US offers $8m of assistance to Jordan for coronavirus response

AMMAN – The US government is providing $8 million to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Jordan, according to an embassy statement on Thursday.

These funds include $6.5 million in humanitarian assistance from the State Department Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account to support COVID-19 response efforts to help refugees in Jordan.

This includes health assistance, additional hours of electricity in camps to support remote education and short-term cash assistance to refugees outside of camps for basic needs such as shelter, water and utilities.

The funding also aims to support those who have lost their sources of livelihood due to COVID-19 prevention closures. Further, it includes $1.5 million in health assistance from USAID, which will support laboratory strengthening for large-scale testing for COVID-19 and capacity building to improve case management protocol and systems.

The US also is spearheading coordination of donor support to the government of Jordan, ensuring that critical life-saving assistance is prioritised now and as the threat evolves. 

US Chargé d’Affaires Karen Sasahara said: “Jordan is a close friend and invaluable ally. We are working together to prevent and treat infectious diseases at their source and to minimise their global impact.”

“The US-Jordan partnership is critical to the rapid and effective response to emerging threats, including the current COVID-19 outbreak. We salute the King's leadership and the efforts of the Jordanian government,” she was quoted in the statement as saying. 

For decades, the United States has been the world's largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health. “American taxpayers have generously made available” more than $100 billion dollars for health globally since 2009, the statement said.

This money has saved lives, protected people who are most vulnerable to disease, built health institutions and promoted the stability of communities and nations, according to the statement.

Of that figure, USAID has invested over $1.1 billion since 2009 to prevent, detect and respond to endemic and emerging health threats, including diseases like COVID-19.

Support in Jordan includes the improvement of the quality of care in more than 140 health facilities, reaching 70 per cent of the population; the Princess Rahma Paediatric Hospital Expansion, increasing its capacity by 35 per cent; and the soon-to-be-completed modern emergency department at Al Bashir Hospital in Amman, Jordan’s largest public hospital serving 50,000 patients a month.

These US investments, which in the last 20 years alone totalled more than $18.9 billion, include more than $1.8 billion in Jordan’s health sector, better preparing the Jordanian government and people to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said. 

“The US government is leading the world’s humanitarian and health response to the COVID-19 pandemic even while we battle the virus at home,” read the statement.

As part of this “comprehensive and generous  response from the American people, USAID has now committed nearly $508 million in emergency health, humanitarian and economic assistance on top of the funding we already provide to multilateral and non-governmental organisations that are helping communities around the world deal with the pandemic”, read the statement. 

This funding will support critical activities to control the spread of the disease, such as rapid public-health information campaigns, water and sanitation and preventing and controlling infections in healthcare facilities, the statement said.