USAID commits $1M to climate initiative

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 25, 2009 -- The US development agency says it will give $1 million to a newly launched Red Cross project that aims to help people living along a major Southern African river contend with a dramatic increase in floods in the face of climate change.

The Zambezi River flows through some of the poorest nations on earth, and is an important source of jobs, transportation and water for the 32 million people who live in the river's basin. But floods, droughts and torrential rains exacerbated by a changing climate also displace hundreds of thousands every year.

The worst flood season in years spurred the initiative, which will focus on helping local people better prepare for and mitigate disasters.

###