Press Releases

National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien announced this week that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has contributed an additional $20 million toward the remediation of dioxin at the Biên Hòa Airbase Area, the primary site for the storage and handling of Agent Orange during the U.S.-Vietnam War and the largest remaining dioxin hotspot in Vietnam.

Yesterday, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Deputy Administrator John Barsa spoke with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández to discuss USAID’s response to the back-to-back hurricanes that affected his country. Hurricane Iota caused widespread flooding and landslides in Honduras just two weeks after Hurricane Eta hit the same region. Acting Deputy Administrator Barsa reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to helping Hondurans in the aftermath of these storms, and cited our preliminary contribution of up to $8.5 million in humanitarian assistance. He also informed President Hernández that USAID has stood up a Regional Disaster-Assistance Response Team (DART) and headquartered it in Tegucigalpa. President Hernández expressed his gratitude for USAID’s support and partnership with the Honduran people.

From November 18 to 20, 2020, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be participating in the official United States Delegation to the Sixth Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Ministerial, hosted this year by the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand in a live virtual format. USAID is coming together with interagency colleagues from across the U.S. Government — including representatives from the Departments of State, Health and Human Services, and Defense, and others — as well as delegations from the governments of dozens of partner countries, non-governmental organizations, and international agencies, to discuss critical issues related to global health security.

Today, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared an end to the epidemic of Ebola in Northwestern Équateur Province, which began on June 1, 2020. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) congratulates the Government of the DRC, its international and local partners, and the Congolese people for having stopped two outbreaks of the deadly disease in one year. National authorities declared that a previous outbreak of Ebola in the Eastern DRC – the second-largest in history – ended on June 25, 2020, after nearly two years.

Today we celebrate the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week and take a moment to recognize the powerful role entrepreneurs play in lifting lives, strengthening communities, and accelerating self-reliance through market-based solutions. At the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), we recognize the power of entrepreneurship to fuel innovation and solve global development problems. Entrepreneurs bring creativity and ingenuity to address challenges faced by their local communities. By investing in breakthrough innovations based on rigorous evidence and fueled by risk-taking entrepreneurship, USAID can improve millions of lives, at a fraction of the usual cost, while helping build capacity and self-reliance in the countries and communities where we work.

Yesterday, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Deputy Administrator John Barsa met with the Uzbek Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Abdulaziz Kamilov, and other senior officials of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan (GOU). They discussed opportunities for future collaboration between the American people and the people of Uzbekistan through the recently established USAID Mission in Tashkent.

The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is responding to severe flooding, landslides, and damage caused by Tropical Storm Eta in Central America by providing life-saving assistance to people in the Republics of Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

On November 11, 1919, the United States commemorated the first Veterans Day, then known as Armistice Day, amid one of the worst global pandemics the world had ever experienced. The parallels between 1919 and 2020 remind us that our past is never too far removed from the present. As in 1919, our soldiers and veterans are working with civilians on the front lines of this current global pandemic.  

Today is Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick’s last day at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She has been a tremendous champion of, and for, USAID, particularly in her leadership of the Agency’s Digital Strategy and ensuring partner countries maximize clean technology in their Journeys to Self-Reliance. She also led the Administrator’s Action Alliance for Preventing Sexual Misconduct, and served as the head of the Management Operations Council.