U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Vicki Huddleston Donates Over 173,700 Birr for Refugee Assistance Projects

July 6, 2006
No. 19/06

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Ethiopia, Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, has granted $19,977 (over 173,700 Birr) in refugee assistance to the Mother and Child Development Organization (MCDO), the Gaia Association and Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS). 

The Mother and Child Development Organization (MCDO), an indigenous organization working to improve the livelihood of impoverished women in the Somali region, will use a $6,922 (over 60,000 Birr) donation for its anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) campaign, to carry out awareness raising and training for Kebribeyah camp residents in Somali State, and to support social workers providing psychosocial support to both circumcised and uncircumcised girls.  The Gaia Association, which operates in Addis Ababa, Kebribeyah, Shimelba and Bonga refugee camps, will use a $6,555 (almost 57,000 Birr) donation to provide 69 refugee families in the Kebribeyah camp with ethanol fuel for a period of one year to improve the lives of women refugees by reducing the amount of time they spend collecting fuel wood. JRS, an international Catholic organization, will use a $6,500 (over 56,000 Birr) donation to supplement its Refugee Community Center for urban refugees in Addis Ababa with recreational equipment and educational materials.  The Center is intended to gainfully occupy recognized urban refugees through informal educational and recreational activities and to provide daycare for children. 
 
The funds for this donation were provided under the auspices of the Ambassadors’ Fund for Refugees in Africa, an initiative of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).  The Ambassadors’ Fund helps to fill gaps in on-going refugee support programs that are not already being addressed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organizations in recipient countries. 

In 2005, the United States provided an unprecedented $332 million (over 2.8 billion Birr) in assistance for refugees and conflict victims on the African continent, including over $179 million (over 1.5 billion Birr) to the UNHCR.  This also includes nearly $52 million (over 452 million Birr) for activities in the Horn of Africa; of this, over $4.3 million (over $37 million Birr) was specifically earmarked for refugee protection and assistance programs in Ethiopia. 

U.S. contributions help support a broad range of refugee assistance programs, including, but not limited to, women and child protection, combating sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), HIV/AIDS awareness, and environmental rehabilitation programs in refugee-impacted areas of the country.  Such funding benefits refugees from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds, including Sudanese Christians and Somali Muslims. 
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