Vanuatu is an important United States partner in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Our relationship is based on mutual respect, shared history, and common values of strength through diversity, fairness, and freedom.

OUR WORK

As the world’s premier development agency, USAID partners with the Vanuatu government, development partners, the private sector, academia, civil society, and others to have a greater development and humanitarian impact. USAID’s work focuses on strengthening disaster preparedness and response, gender equality, women’s empowerment, environmental resilience, and health.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

Intensifying natural disasters and rising sea levels threaten food security and livelihoods of approximately 300,000 people in Vanuatu. USAID works to strengthen community resilience to the effects of climate change, severe weather events and other disasters. USAID provides humanitarian assistance to save lives and reduce suffering among affected communities. Through USAID support, more than 23,000 people in Vanuatu have improved community resilience to disasters and climate-smart livelihoods. Over 15,000 have been supported with awareness on and access to safe drinking water. USAID is supporting Vanuatu’s response to and recovery from Tropical Cyclones Kevin and Judy with $3.2 million for activities that provide shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene support, multi-purpose cash assistance and protection services for the disaster-affected populations.

ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE

USAID works with government partners and other stakeholders to draft and implement policies to achieve adaptation goals; access larger amounts of financing from international adaptation funds; and improve the skills and systems within Vanuatu to manage and monitor adaptation projects. USAID also supports collaborative approaches to managing biologically diverse marine and coastal resources. As of March 2023, USAID supported the Government of Vanuatu and partners to mobilize more than $96,000,00 in climate financing.

HEALTH

USAID is assisting Vanuatu to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic through infection prevention and control efforts, communications and community engagement, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities, vaccination campaigns, health worker training, data collection and procurement of critical equipment and supplies. Through USAID’s COVID-19 support, more than 33 percent of Vanuatu’s population received critical messaging on hygiene and epidemic control at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE

USAID reinforces the foundations of good governance by encouraging all citizens, including women, youth, and other marginalized groups, to participate in democratic processes and hold the government accountable. USAID is supporting Vanuatu’s Public Service Commission in its reforms to become an independent agency that is efficient and effective in serving the government, the parliament, and the public.

CROSS-CUTTING

USAID is strengthening the capacity of locally established civil society organizations in the Pacific to address the second order impacts of COVID-19. USAID assistance supports communities to increase their resilience to disasters and climate risks, enhance their livelihoods, increase food security, improve access to water, bolster health and education, improve governance, manage natural resources more sustainably, and conserve vital biodiversity.