US announces additional $5.75M in response to Sri Lanka?s economic crisis

The US Government announced a third tranche of new funding today totalling $5.75 million to address the immediate needs of people hardest hit by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

This humanitarian assistance, totalling $5.75 million, will provide cash assistance, short-term jobs, and agriculture supplies such as seeds directly to crisis-affected people to meet their basic needs.

This new grant funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) builds on last week?s announcement of $6M in grants through USAID and $120M in new loans through the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to meet the needs of Sri Lankans during the economic crisis.

?The recent United Nations appeal to international donors warned of an ?unfolding multidimensional food security crisis? in Sri Lanka,? explained U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung. ?The new assistance that we?re announcing today will address some of those complex issues. We are working hard to ensure that these funds directly reach the Sri Lankans who have been most severely affected by this crisis.?

The funding announced today will also support microenterprises in communities that traditionally experience high poverty rates and are especially impacted by the crisis. In addition, it will provide for community-based disaster management committees to help prepare for, respond to, and ultimately recover from crises.

Over the coming months, the United States plans to add to its significant ongoing investments and assistance projects in Sri Lanka that help the people of Sri Lanka meet their immediate and long-term needs. These efforts build on six decades and over $2 billion of foreign assistance from the American people that have strengthened tourism, small businesses, renewable energy, climate adaptation, and civil society in Sri Lanka. (Colombo Gazette)