Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)

Overview

OFDA is one of the bureaus of united states agency for international development (USAID), they are responsible for leading and coordinating the U.S. government’s response to disasters overseas. help countries prepare for, respond to, and recover from humanitarian crises. helping communities establish early warning networks, train schoolchildren on what to do when an earthquake strikes, and teach local emergency personnel how to conduct search-and-rescue. These activities not only reduce the number of lives and livelihoods lost during a disaster. They help communities become resilient to future crises by supporting programs that give people tools to restart former jobs, provide psychosocial care to traumatized disaster survivors, and prepare individuals to get back on their feet.

They responded to an average of 65 disasters in more than 50 countries every year to ensure aid reaches people affected by rapid-onset disasters—such as; earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods, In 2016, conflict in South Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, and Ukraine left tens of millions in need of assistance while Syria entered the sixth year of a brutal civil war that has destroyed entire communities and affected far too many lives.