US grants $6 million to fight COVID-19 in Sri Lanka

The US State Department says it has granted $6 million in assistance to support areas and population affected by the COVID-19 crisis in Sri Lanka.

In a statement, the US State Department said the $6 million in total assistance includes $2 million in Economic Support Fund to increase social services for those severely affected by the crisis, to address the specific threats to social cohesion and mitigate negative economic impacts.

Based on the COVID-19 global response fact sheet issued by the US State Department, Sri Lanka has received $2 million in additional ESF for strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises and increasing women’s economic participation; and $1.3 million in health assistance to help the Sri Lankan Government prepare health systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US Government has announced more than $1.6 billion in State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance specifically aimed at helping governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations fight the pandemic.

The US funding has been sanctioned to more than 120 countries.

(Source: News Radio)