Humanitarian aid to Ukraine swift but at what cost to Black countries in need?

By Tamara Banks
NABJ Black News & Views

Since January 2021, the United States has committed more than $13.5 billion in security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Maurice Amollo, a Nigeria-based official with the humanitarian aid group Mercy Corps, has
praised the swift response to the Ukrainian crisis and the generosity from Europe, the United States and beyond. But, he says, Mercy Corps is also getting a little concerned that resources and diplomatic support will inevitably be diverted away from millions of other deserving and vulnerable communities around the world into Ukraine.

For example, in South Sudan, where 80% of South Sudanese live on less than a dollar a day, the dowry system has been a practice for centuries. But now, South Sudanese families have resorted to marrying off their young daughters – as young as 14 years old. Just so the family can get money to eat.

South Sudan isn’t the only African nation seeing a decrease in international support. Denmark announced that to support fleeing Ukrainians, it would defer part of the
development aid it had reserved this year for the West African countries of Burkina Faso and
Mali by 50% and 40%, respectively, according to Mercy Corps.

BNV Director of Content Tamara Banks sat down with some women in South Sudan recently
and has their story.

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