U.S. responds to U.N. appeal for aid to help Africa’s SAHEL region

(Vatican Radio) The United Nations has launched an appeal for more than 2 billion dollars to help feed a record 20 million people in the SAHEL, a semi-arid belt of African countries south of the Sahara Desert. Drought and conflicts in Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Central African Republic have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and caused serious food shortages in the savannah region.

Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says her country is raising its financial commitment to help meet the growing needs of people in the SAHEL. She spoke to us following Monday’s announcement at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization here in Rome.

Lindborg announced a new program called RISE (Resilience in the SAHEL Enhanced) which she explains in these brief comments to Tracey McClure:

“It’s a 150 million dollar commitment for two of a five year program that is really seeking to help families and communities be more able to withstand drought,” explains Lindborg, “so that they have stronger livelihoods, that women are better able to take care of their families, that there’s stronger nutrition and stronger systems.”

“I also announced 85 million dollars of emergency help to meet (the needs of) the two million people who have already slipped into emergency levels,” she says. “But we are looking at a region that has about twenty million vulnerable people and if we act now, and we don’t wait until they’re all into the crisis zone, we have a much better chance of helping families not slide into that misery and crisis that we know can happen and help them stay on the pathway to a better future.”

In the audio clips, Lindborg also tells us what an impact such assistance can have on women and communities….