May 5, 2020

Key Developments

• In response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the U.S. Department of State (DoS) and USAID continue to announce emergency funding to assist the world’s most vulnerable countries in fighting the outbreak. On April 22, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announced an additional $270 million to support the DoS and USAID global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the total pledged U.S. Government (USG) funding to more than $775 million as of May 1.
• USAID pledged assistance in the global fight against COVID-19 as of May 1 includes $99 million in emergency health assistance from USAID’s Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks (ERF-USAID), $100 million in Global Health Programs account (GHP-USAID) funds, nearly $300 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account, and nearly $153 million from the Economic Support Fund (ESF), which will help governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in more than 100 countries during this global pandemic. As part of the response, USAID’s assistance is supporting rapid public health information campaigns; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities; and infection prevention and control (IPC), including cleaning and disinfection protocols, educating staff on personal protective equipment (PPE) use, establishing isolation areas, and implementing triage mechanisms. USAID assistance is also working to mitigate and respond to the social, economic, and governance-related impacts, including through assistance for families and small- and medium-sized businesses, support for free media and civil society, emergency services for survivors of gender-based violence, and support for distance learning.
• As of May 1, USAID had obligated nearly $215 million of nearly $653 million in pledged funding to support IPC and COVID-19 case management, as well as capacity building and training. In addition, many USAID partners operating throughout the world are incorporating COVID-19 preparedness and response activities, including health, protection, and WASH interventions, into existing programming.

GLOBAL

• USAID is supporting global and regional response efforts to address multinational challenges and impacts of the pandemic, as well as support global response coordination. For example, USAID invested $8.8 million in the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to support contingency and response planning in all 87 GPE member countries as part of GPE’s phased COVID-19 response.
• In addition, USAID is gathering market information from the international development community and the private sector to identify potential product or service innovations that could support the international COVID-19 response. Potential innovations include new products, service delivery approaches, and information channels. The purpose of these activities is to identify low-cost, scalable solutions to enhance the COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countries.

AFRICA

• USAID is committed to building upon decades of health assistance across Africa, obligating nearly $60 million in new funding as of May 1 to respond to and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in more than 30 countries. Across Africa, USAID-supported partner organizations continue to implement community engagement, health systems and laboratory capacity strengthening, IPC, risk communication, disease surveillance, delivery of essential medications, and WASH activities to reach the most vulnerable populations. In Nigeria, USAID has obligated $970,000 of nearly $20 million in pledged funding to help bolster risk communication, WASH activities, IPC, and COVID-19 response coordination within the country.
• Furthermore, with nearly $590,000 in USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) support, the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is providing air transport services to support COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts in South Sudan through September. The funding will enable UNHAS to transport humanitarian staff, including for medical evacuations, as well as transfer relief commodities and COVID-19 testing samples within the country.

ASIA

• USAID continues to provide essential health and other types of assistance in Asia, including risk communication activities, COVID-19 contact tracing, IPC, and other interventions to help curb the spread of COVID-19 within the region. With more than $60 million in funding obligated as of May 1, USAID continues to support countries in Asia as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• For example, in Cambodia, USAID provided computers and office equipment to the Communicable Disease Control Department of the Cambodia Ministry of Health (MOH/CDC) to strengthen its data management and contact tracing efforts to respond to COVID-19. Contact tracing plays an important role in enabling Cambodian health authorities to detect potential positive COVID-19 cases among those who have close or indirect contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases, mitigating and preventing the spread of the disease in the country.
• USAID’s Central Asia Media Program, in collaboration with local partners, has initiated the “Coronavirus No-No-No” project, which monitors misinformation about COVID-19 through news and social networks. The project also aims to facilitate the dissemination of accurate COVID-19 information to promote fact-based decision-making. The initiative is currently implementing activities in Russian, but will increase access and regional content to include other Central Asian languages including Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek.

