Policy Updates

On May 10, 2024, USAID joined the AU Commissioner and 14 other partners in a statement of support for the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan at an AU-led soil health summit.

The US also announced US$40 million for the Space in Place approach, which is meant to support farmers with geospatial data and knowledge to ensure the best use of fertilizer for more nutritious foods.

Others joining the statement included the ADB, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, France, the World Bank, France, Canada, the EU, Germany, the Netherlands, the Rockefeller Foundation, Germany, and the UK. Commitments included improved investment policies, more access to fertilizers, enhancing soil inputs and interventions, and building capacity for soil health and fertilizer management.

On May 9, 2024, USAID and the US State Department announced that they will provide an additional US$31 million to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The additional funds are slated to assist the almost one million refugees who have fled Myanmar and have been living in crowded refugee camps for years. The assistance will include healthcare, WASH services, nutrition, and other live-saving protection. Particular focus will be on treating malnourished children through Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods.

Since the start of the refugee crisis, the US has provided almost U$2.4 billion for assistance to the region. US partners include UNHCR, IFRC, IOM, and UNICEF.

On May 3, 2024, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced that the agency will be providing an additional US$200 million for RUFT as well as other specialized food used for acute malnutrition.

Approximately 300 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian relief, where conflicts, climate change, and lack of access to critical food assistance exacerbates food insecurity. 45 million children face wasting, the most serious form of child malnutrition. USAID's RUFT food product is part of a package of services to prevent and treat child wasting.

UNICEF and the UN WFP are slated to distribute the food goods to areas including Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Haiti. The effort builds upon an earlier commitment spearheaded by USAID that announced US$500 million by a public-private coalition at the 2022 UNGA. USAID has already worked in Gaza and Ethiopia to address nutritional needs.

On May 3, 2024, USAID announced that it is providing US$190 million to Ukraine for energy assistance to build resilient, reliable, affordable and secure energy supplies to Ukraine.

The program, titled Securing Power, Advancing Resilience and Connectivity, will provide critical technical and equipment over a five-year period. The announced funding adds to the nearly US$1 billion in energy assistance that the US has provided since the start of the war in February 2022.

The US also passed the National Security Supplemental Bill, comprising US$95 billion in 'foreign aid' supplemental appropriations (with US$61 billion for Ukraine), and is slated to provide an additional US$1.4 billion from this bill in economic recovery assistance to Ukraine.

Additionally, USAID will launch Harvest, a program to invest in micro-, small-, and medium-sized grain and oil seed producers in Ukraine's agricultural sector. Harvest is an extension of USAID's Agriculture Resilience Initiative-Ukraine, through which USAID has invested over US$350 million and has leveraged more than that through the private sector and other donors.

On May 2, 2024, noting a recent Human Rights Watch report of vicious military attacks against local citizens, USAID announced that it will provide nearly US$55 million in emergency assistance to the most vulnerable people in Burkina Faso.

Violence and attacks on civilians have displaced almost one-third of the population in Burkina Faso, leaving millions in urgent need of food and other assistance. The assistance, which is slated to be delivered by airlifts and military convoys, will be carried out through UN and other international partners. USAID's assistance to Burkina Faso since the start of FY2023 totals US$158 million.

USAID also called on other donors to assist in providing support to what it described as an overlooked and underfunded humanitarian crisis.

On April 25, 2024, the PMI released its 18^th report on work with PMI partners to address malaria deaths, which have been cut almost in half since the PMI's inception in 2006.

USAID works with other stakeholders in 30 countries, most of which are in Africa, the WHO, other donors, community health workers, civil society, faith based organizations, and partner governments to prevent and treat almost 90% of all malaria cases. PMI is guided by PMI's Strategy 2023-2026, providing a range of preventions, including bed nets, insecticide for homes, pregnancy prevention treatments, testing, and malaria medicines.

The report noted that although great progress had been made, resistence to malaria medicines, the need to invest in community health systems and workers, and conflicts around the globe present a continuing threat to progress.

On April 18, 2024, two main agencies involved in delivering the bulk of US emergency food assistance, USAID and the USDA, announced that they will begin to tap into US$1 billion in the Commodity Credit Corporation to distributed agricultural commodities around the world.

USAID identified 18 countries where the US will begin to purchase, ship, and then distribute needed commodities bought from US farmers, including the DRC, Ethiopia, Haiti, South Sudan, and Yemen. The planned collaboration between the two agencies was announced in October 2023 and will allow USAID to receive purchased commodities from USDA and then distribute them through USAID's channels.

On April 16, 2024, the White House issued its 2024 US global health security strategy, which reaffirmed its position that disease threats are a risk to all populations, including Americans.

The strategy outlined how the US will work with partners around the world to best prevent, detect, and quickly respond to outbreaks around the globe. Since 2022, USAID has expanded its reach to partner countries in over 50 countries, working with a range of stakeholders to prevent and prepare for pandemics.

The strategy focuses on increasing the political commitment to addressing health security, including investments in the Pandemic Fund, and recognizing the link between global health security, global health and broader development goals.

On April 15, 2024, USAID announced a new US government-wide strategy on international basic education, bringing together ten US government entities to reaffirm its commitment to an inclusive and quality education worldwide.

The strategy spans from 2024-2029 and is intended to expand the reach of the previous strategy, particularly for those most marginalized. It stated the intent to learn from the lessons of COVID-19 and make educational systems more resilient and inclusive. The strategy will implement four approaches, including local ownership, capacity strengthening, equity and inclusion, and data based decision-making.

On April 14, 2024, the C7 published a statement ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Capri from April 17-19, 2024, where the group called on the foreign ministers to take concrete action to promote human rights as well as the common interests of humanity and the planet.

The C7 advocated that the G7 ministers reaffirm their commitment to developing long-term peace-building strategies that address persistent structural challenges at the basis of conflicts, ensure food security even in fragile settings, and address a profound transformation of food systems. The group also called upon their governmental counterparts to ensure safe and regular migration channels and commit to protecting migrant rights.