U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FACT SHEET

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is fully
prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq - to save
lives, alleviate suffering, and mitigate the impact of emergency situations.
For the last several months, USAID, working in close coordination with the
Department of State and other U.S. agencies, has planned for a possible
humanitarian emergency by:
* Assembling and training the largest-ever U.S. humanitarian rapid
response team;
* Pre-positioning stockpiles of emergency supplies and commodities;
and
* Communicating and coordinating with U.S. and international
humanitarian organizations.
Rapid Response. USAID has recruited and trained the largest Disaster
Assistance Response Team (DART) in U.S. history, outside of an Urban Search
and Rescue response. It will be headquartered in Kuwait City and have three
mobile field offices. The DART is comprised of more than 60 humanitarian
response experts from USAID; the Department of State's Bureau for
Population, Migration, and Refugees; and the Department of Health and Human
Service's Public Health Service. In addition to technical experts in areas
such as health, food, water, and shelter, the DART has statutory grant
making authority and includes administrative officers in logistics,
transportation, and procurement, enabling the team to function as a turnkey
response mechanism for assessment and funding in the field.
Commodities. USAID is pre-positioning emergency supplies for the
Iraqi people, including materiel in warehouses throughout the region. In
addition to pre-positioned and in-transit food, these supplies include wool
blankets, rolls of plastic sheeting for emergency shelter, personal hygiene
kits, World Health Organization Emergency Health Kits, and water jugs,
bladders, containers, and treatment units.
Coordination. USAID's leadership has met for several months with a
wide range of U.S.-based and international organizations planning for a
humanitarian response in Iraq. In the region, the DART will continue to
serve as a central point of contact, exchanging information, and
coordinating humanitarian assistance among nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), U.N. agencies, international organizations (IOs), and the U.S.
military. USAID has funded a significant contingency coordination effort for
many NGOs preparing to assist in Iraq called the Joint NGO Emergency
Preparedness Initiative (JNEPI), offering support to their assessment,
logistics, stockpiling, and staffing needs.
Focusing on Areas of Greatest Need.
USAID's areas of expertise and responsibility for humanitarian
assistance include:
Health and medicines Shelter and supplies Water and sanitation Internally
displaced persons Food and nutrition Humanitarian assistance
infrastructure
Health and medicines. Through technical assessments, pre-positioned
supplies, and the ability for immediate response, USAID will ensure the
essential basic healthcare needs of the Iraqi people are met. Goals include:
* Assessing local health infrastructure, including facilities,
medicine availability, and immunization rates.
* Preventing excess morbidity and mortality by focusing on
preventative and primary healthcare. Expediting funding for UN agencies,
IOs, and NGOs.
* Assisting in the establishment of a national Health Information
System (HIS) platform.
Water and sanitation. A successful emergency response requires
adequate levels of potable water, and sanitary waste disposal and wastewater
removal systems. Other goals include:
* Overall damage assessment of water and sanitation facilities that
reach all major populations centers.
* Immediate assessment and response to provide adequate supplies of
potable water.
* Extensive coordination with, and expedited funding to, water and
sanitation experts and organizations.
Food and nutrition. It is estimated that 60 percent of the Iraqi
people currently rely on food aid, and that households have an average of
one month of food stocks. USAID will:
* Ensure the nutritional needs of the population are met through food
availability and distribution.
* Work with international organizations to maintain the countrywide
ration system on an emergency basis and support internally displaced
persons.
Shelter and supplies. The emergency response will include:
* Meeting the emergency shelter needs of vulnerable populations
through the provision of pre-positioned plastic sheeting and tents.
* Expediting funding to the U.N. and NGOs to meet basic shelter needs
for vulnerable populations.
Internally-displaced persons (IDPs). Meeting basic humanitarian
needs and limiting sickness and death will be the primary focus for newly
displaced populations. This will include:
* Ensuring access to healthcare, clean water, nutrition programs, and
shelter.
* Expediting funding to the U.N., IOs, and NGOs to establish and
manage displaced population camps.
* Creating conditions that enable the return of IDPs to places of
origin.
Humanitarian assistance infrastructure. Emergency interventions and
high-impact projects will be used to facilitate humanitarian access and
program implementation. This will include:
* Monitoring the physical transportation infrastructure to ensure
access to populations in need.
* Contracting transportation to move and distribute supplies.
* Communicating with vulnerable populations regarding the availability
and location of assistance.
A Track Record of Success.
USAID DART teams have deployed across the globe in response to
natural disasters and complex emergencies, bringing humanitarian assistance
to such places as Angola, El Salvador, Turkey, Mozambique, Kosovo, Bosnia,
Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Northern Iraq. Since 1990, USAID has responded
with $2.2 billion to more than 870 disasters worldwide, including civil
wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, floods,
droughts, fires, and disease outbreaks. Examples include:
* Afghanistan. Even before the tragic events of September 11, 2001,
USAID had a DART team deployed to Central Asia to assist with the emergency
needs of the Afghan people suffering from 22 years of civil war and three
years of drought. After Afghanistan was liberated from Taliban rule, the
DART team worked with the Afghan Interim Authority to successfully avert a
famine during the harsh winter.
* Angola. In April 2002, immediately following the ceasefire agreement
ending civil war in Angola, USAID experts in humanitarian assistance were on
the ground assessing emergency needs, distributing relief commodities, and
providing our partners with grant funding to support demobilization and a
consolidation of the peace.
* Armenia. In December 1988, the cities in northwestern Armenia were
struck by a devastating earthquake, causing extensive loss of life and
property and leaving more than half a million people homeless. USAID DART
teams assessed the needs of the region and provided humanitarian and relief
assistance at the epicenter of the disaster.
* Central America. Before Hurricane Mitch tore through six countries
in Central America in October 1998, leaving up to 10,000 dead and affecting
more than 3.6 million people, an interagency DART was pre-positioned along
the storm's forecasted path with relief commodities and disaster experts to
lead the most significant response ever by the U.S. government to a natural
disaster overseas. The emergency response was quickly followed by
rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance to restore public services,
agricultural production, and economic livelihoods.
* India. When a severe earthquake struck western India in January 2001
killing more than 20,000 people and affecting nearly 16 million, USAID had a
DART team of disaster specialists on the ground responding to emergency
needs within 24 hours.

Planning Assumptions. USAID DART preparedness and delivery of
humanitarian assistance requires adequate funding and security for both U.S.
government staff and the personnel of nongovernmental organizations,
international organizations, and civilian relief agencies.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic
and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.