On Wednesday, the U.S. announced it would provide nearly $414 million in humanitarian aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 25 million people—nearly a quarter of the population—are in need.
Jeffrey Prescott, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, stated that a substantial portion of this funding will be allocated to United Nations agencies and aid organizations, Reuters reported. This support will address urgent needs such as food assistance, healthcare, nutrition, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene.
“This funding also includes direct support (of) agricultural commodities from American farmers,” said Prescott, who will formally announce the aid in Kinshasa on Wednesday with U.S. Ambassador to the DRC Lucy Tamlyn.
Prescott stated that this brings total U.S. funding for the DRC since October to $838 million. The Congolese army has been battling M23 insurgents since 2022, with renewed fighting in the east displacing over 1.7 million people.
According to U.N. estimates, this has brought the total number of Congolese displaced by multiple conflicts to a record 7.2 million.
In addition to the humanitarian aid, the U.S. will provide $10 million for health assistance and donate 50,000 mpox vaccines, Prescott said.
Mpox, a viral infection that can spread through close contact, is usually mild but can sometimes be fatal. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. The current mpox outbreak in Congo has already seen around 27,000 cases and has claimed over 1,100 lives, most of them children, since the beginning of 2023.
