US raises $60 million to help poor families in Tunisia

A grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will help UNICEF provide direct support to vulnerable people in Tunisia, including school-related expenses, the US State Department said Thursday.

“The United States continues to stand with the Tunisian people who are facing food insecurity and an economic crisis in Ukraine exacerbated by the Russian occupation,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.

The $60 million in aid is in addition to current US aid.

Tunisia is in the grip of a general financial crisis and severe shortages of goods, with long queues for fuel and other imports.

The country has also seen dwindling foreign exchange reserves and rising inflation. It is trying to negotiate a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund, but it is unclear whether the country can implement the reforms the International Monetary Fund wants.

United Nations officials have warned that hundreds of thousands of people in parts of Africa and elsewhere could face starvation or a global food crisis due to local conflicts, extreme weather events and the instability of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. February.

Meanwhile, thousands of Tunisians have sought asylum and tried to migrate to the EU via Belgrade, according to a report.