US government to give additional P201 million COVID-19 aid for Mindanao

USAID partners deliver water supplies daily to 1,000 IDPs in Marawi transitory sites. The US government will provide additional P201 million COVID-19 aid to assist communities in Mindanao, the US Embassy announced on Friday, June 5. (Courtesy: US Embassy in the Philippines).

(Eagle News) – The United States government will provide an additional P201 million ($4 million) financial assistance to help support vulnerable populations in Mindanao amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Embassy in the Philippines announced on Friday, June 5.

The Embassy said that US Ambassador Sung Kim met with officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) lead by Chief Minister Ahod ‘Al Haj Murad’ Ebrahim, who also chairs the BARMM Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19.

During the virtual meeting, the BARMM leadership presented its COVID-19 contingency plan, while Ambassador Kim and provided updates on US assistance along with Mission Director Lawrence Hardy of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“With the additional $4 million in humanitarian assistance, USAID will
protect vulnerable populations – those displaced by conflict and the
recent earthquakes in Mindanao – from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic”, the Embassy’s statement said.

Over 100,000 individuals are expected to benefit from distributions of essential hygiene supplies, handwashing stations, hygiene promotion to
reduce transmission risk, and help communities re-open.

In addition, USAID will continue to provide water supply to families displaced by the Marawi Siege in Lanao del Sur, and to communities affected by the earthquarke in North Cotabato.

With the latest donation, the US government’s COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines is now at over PhP978 million ($19.5 million).

“The United States has provided more than Php228 billion ($4.5 billion) in
development assistance to the Philippines over the past 20 years,
including over Php29 billion ($582 million) in health assistance”, the Embassy said.

Eagle News Service