Statement by Acting Administrator Wade Warren on World Refugee Day

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, June 20, 2017
USAID Press Office
Telephone: +1.202.712.4320 | Email: press@usaid.gov

We remain deeply concerned by the more than 22 million refugees forced from their homes by conflict and persecution. Tragically, half of these refugees are children. In addition, nearly 41 million people are internally displaced within their own borders. As the world faces the largest forced displacement of people since World War II, the United States is committed to ensuring life-saving humanitarian aid reaches those most in need, while also tackling the underlying causes of their flight. The United States continues to be the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in the world. USAID works together with the State Department, multilateral organizations, and civil society to provide food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare, and other critical relief supplies to those forced from their homes, while helping to ease the burdens of local communities and countries who have taken in refugees. This assistance represents the best of America's generosity and goodwill. I am proud of the work that USAID is doing to meet the needs of millions of people displaced around the world. However, addressing the underlying causes of displacement is the only sustainable solution to this great challenge. That is why we will continue striving to make the world safer and more secure through our efforts to build communities' resilience to shocks, support democratic governance and women's empowerment, drive economic opportunity, and combat violent extremism. On World Refugee Day, we reaffirm our support for people around the world forced from their homes and our commitment to addressing the root causes of displacement to prevent the creation of more refugees tomorrow.