Continuing to lead the global effort to respond to and end the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has provided Sri Lanka more than $5.8 million in direct total assistance, the U.S. Department of State said.

The COVID-19 assistance to-date from the State Department and USAID includes $2 million from Economic Support Fund (ESF) to increase social services for areas and populations most affected by the COVID-19 crisis, address the specific threats to social cohesion, and mitigate negative economic impacts.

An additional $2 million in ESF has been provided for strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises and increasing women’s economic participation.

The direct funding includes $1.3 million in health assistance to help the Sri Lankan Government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, conduct risk-communications, prevent and control infectious diseases in health facilities, and more.

Finally, $590,000 in MRA humanitarian assistance will support vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Over the past 20 years, U.S. assistance in Sri Lanka has totaled more than $1 billion, which includes $26 million for health, the Department of State noted.

Updating the status of direct funding, the State Department said the U.S. government has so far allocated more than $12 billion that will benefit the global COVID-19 response.

“We continue to ensure that the substantial U.S. funding and scientific efforts on this front remain a central and coordinated part of the worldwide effort against the disease. Our efforts are far from over but continue to make a real and lasting impact.”

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. Government has announced more than $1.2 billion in State Department and U.S. 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.

This funding, provided by Congress, will save lives by improving public health education; protecting healthcare facilities; and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries, the statement added.

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