By Tony Yayo
The United States of America has excluded Sierra Leone from an initial aid of two hundred and seventy four million United States dollars to lead the global fight against the novel Coronavirus.
At least fourteen African and European countries are reportedly benefitting from the said aid. According to a statement from the State Department, the emergency funding is for health and humanitarian assistance to help countries in need, on top of the funding already provided to multilateral organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Sierra Leone has now confirmed two positive cases, but the country had been faced with inadequate availability of logistics until China and ECOWAS recently donated a consignment of test kits and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to help in the fight against the disease. Quite recently, the country announced a State of Emergency and put in place several preventive measures to curb the outbreak, a move that is now hard-hitting the already struggling economy.
However, the U.S. did not consider Sierra Leone in its humanitarian and health assistance response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aid, according to the State Department, includes nearly US$100 million in emergency health assistance from USAID’s Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund and US$110 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance account, to be provided for up to 64 of the most at-risk countries facing the threat of this global pandemic.
Through the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will receive US$64 million in humanitarian assistance to help address the threats posed by COVID-19 in existing humanitarian crisis situations for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
The release ended by noting that the U.S. government agencies are working together to prioritize foreign assistance based on coordination and the potential for impact.