The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), delivered 131,320 kg of food assistance worth almost $400,000 to Uzbekistan. This food assistance will reach more than 35,000 of the most vulnerable Uzbekistani citizens and be distributed through more than 144 health and social protection facilities. This includes facilities that are providing COVID-19 related quarantine services, long-term care to patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB), to orphanages and mental health facilities.

The shipment contains a mix of dehydrated dried vegetables and legumes enriched with vitamins and minerals, which will be used in health and social protection facilities and vulnerable households. Since 2009, USAID’s International Food Relief Partnership program has delivered nearly 1,163 tons of food aid worth more than $3.2 million to Uzbekistan. This new humanitarian assistance builds upon long-term U.S. investment of more than $122 million in health and over $1 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years.

This food assistance will be distributed in collaboration with the public organization Sog’lom Avlod Uchun and the American nonprofit organization, Resource and Policy Exchange, Inc. (RPX). Sog’lom Avlod Uchun works in the area of improving the health status of women and children as well as providing assistance to vulnerable populations in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The main objective of RPX is to improve healthcare standards and access to information through the provision of technical and in-kind assistance, such as food and pharmaceuticals.