On Thursday, September 24, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun will host a virtual dialogue on humanitarian leadership, featuring the world's top ten humanitarian donor nations, led by the United States, during the 75th UN General Assembly High Level Week. The Deputy Secretary will be joined by USAID Acting Administrator Barsa in highlighting U.S. commitment to addressing the world's most urgent humanitarian needs in partnership with other top donor nations and UN led humanitarian aid agencies.
Global humanitarian needs currently outpace global response efforts, threatening to increase risks to all countries due to the potential spread of disease, conflict, and the kind of desperation that can fuel conflict and violent extremism. Nearly 168 million people around the world are currently in need of humanitarian assistance. Of those, more than 90 million people receive food assistance, but conflict continues to worsen the situation. These challenges have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United States continues to lead the world in the fight against COVID-19, with $20.5 billion now allocated from across the U.S. government to benefit the global response. This incredible effort, made possible by the generous American taxpayers, includes funding for vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics; preparedness efforts; and State Department and USAID foreign assistance funding.
This event will be livestreamed beginning at 9:30 a.m on www.state.gov and a recording will be posted to the Department's UN 75 events page.
