ReliefWeb

Countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region are vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, including droughts, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires, as well as economic and political crises. Between FY 2010 and FY 2019, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) responded to a range of humanitarian emergencies across the region. Recent examples include Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas, wildfires in South America, and the Venezuela regional crisis.

In the last decade, USAID has provided nearly $1.3 billion to assist disaster-affected populations across LAC. USAID/OFDA assistance included nearly $672.3 million to support the provision of emergency relief commodities, logistical activities, and humanitarian coordination, as well as agriculture and food security, health, livelihoods, nutrition, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions.

Additionally, USAID/FFP provided nearly $620.8 million to support the delivery of emergency food and nutrition assistance—through U.S. in-kind food aid; local, regional, and international food procurement; cash transfers for food; food vouchers; and specialized nutrition products—to vulnerable populations, including internally displaced persons.

Between FY 2010 and FY 2019, USAID responded to nearly 80 disasters in LAC. USAID deployed humanitarian teams to the region as needed, including eight Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) responding to hurricanes in The Bahamas and across the Caribbean; the Venezuela regional crisis; a cholera outbreak in Haiti; and three major earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, and Mexico. USAID also activated related Washington, D.C.-based Response Management Teams to support coordination and response efforts in affected countries.