Today, the United States announced more than $240 million in humanitarian and disaster response assistance to Catholic Relief Services (CRS). State Department Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response Senior Bureau Official Ryan Shrum made the announcement in Rome, Italy, alongside U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN Agencies in Rome Lynda Blanchard, CRS Vice President for Humanitarian Response Jennifer Poidatz, and Caritas Internationalis Secretary General Alistair Dutton.
This assistance to CRS is the first in a series of global State Department awards to trusted and vetted implementing organizations. These awards will focus on the rapid deployment of time-bound, life-saving assistance in response to crises around the world, with implementers able to respond within 24 hours. This approach to assistance is complementary to the Department's historic memorandum of understanding and $3.8 billion in assistance provided through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reduces bureaucratic grant management burdens on staff, and reinforces our work to make humanitarian assistance faster, more efficient, and more accountable to U.S. taxpayers.
Extensive Network of Local Partners
CRS works through an extensive network of local partners, including over 160 Caritas chapters around the globe, ensuring that assistance reaches the most vulnerable populations efficiently and effectively. For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, CRS demonstrated the capacity to provide assistance in challenging political environments, such as Cuba, where its local partnerships enabled humanitarian assistance to reach those in need without regime interference.
Multi-Sectoral Assistance in Ongoing Crises
CRS will use this funding to provide multi-sectoral assistance - across the food, nutrition, health, water and sanitation, and shelter sectors, among others - in countries with significant levels of humanitarian need, including Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Nigeria, and
Sudan. CRS already has offices and staff on the ground in DRC supporting Ebola response efforts. This funding will supplement CRS's Ebola response activities and their work to address other humanitarian needs throughout the country.
Rapid Response to Disasters and Shocks
This contribution will also support a CRS global rapid response fund, which will allow CRS to immediately activate its extensive network of local partnerships, including Caritas organizations, to deliver assistance where it's needed most, whether responding to sudden-onset disasters or addressing surges in needs within ongoing complex emergencies. With funds already on hand, CRS can respond immediately, bypassing lengthy procurement processes.
Complementarity with Other Assistance
State Department staff are working closely with CRS and other implementers, including OCHA, to ensure that U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance is delivered in an efficient and accountable manner that saves lives around the world, while reducing administrative overhead and duplicative efforts.
Faith in Action
This support to CRS also demonstrates the Administration's commitment to partnering with faith-based organizations that demonstrate faith in action and have proven their ability to deliver humanitarian assistance in the world's most difficult environments.
CRS has a demonstrated track record of excellent humanitarian service and is a natural partner of choice for this type of global assistance. The State Department looks forward to continuing our work with CRS, OCHA, and other key implementers to achieve a faster, more accountable, efficient, impact-driven, locally driven and hyper-prioritized model of humanitarian assistance.
