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Humanitarian Assistance in Review: East Asia and the Pacific | Fiscal Year 2009 – 2018

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World
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USAID
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Recurrent drought, earthquakes, floods, typhoons, and volcanoes present significant challenges to vulnerable populations in the East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) region. Some countries also face civil unrest and associated humanitarian impacts, as well as limited government capacity to respond to disasters. Between FY 2009 and FY 2018, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided humanitarian assistance in response to a range of natural and complex emergencies in the region. Examples include cyclones and typhoons in Burma, the Pacific Islands, the Philippines, and Vietnam; earthquakes in China, Indonesia, Japan, and Papua New Guinea; floods in Burma, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Micronesia, and Vietnam; drought in the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Vietnam; volcanic activity in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vanuatu; winter emergencies in Mongolia; and conflict in Burma, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste.

USAID provided nearly $320.8 million to respond to disasters in the EAP region between FY 2009 and FY 2018. USAID/OFDA assistance included more than $183.6 million for programs in agriculture and food security; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive hazards; economic recovery and market systems; health; humanitarian coordination and information management; logistics support and relief commodities; nutrition; protection; search and rescue; risk management policy and practice; shelter and settlements; and water, sanitation, and hygiene. USAID/FFP support included nearly $137.2 million for emergency food assistance and nutrition support in the form of in-kind food aid, locally and regionally purchased food, cash transfers, food vouchers, and other activities.

In the last decade, USAID responded to 110 disasters in EAP. USAID frequently deployed humanitarian teams to the region, including five Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs). USAID deployed DARTs to Indonesia following an earthquake in FY 2010; to New Zealand following an earthquake in FY 2011; to Japan in response to an earthquake and resulting tsunami and nuclear emergency in FY 2011; to the Marshall Islands in FY 2013 due to a drought; and to the Philippines in FY 2014 for Typhoon Haiyan. USAID also activated multiple Washington, D.C.-based Response Management Teams to support coordination and response efforts.