EUROPE & EURASIA

• With more than $44 million in obligated funding to countries in the Europe and Eurasia region, USAID is helping prepare laboratory systems for COVID-19 testing, activate case-finding and disease surveillance systems, provide technical support for COVID-19 response and preparedness, and bolster risk communication, among other interventions.
• USAID is providing $30 million—obligated as of May 1—to help Italy respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. This assistance will expand upon and supplement the work of public international organizations, NGOs, and faith-based groups responding to the outbreak and mitigating its social and community impact in the country by strengthening the capacity of healthcare facilities to provide emergency care and support vulnerable populations. USAID also plans to purchase health commodities that are not required for the U.S. domestic response and work to support Italian companies engaged in developing and producing medical equipment and supplies for COVID-19.
• In addition, USAID obligated nearly $1.2 million in Ukraine to help prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and disease surveillance, provide technical assistance for response and preparedness, and bolster risk communication for the COVID-19 response. Assistance will also work to prevent and control infection at targeted health facilities and support WASH interventions for the most vulnerable populations in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

• Overall, USAID had obligated $17 million as of May 1 to support countries in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) to respond to COVID-19. USAID is committed to providing health and WASH support that will enable the most at-risk and vulnerable countries to prevent and respond to the spread of this disease across the LAC region.
• With $8.5 million in pledged funding, USAID plans to support the Government of Colombia to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The assistance will help the government monitor and track the spread of the disease, provide WASH supplies, and more effectively manage COVID-19 cases. In addition, the USG has already redirected $6 million to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the public health system, support communities to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and offer legal and psychosocial support to victims of domestic violence, the risk of which is heightened due to movement restrictions and economic challenges related to the pandemic.
• USAID is also supporting COVID-19 response efforts in Haiti with $1.3 million in funding obligated as of May 1. The assistance will support risk communication efforts, improved WASH services, IPC, COVID-19 case management and laboratory testing, among other activities.

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

• In total, USAID has obligated nearly $10 million to support COVID-19 prevention and response activities in the Middle East and North Africa region, as of May 1. This funding will provide technical assistance, capacity building support, and IPC, as well as health and WASH services to populations affected by the COVID-19 outbreak throughout the region.
• Furthermore, USAID has obligated $670,000 of $19.7 million in total pledged funding to support COVID-19 prevention and response in Iraq. The assistance will help prepare laboratories for COVID-19 testing, implement a public health emergency plan for points of entry, activate case-finding and disease surveillance systems, provide access to WASH services, and support other prevention and response activities.
• With $3.5 million in obligated USAID funding, the Agency, in coordination with partner organizations and other stakeholders, will support health and WASH activities in Pakistan to stem the spread of and bolster the response to COVID-19 in the country.

COVID-19 GLOBAL RESPONSE STRATEGY

• In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID, together with DoS, launched the Strategy for Supplemental Funding to Prevent, Prepare for, and Respond to Coronavirus Abroad. Through four interrelated pillars, DoS and USAID are working to:
  • Protect American citizens and the USG community overseas, facilitate the continuation of USG work overseas, and communicate effectively;
  • Prevent, prepare for, respond to, and bolster health institutions to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the possible re-emergence of the disease;
  • Prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19 in existing complex emergency settings and address the potential humanitarian consequences of the pandemic; and
  • Prepare for, mitigate, and address second-order economic, security, stabilization, and governance impacts of COVID-19.
• To achieve these interrelated objectives, USAID is tailoring assistance based on country capacity and reported needs through implementation of the USG Action Plan to Support the International Response to COVID-19 (SAFER Action Plan). The SAFER Action Plan is focused on scaling up community approaches to slow the spread of COVID-19; addressing critical needs of health care facilities, health care workers, and patients; identifying, investigating, and responding to COVID-19 cases through expanded disease detection and surveillance mechanisms; employing strategies to address second-order impacts of COVID-19; and developing plans for the utilization of therapeutics, vaccines, and other life-saving supplies.
• USAID coordinates with DoS, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other interagency partners to prioritize countries to receive funding for the COVID-19 response and works closely with various stakeholders, including DoS and USAID country staff, to select the most appropriate mechanisms to fill identified response gaps. USAID is also collaborating with governments, multilateral organizations, NGOs, the private sector, and other actors working on the ground to support the COVID-19 response.