United States Government Assistance Provides Shelter and Clean Water for Those Affected by Cyclone Batsirai

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on behalf of the American people, is rolling out the first of a series of planned activities to assist those affected by Cyclone Batsirai. USAID is providing humanitarian funding to the nongovernmental organization CARE to provide temporary housing, clean water, and basic household items to 1,500 people currently living in evacuation sites.

“The United States and Madagascar are like ‘Mpirahalahy mianala’, in good times and bad,” said US Chargé d’Affaires Amy Hyatt. “We mourn with you the death and destruction caused by Cyclone Batsirai. This $100,000 contribution is just the beginning of a series of assistance activities planned by USAID to help communities devastated by the storm recover and rebuild.

Humanitarian aid will provide shelter and daily household items like pots, pans, buckets, utensils and more, to people whose homes have been damaged too badly, giving them a place to live and materials to use. until more permanent accommodation can be rebuilt. The safety and privacy of women and girls in these accommodations will be a priority.

The US government will also increase the availability of clean water, help people treat and store their water safely, distribute menstrual hygiene kits to 300 women and girls, and raise awareness of the need for good hygiene.

USAID staff in Madagascar, South Africa, and Washington, DC, continue to monitor the humanitarian impacts of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai in close coordination with the U.S. Embassy and humanitarian partners.

The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Madagascar, providing more than $50 million in humanitarian assistance in 2021, including lifesaving emergency food and other assistance to address food insecurity in drought-stricken southern Madagascar and millions of vaccines and other support for the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the United States Embassy in Madagascar and the Comoros.