Press Statement
Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State
September 24, 2020

 

Today, at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting, “A Dialogue with the World’s Top Ten Donors on Global Humanitarian Needs,” hosted by the United States, we announced nearly $108 million in humanitarian assistance for the people South Sudan, including South Sudanese in neighboring countries.  This funding includes nearly $97 million from the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and more than $11 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.  It brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the response, including refugees and those affected by conflict and natural disasters, to nearly $907 million in Fiscal Year 2020 alone and nearly $5.5 billion since the start of the crisis in 2014, including more than $64 million in supplemental humanitarian assistance to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Heavy rains, fighting between armed groups, food insecurity, a deteriorating economic situation, and the COVID-19 pandemic have compounded an already dire humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.  U.S. humanitarian assistance provides emergency food assistance, health care services, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and assistance to survivors of gender-based violence in South Sudan.  U.S. humanitarian assistance also provides life-saving activities to the nearly 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries, most of whom are women and children, and to local host communities sheltering refugees.  The United States also provides countrywide support for the UN Humanitarian Air Service to transport humanitarian workers and relief supplies.  In this response to the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the United States supports the operations of a network of nearly 30 non-governmental organizations, including faith-based organizations, and international organizations like the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Children’s Fund, the World Food Program, the International Organization for Migration, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The United States remains the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance, both in South Sudan and globally.  We will continue to be a catalyst for the international response to alleviate the suffering of the people of South Sudan.  We appreciate contributions from donors to date but recognize the significant needs that remain and call on current and new donors to make new contributions or to fulfill existing pledges to make this life saving assistance possible.