The United States of America government has donated K4 billion to address immediate humanitarian needs resulting from the impact of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in the Southern Region and the nationwide cholera outbreaks.

Announcing the package on Thursday in Lilongwe, US Ambassador David Young said the grant follows President Lazarus Chakwera’s declaration of the disaster and the United Nations flash appeal for funding for assistance to Malawians affected by flooding and cholera.

Young: New assistance will build on our
emergency response

He said: “As a longtime partner of Malawi, the US government through USAid was already working in many of the communities affected by Cyclone Freddy, allowing us to respond immediately to pressing humanitarian needs.

“This new assistance will build on our emergency response to provide additional, life-saving support to some of the most highly impacted communities.”

Young said the assistance is part of the US government’s ongoing assistance valued at approximately more than K5.1 billion that has been helping the country recover from the disaster and cholera emergency.

“Through these grants to the United Nations Children’s Fund [Unicef] and the United Nations World Food Programme, the US Agency for International Development [USAid] will partner with the government of Malawi to deliver urgently needed food, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies and other relief items,” he said.

Young also said the grant will supplement USAid assistance through Catholic Relief Services and Care, which delivered critical water, sanitation and hygiene, and shelter kits, among other supplies, to the most-affected districts in the disaster response efforts.

USAid has been supporting the country to recover from the disaster through existing projects in health, education, and economic growth.

So far, the department has distributed 14 000 insecticides treated bed nets to combat Malaria in affected districts.

Efforts to get the government reaction on the assistance proved futile as Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu did not respond to our calls.

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