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 We need to ensure that the international community gets access into Nagorno-Karabakh. There are still tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians who are there living in very vulnerable conditions. And already you are seeing, as well the gathering of testimonies from people who have fled, violence, deprivation, and with the fear of living under the Government of Azerbaijan. Our focus again, right now and, I'm USAID Administrator, is meeting the humanitarian needs of individuals in really vulnerable circumstances and looking out for and securing access to individuals who are either unable to proceed on the Corridor because it is blocked with traffic, or, in some cases, too scared to make the journey to where we are today.

Thank you very much for joining us today. We will be having a press conference with USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who arrived in Armenia today. I also wanted to note the presence of Acting Assistant Secretary Ambassador Yuri Kim from the U.S. State Department.

I do think they’re a priority. I mean, if you take USAID, which is the biggest national development and humanitarian agency, our assistance just this past year, increased to $13 billion in Africa.

We're really excited about the partnership with WEF. I think that already puts us in a position, we're government officials, to benefit from incredible expertise. USAID already has a fantastic partnership with WEF, on trade facilitation, global lines for trade facilitation, that could work a little bit like this in that instance. Their network of companies tell them what's getting in the way of trade, including agricultural trade. 

Agricultural small and medium enterprises (agri-SMEs) like Sylva Food Solutions are Africa's largest employer and economic engine. They are also the key to fighting hunger. Three out of four agri-SMEs can’t access bank loans, and are too large for microfinance, creating an estimated $100 billion gap in unmet demand for financing. Bridging this gap is critical to feeding the future. Visit USAID.gov/Food-Security to learn more.

So, President Biden announced today an additional $11 million, bringing what we're investing there in supporting them to $12 million – I'm sure those needs are gonna go way up.