The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on Tuesday that it was providing $100,000 in emergency assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the Nyiragongo volcano eruption which started on May 22. The eruption triggered a series of small earthquakes.
USAID said while lava flows stopped about one mile from Goma, the eruption caused significant damage in North Kivu, “including to a critical water pipeline, cutting off drinking water access for as many as 500,000 people.”
It said the limited financial assistance of $100,000 to DRC is to provide safe drinking water to those 500,000 people and to assist in cholera prevention efforts.
“USAID disaster experts are conducting assessments to determine additional needs and coordinating with local officials and humanitarian partners. In addition, the USAID-supported U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP), which leverages the U.S. scientific and technological expertise of the USGS, is providing technical assistance to DRC’s Goma Volcano Observatory to help track and analyze Nyiragongo’s activity,” the US agency said in a statement, adding that “USAID offers its deepest condolences to the families and communities affected by the eruption of Nyiragongo volcano and stands with the people of the DRC as they begin to recover.”
The United States is the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing more than $131 million in Fiscal Year 2021 to date.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
