Speeches

Today, I am pleased to announce that the United States is providing more than $170 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the Burma and Bangladesh humanitarian crisis. The United States has provided nearly $1.9 billion in humanitarian assistance since 2017 to help those affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Burma, Bangladesh, and elsewhere in the region. Of this new funding, nearly $138 million is for programs in Bangladesh.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the New York Foreign Press Center’s briefing on combatting food insecurity. I’m honored to welcome USAID Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programming Isobel Coleman and Special Envoy for Global Food Security Dr. Cary Fowler.

Needless to say, we are facing a global crisis of really unprecedented proportions. The recent IPCC report called the climate crisis a “code red for humanity.” And you need look no further than the devastating floods in Pakistan which have left nearly one-third of the country underwater, or to the Horn of Africa, where 20 million people are now facing starvation, to know that we are not adapting swiftly enough and we are not reducing our carbon emissions swiftly enough to tackle the scope and scale of this crisis. 

The United States is really grateful to partner with each of you here today to address this horrific food crisis in the Horn, and thanks for taking the time away from all the other things you could be doing as well. There are a lot of challenges facing the world right now, but none as acute as this one right now.