WASHINGTON — The United States announced on Tuesday nearly $200 million worth of humanitarian assistance to Somalia, the US Department of State said in a press statement. "The United States is providing nearly $199 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Somalia who have faced decades of chronic food insecurity, violence, and cycles of drought and flooding — the impacts of which have all been compounded by desert locusts and the COVID-19 pandemic," the press statement read. "This additional funding, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of State, brings the total US humanitarian assistance for the people of Somalia to more than $408 million for Fiscal Year 2021," the statement added. This assistance will help many of the nearly six million people of Somalia in need of humanitarian aid, including three million displaced people inside Somalia as well as nearly 500,000 Somali refugees in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya. This new funding will provide emergency food and nutrition assistance, safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, shelter, protection, education, and health care, as well as logistics and other support, in the face of worsening environmental, humanitarian, and conflict-related challenges. According to the statement, the United States is the largest single donor of humanitarian aid in Somalia and for Somali refugees in the region, and we welcome efforts by the UN to draw attention to the plight of the people of Somalia. "We remain concerned about the continuing increase in humanitarian needs, and we urge other donors to contribute to the international response and provide the support needed to save lives," the US Department of State added in the statement.
