Eswatini misses out
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MBABANE – Eswatini’s name is stark by its absence from a list of about 23 African countries to benefit from food assistance to the value of US$760 million by the US Government.
In local currency, this equates to about E12.2 billion.
The United States (US) Government initially announced during the recent G7 Summit that it would be contributing about US$2.76 billion to help protect the world’s most vulnerable populations and mitigate the impacts of growing food insecurity and malnutrition, emanating from effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ahead of a live media briefing hosted by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee yesterday, the office of the US Government spokesperson released a statement on how the funds will be distributed to various African countries.
Sustainable
“Of this US$2.76 billion, US$760 million will be for sustainable nearterm food assistance to help mitigate further increases in poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in vulnerable countries impacted by high prices of food, fertiliser and fuel,” read the statement.
The US Government said it was working with congress to allocate US$336.5 million to bilateral programmes for Sub-Saharan African countries, including Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and regional programmes in Southern Africa, West Africa, and the Sahel.
The reference to regional programmes in Southern Africa means Eswatini, if it was to benefit from such assistance, would do so through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), instead of receiving it directly.
During the media briefing yesterday, Phee, said the US Government was committed to working with African countries on various programmes, including the distribution of vaccines, support for the manufacture on same, as well as providing humanitarian assistance through the ‘Feed the Future Programme’ to help African countries cope with the effects of climate change and the off-shoots of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Programmes
“The US Government has implemented various development programmes in Africa, from past to present administrations. In terms of climate change, we have worked together to develop responses meant for the establishment of sources of energy for the future,” she said.
Besides food assistance, the US Government works with the Kingdom of Eswatini in a variety of sectors, with its contribution sizeable in the health sector. Eswatini has most recently received food assistance from Japan through the World Food Programme (WFP).