US donates USD 150,000 worth of PPEs of Maldives

The United States has donated USD 150,000 worth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Maldives to aid in its combat against the coronavirus outbreak.

The donation was presented by the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Colombo, Martin Kelly to the Maldivian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, Omar Abdul Razzaq on Wednesday.

The donation was made as a symbol of the “All of America” approach employed by the US in the combat against the coronavirus pandemic.

Martin Kelly said the US was proud to make the donation to Maldives.

“The United States is proud to provide protection for Maldivian healthcare workers as they care for Maldivians suffering from COVID-19,” said Kelly. “This equipment will help prevent the spread of the virus and keep our frontline responders safe.”

The donation was funded by the US Department of Defense, and marks US’ third donation of PPEs to Maldives.

In addition to PPE, the US is also funding a USD 2 million tailored package of support for Maldives. It includes helping civil society expand coronavirus related social protection services, advocate effectively for coronavirus recovery policies, and provide technical assistance to the Maldivian government to develop effective economic measures in response to the pandemic.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the US has announced more than USD 1.2 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 (NGOs) fight the pandemic.

The US has generously funded more than USD 100 billion in health assistance and nearly USD 70 billion in humanitarian assistance worldwide since 2009.