survivor-centered approaches, and providing water, sanitation, and hygiene support in communities across Sudan.

“The United States is the single largest humanitarian donor to Sudan, providing nearly $377 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021. The United States will continue to stand with the people of Sudan as they deal with compounding crises. However, humanitarian assistance cannot and will not address the root causes of fragility that continue to leave many in Sudan in need, particularly in the Darfur region.

“The United States is committed to deepening its engagement and partnership with the Sudanese people and the Civilian-led Transitional Government in support of the country’s transition to Democratic rule.”

Today is the last day of the visit of Administrator Samantha Power to Sudan and Ethiopia. She arrived to Khartoum on July 31, to strengthen the US Government’s partnership with Sudan’s transitional leaders and citizens, explore how to expand USAID’s support for Sudan’s transition to a civilian-led democracy, and continue to press the Government of Ethiopia to allow full and unhindered humanitarian access to prevent famine in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Power also travelled to North Darfur where she met officials and visited the Zamzam camp for displaced people, and to eastern Sudan, where she talked with Ethiopian refugees.