Food for Peace/PVO Partners Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Situation Reports Displaced Children & Orphans Fund, War Victims Fund, and Victims of Torture Fund Office of Transition Initiatives Private and Voluntary Cooperation (PVC) Denton Program Relief Web Thursday, 14-Nov-2002 13:15:50 EST

Our nation has traditionally viewed humanitarian assistance as both an act of national conscience and an investment in the future. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports both humanitarian and sustainable development assistance in the form of U.S. agricultural commodities, as well as food assistance in response to emergencies and disasters around the world. In addition, the agency provides resources to U.S. private voluntary organizations (PVOs) and the World Food Program to implement sustainable development programs targeted to improve the food security of needy people, either by the direct distribution of agricultural commodities or the use of local currencies generated by the sale of these commodities in the recipient county.

In response to manmade and natural disasters worldwide, USAID funds emergency relief and transition efforts. USAID also provides funds to improve the capacity of foreign nations to prepare and plan for disasters, mitigate their effect, and teach prevention techniques, increasing the skills available locally to respond when disaster strikes. In 1995, USAID responded to 57 emergencies saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Finally, USAID fills the gap between emergency humanitarian relief and long-term development assistance by providing special intervention in complex emergencies, post-conflict scenarios, and the prevention of disaster. The agency now works in over a dozen high-priority, conflict-prone countries, helping local partners advance peace and democracy.