The US Department of Defense is offering $6.5million in aid to Mozambique following Cyclone Idai.
The US DOD will assist the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in providing aid to Mozambique after Cyclone Idai devastated the country and surrounding parts of Africa. The funding will help provide responders, airlift, relief materials and supplies for up to ten days.
Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan authorised the aid under section 2561 of the US Title 10 code. The DOD will work with the US Embassy in Mozambique as well as the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
Cyclone Idai affected Mozambique as well as parts of Zimbabwe and Botswana causing extensive damage, flash flooding, and forced many people to take shelter in camps. The death toll currently stands above 750, with fears of disease spreading and damage to food and water sources.
The UK has also sent £18million in aid to the worst hit areas, providing food, water, and temporary shelter. International Development Secretary Penny Mourdant described the cyclone as one of the worst natural disasters ever to affect the region and expressed the UK government’s determination to provide aid.
Cate Turton, Head of the Department for International Development in Mozambique, said: “Our absolute priority at the moment is to get food, water and other critical supplies to affected communities, many of which are cut off because of damage to roads and infrastructure.”
The current US administration’s plan for US-Africa relations has cut back on many areas of aid, including reducing funding for ebola treatment. They have since put forward a plan that requires African nations to provide feedback on US aid to prove it is being used in a way the US approves of.
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