WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, April 13, 2018,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Telephonic Press Briefing on U.S. humanitarian assistance and policy for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Telephonic Press Briefing with USAID Acting Director of Food for Peace Matt Nims, State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Acting Director for Africa Assistance Christopher Upchurch, and Senior DRC Desk Officer Elizabeth Jaffee.
EVENT:
Please join us on Tuesday, April 17 at 12:00 UTC/08:00 EST/14:00 SAST for a telephonic press conference with State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Acting Office Director for Africa Assistance Christopher Upchurch, USAID Acting Director of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace Matt Nims, and Senior DRC Desk Officer Elizabeth Jaffee to discuss U.S. humanitarian assistance and policy for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the humanitarian pledging conference in Geneva scheduled for April 13.
DETAILS:
Speaker: Acting Director of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace Matt Nims
Acting Office Director for Africa Assistance Christopher Upchurch
Senior DRC Desk Officer Elizabeth Jaffee
Date: April 17, 2017
Time:1200UTC/0800EST/1400SAST
* Please use Time Zone Converter to determine the start time of the event in your time zone.
Language: English. French and Portuguese interpretation will be offered.
Ground rules: On the record
Biography of Matt Nims
Matthew Nims has over 17 years of international development and emergency programming experience. Currently, he is the Acting Director of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP). He has been with USAID since 2000. His career with USAID began in Indonesia, where he worked for three and a half years managing and overseeing development and emergency food assistance programs. He then served in Washington, DC for four years backstopping Asia and Latin America for Food for Peace, responding to the Asian Tsunami as well as several cyclone and other disasters.
Mr. Nims also worked on a broad portfolio of health and HIV prevention programs in Guyana for a year, followed by another year posting in Afghanistan managing energy and water infrastructure creation programs. Starting in August 2011, he began serving as the Deputy Director of FFP but as of January 2017 is the acting Director of the office.
With a $2 billion per year budget, FFP is the U.S. Government’s lead in addressing food insecurity worldwide in both emergency and development situations. Mr. Nims was a Water and Sanitation Technician in the Dominican Republic with Peace Corps and has a Master’s Degree in International Public Health from Emory University.
Biography of Chris Upchurch
Chris Upchurch is a Senior Program Officer with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Working in the Office of Assistance for Africa, he leads the Bureau’s Central and Southern Africa team, which manages protection and assistance policies and programs for refugees and conflict victims across the Central Africa, Great Lakes, and Southern Africa regions. He previously served as PRM’s Team Leader for the Horn of Africa and Sudan/South Sudan region. He is currently serving as Acting Office Director.
Prior to joining PRM, Mr. Upchurch served in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs as the Global Peace Operations Initiative regional manager for Africa. He has also served as an active and reserve U.S. Army officer, with experience in strategic planning and civil-military affairs. Mr. Upchurch is a graduate of Georgetown University, earned his Master’s Degree in International Politics from George Mason University, and began his career with the Department of State as a Presidential Management Fellow.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Africa Regional Media Hub.
