The below is attributable to Acting Spokesperson Shejal Pulivarti:
Today, Administrator Samantha Power met with Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, to discuss global food security and the historic drought in the Horn of Africa.
Administrator Power referenced President Biden’s announcement at the G7 Leaders’ Summit of $2 billion in U.S. humanitarian assistance to address the most acute impacts of the global food security crisis and $760 million to help mitigate further increases in poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in vulnerable countries impacted by high prices of food, fertilizer, and fuel. She welcomed the European Union’s (EU) recent commitment of €600 million to support African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries to cope with the dire food security situation and called for early coordination of efforts to tackle both the immediate and long-term impacts of this crisis, and build resilient and nourishing food systems that can withstand future shocks.
The Administrator expressed the United States’ deep concern over the worst drought on record in the Horn of Africa, the increasing risk of famine, and the prospect for large-scale death due to unmet humanitarian needs.