US Mission Geneva

The United States is moving aggressively, working with our partners, to provide humanitarian assistance wherever we can, based on the indication two weeks ago from Al-Shabaab for humanitarian workers to come back in.

The need is only expected to increase and more must be done by the United States and the international community. That is why today the United States government is providing an additional $28 million in aid for people in Somalia and for Somali refugees in Kenya.

Readout of Meeting with Under Secretary Ellen Tauscher, Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary Philip Gordon, and Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin, Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for Missile Defense Cooperation with NATO.

Mr. Donilon stressed the critical role of UN agencies like the World Food Program (WFP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in responding to this crisis, and pledged U.S. support.

The situation is grave, over 11 million lives at risk, and in need of assistance. This is indeed a crisis situation, and one that has been exacerbated quite directly by the refusal of al-Shabaab to allow critically needed humanitarian assistance to reach over 60 percent of the people who need it most, over the course of the last year.

Surveillance of Implementation of recommendations adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)

We recognize that market opening needs to be combined with efforts to tackle endemic supply-side constraints in developing countries, and in particular LDCs, to ensure they can take advantage of the market access opportunities open to them. It is that recognition that is at the heart of the Aid for Trade initiative.

This crisis has resulted in severe malnutrition, acute hunger, and rising levels of starvation. It has generated extraordinary refugee flows across thousands of miles in East Africa.

The Third Global Review of Aid for Trade is underway at the WTO in Geneva. Overall U.S. support for trade capacity building (or “aid for trade”) since the Doha Round began in 2001, has now surpassed $11 billion.