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The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing more than $173 million in new funding to complement Bangladesh’s ongoing efforts to respond to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
It includes a new food assistance programme for 100,000 urban poor living in low-income areas of Dhaka, and to strengthen development activities and post-COVID-19 recovery in Bangladesh.
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller made the new funding announcement at a virtual event on Monday, reports UNB.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US government has committed more than $1.0 billion in U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance specifically aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) fight the pandemic.
This funding 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, according to US Embassy.
In Bangladesh, the US government, through USAID alone, has provided nearly $37 million to support COVID-19 response efforts.