The U.S. Government Response to COVID-19 in Africa: A Dialogue with Christopher Runyan

On May 5, 2020, CCA hosted a webinar featuring Christopher Runyan, Senior Coordinator, USAID Bureau for Africa and Adam Tomasek, Lead for Corporate Relations, USAID Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment. The webinar was part of CCA’s webinar series “Navigating the Impact of COVID-19.” According to Runyan, the United States remains the largest single country donor to the COVID-19 response efforts globally, building on decades of leadership in life-saving health and humanitarian assistance. USAID’s response – coordinated through the USAID COVID-19 Task Force – is part of a broader all-of-America approach including the Department of State, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Defense and others, which incorporates emergency supplemental funding provided by Congress ($2.4 billion) for three main areas: support for health systems, humanitarian assistance, and addressing second-order impacts, such as economic effects. USAID is also redirecting ongoing activities as needed to support the COVID-19 efforts. Meanwhile, USAID wants to maintain progress on its other development work and is working closely with NGOs, private sector partners, and other donors to prevent development backsliding.Learn more about USAID's response at:https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirusand the broad U.S. government response atwww.state.gov/foreign-assistance-for-coronavirus-covid-19/#.XrQ1NzjA18c.emailCaption: Christopher Runyan, Senior Coordinator, USAID Bureau