USAID working with international community to respond to drought in East Africa

"Since October 2010, the U.S. Government has provided more than $383 million worth of assistance, including 314,000 metric tons of food," to countries in the eastern Horn of Africa region, where "[m]ore than 4.1 million people have benefitted from this help," Donald Steinberg, USAID deputy administrator, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

Steinberg describes "three inter-locking challenges" USAID faces in responding to the crisis, and says the agency "insist[s] that women be front and center in all of these processes, ensuring that they are addressed not just as victims of the current emergency, but as a key part of the solution." He concludes, "Working as an integrated U.S. Government team along with the international community, we will pursue a coordinated, forceful and comprehensive response. The 11 million people in need in the eastern Horn of Africa deserve nothing less" (7/15).