USAID/OFDA FY 2011 Annual Report

FY 2011: Year in Review

In FY 2011, OFDA responded to 67 disasters in 54 countries, assisting tens of millions of disaster-affected individuals across the world. OFDA programs spanned various geographic regions, including the Horn of Africa, where OFDA responded to the worst drought the region faced in decades. OFDA also worked to ensure a peaceful and efficient transition as South Sudan became the world’s newest country. In addition, OFDA assisted populations affected by complex emergencies, including those in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, and Yemen. In Asia and the Pacific, OFDA responded to a devastating earthquake, tsunami, and unprecedented nuclear disaster in Japan and a destructive earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. OFDA provided life-saving assistance following new flooding in Pakistan and continued to respond to humanitarian needs resulting from the historic 2010 floods. OFDA also continued to address conflict- and displacement-related needs in the Middle East and responded to flooding in areas of Eastern Europe. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), OFDA assisted populations affected by a cholera outbreak in Haiti and continued to support recovery activities following the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince. OFDA also supported communities impacted by flooding and storms throughout the LAC region.

During FY 2011, OFDA worked to meet the needs of disaster-affected popula­tions by providing immediate, life-saving assistance and by helping them rebuild their lives and recover. Through targeted responses, OFDA addressed the distinct needs of each affected community with activities including restoring livelihoods through training in essential job skills; improving food security by providing seeds and tools to increase agricultural production; reconstructing damaged water and sanitation facilities; erecting temporary and transitional shelter; supporting vaccines, disease surveillance systems, and other life-saving health services; and providing emergency relief supplies. Throughout the world, OFDA prioritized the needs of the most vulnerable populations impacted by disaster, from infants requiring treatment for malnutri­tion to female-headed households that needed agricultural and livelihoods support after losing their crops to drought or floods. OFDA helped countries and communities prepare for and reduce the impact of future disasters and worked with interagency partners to facilitate the transition from emergency relief to longer-term recovery.

In FY 2011, OFDA provided a total of nearly $864 million for disaster response programs that supported interventions in various sec­tors. The large majority of these programs help build communities’ resilience, while simultane­ously saving lives and alleviating human suffer­ing. This total includes OFDA’s contribution of more than $63 million in DRR funding to help communities across the world prepare for and mitigate the impact of disasters, as well as nearly $202 million for disaster response programs with DRR components.