Baku, Azerbaijan – U.S. Ambassador Lee Litzenberger and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director Dr. Jay Singh visited the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Warehouse in Baku on Friday, June 19 where boxes of USAID-funded hygiene supplies were being prepared for distribution.  The boxes will be delivered by Red Crescent volunteers to 600 vulnerable households in Baku and 14 other districts across the country, helping over 3,600 people.  This assistance was made possible by the generosity of the American people as part of the United States’ global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The impact of the pandemic and quarantine measures put in place to prevent its spread have placed hardships on many families in Azerbaijan, in the United States, and around the world. I commend the service and sacrifice of the hundreds of local Red Crescent volunteers working across the country to make sure people have the food, hygiene supplies, and information they need to stay healthy. Their efforts reflect our own American values of service and philanthropy. America is proud to stand with Azerbaijan’s volunteers and people in the fight against COVID-19,” stated Ambassador Litzenberger. 

USAID partners with organizations including International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, and UNICEF to provide critical hygiene supplies to vulnerable families and individuals across Azerbaijan and produce materials to inform people how to stay safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19.  USAID is also a funder of the REACT-C19 project, which brought 19 doctors of Azerbaijani origin from Turkey to work as consultants with local hospitals trying to improve their operations to better meet the needs of patients during the pandemic. 
 
To date, the United States has committed over $11 billion to the international COVID-19 response. USAID and State Department COVID-19 assistance has reached over 120 countries worldwide, including Azerbaijan.