The new aid follows a March USAID grant of MAD 6.6 million ($670,000) to help the country mitigate the pandemic’s consequences.
Rabat – Trump’s Administration announced on May 1 a new grant of $5.7 million to Morocco as part of its international support campaign to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
The aid package includes $4 million from the Economic Support Fund (ESF) to help vulnerable populations recover from the pandemic’s socioeconomic effects, Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported.
Quoting a statement from the US State Department, the outlet said that the aid includes “$1.7 million for health assistance to help prepare laboratory systems,” and to improve case detection and epidemiological surveillance.
The aid seeks to also support the work of technical experts in the field.
“This aid builds on long-term US investments in Morocco of more than $ 2.6 billion in aid over the past 20 years, including $64.5 million in the health sector.”
The State Department said the US mobilized more than $775 million in health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance to help other governments mitigate the impact of the virus across the world.
“This funding, provided by Congress, will save lives by improving public health education, protecting health facilities and increasing laboratory, disease surveillance and rapid response capacities in more than 120 countries,” the statement said.
In addition to the aid, the US embassy in Morocco announced on April 28 that it transferred, in cooperation with the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), protective equipment to support laboratory technicians at the National Institute of Hygiene (INH) in Rabat.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) demonstrated the US government’s commitment to maintaining strong ties with Morocco in March. The agency, which described Morocco as the US’ oldest friend in the MENA region, granted Morocco MAD 6.6 million ($670,000) to support efforts against the growing threat of COVID-19 and to minimize its impact.
