AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We thank you, Ambassador Rodríguez, for chairing this year’s Segment, and we thank OCHA for providing excellent Secretariat support.
Let me start by underscoring the United States’ unequivocal commitment to multilateralism and principled humanitarian action. Given the challenges of the global humanitarian landscape, this commitment is more critical today than ever before.
As this year’s Secretary-General’s report notes, humanitarian actors are responding to the aftermath of the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945.
Global food insecurity is quickly becoming a dark defining feature of our times.
Yesterday marked World Refugee Day. For the first time in history, more than 100 million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes.
Displacement, global food insecurity, and the gap between needs and available resources were growing; only to skyrocket due to Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified war in Ukraine.
Against this backdrop, we fully agree with the Secretary General’s assessment that the unprecedented level of need is straining the humanitarian system.
During yesterday’s Transition Event, we appreciated the chance to discuss ways to address the combined effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine, COVID-19, long-term complex emergencies, and the effects of climate change that have pushed the world into a global food security crisis.
We look forward to this week’s high-level panel discussions on COVID-19, the climate crisis, and humanitarian access.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further shown the critical need for humanitarian-development coherence, and the need to enhance engagement with and support for local and national actors. President Biden has called the climate crisis “the number one issue facing humanity.” And as we discussed during the May Protection of Civilians week, the deteriorating security environments where humanitarians operate, the unacceptable attacks on humanitarian workers, and the continued obstruction of humanitarian access keep aid out of reach of those who need it.
I want to underscore importance of focusing on protecting women and girls, fighting sexual abuse and exploitation, and combatting gender-based violence. Additionally, we need to consider the specific needs of persons with disabilities in humanitarian contexts. A recent report by Humanity International underscores that interventions for persons with disabilities are still perceived as being limited to specialized services and actors, and not sufficiently mainstreamed throughout our humanitarian response. Through our humanitarian assistance, the United States seeks to support all vulnerable populations including children, the elderly and LGBTQI+ persons.
Finally, today’s humanitarian challenges cannot be effectively tackled without a strong and efficient United Nations.
The United States will continue to work towards advancing management reforms across UN agencies. This includes improved efficiency and coordination within the humanitarian system on joint needs assessments and analyses that inform and improve prioritized humanitarian response plans and appeals.
The United States is proud to have a longstanding commitment to humanitarian assistance. We are the single largest donor globally, and last year provided nearly $13 billion in life-saving aid. We are also the largest provider of food assistance in the world.
President Biden will work with the U.S. Congress to provide $3 billion in adaptation and resilience finance annually by fiscal year 2024. This will be the largest U.S. commitment ever made to reduce climate impacts on those most vulnerable.
We continue to welcome and resettle those seeking refuge, including more than 74,000 of our Afghan allies. And in the face of Russia’s unconscionable war, we have committed to welcoming 100,000 displaced Ukrainians.
We will continue to play our part. We thank other donors for their generosity and urge more countries to help and protect the most vulnerable.
Thank you for this opportunity to share our priorities. We request that this statement be made part of the official record of this meeting.
Source: https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-at-the-united-nations-economic-and-social-council-25th-plenary-meeting-2022-session/
