Speeches Shim
On September 12, USAID/OFDA supported the Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (GoCB) National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to transport emergency relief supplies from The Bahamas’ capital city of Nassau to the southern Bahamas’ hurricane-affected Acklins, Crooked, and Inagua islands.
On September 12, nine USAID regional Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) staff arrived on the island of St. Martin—comprising Saint-Martin, a French overseas collectivity, and Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands—to assess hurricane-related damages and coordinate U.S. Government (USG) response efforts. Initial DART reports confirmed extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure on the island. Approximately 91 percent of buildings in Sint Maarten sustained damage due to the effects of Hurricane Irma, according to a September 12 assessment by the Netherlands and Sint Maarten Red Cross Societies.
On September 11, three members of the USAID regional Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) arrived on the island of Antigua to conduct damage and needs assessments in Antigua and Barbuda and lead the U.S. Government (USG) response, in coordination with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GoAB), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), and other relief stakeholders.
As of September 7, health agencies had recorded more than 629,000 suspected cholera cases and 2,061 related deaths since the outbreak resurged in late April, according to USAID/OFDA partner the UN World Health Organization (WHO). While the number of weekly cholera cases in Yemen declined between early July and mid-August, WHO reported a slight increase in the total number of weekly cases during the weeks of August 14 and August 21—the first increase in approximately six weeks
Between September 9 and 10, Hurricane Jose passed approximately 75 miles northwest of the island of St. Martin—composed of the French territory of Saint-Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten—with maximum sustained winds of nearly 130 miles per hour, according to international media and the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Tropical storm conditions, including strong gusts and swells, affected parts of the northern Leeward Islands—including St. Barthelemy and St. Martin—and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, NHC reports. Overall, the storm caused less damage than expected in the Caribbean region, according to initial reports from relief stakeholders.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects that Hurricane Jose will affect the northern Leeward Islands—including the islands of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Barthelemy, St. Martin, and St. Eustatius—through the evening of September 9 before proceeding into the open waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The storm is bringing sustained winds of approximately 120 miles per hour (mph), storm surge of up to 3 feet, and up to 6 inches of rain to affected areas, according to NHC forecasts.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) anticipates that Hurricane Irma will affect The Bahamas through September 9 as the storm continues tracking northwestward across the northern Caribbean. The storm is bringing sustained winds of nearly 160 miles per hour (mph), storm surge of up to 20 feet, and 10–15 inches of rain to The Bahamas, according to NHC forecasts.
Hurricane Irma—the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record—is traversing the Caribbean and has affected several island nations, including Antigua and Barbuda. USAID activates a Washington, D.C.-based RMT and a regional DART with staff in The Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. USAID is coordinating relief operations with host governments, USG interagency partners, and other humanitarian actors.
The main project components are:USAID’s Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipalities (TEAM) project will bolster the ongoing efforts of Kosovo’s government institutions and independent agencies to strengthen accountability and effectiveness in public procurement as a means of improving public services and enhancing public trust, especially at the municipal level. By working closely with municipal partners and supporting linkages with the central government, independent agencies and civil society, the activity will strengthen key government champions and promote local change, creating a sustainable impact.
In July, relief organizations recorded the highest number of monthly humanitarian access incidents in South Sudan since 2016, underscoring the arduous operating environment. USAID/FFP partner the UN World Food Program (WFP) has reached 4.2 million unique beneficiaries in South Sudan to date in 2017, exceeding the UN agency’s total beneficiaries in 2016. In July alone, WFP reached 2.9 million beneficiaries, the highest number of registered people assisted in the country in a one-month period since 2011.
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