US pledges additional USD 4.4 million in funding for Maldives

The United States has pledged an additional USD 4.4 million in funding to the Maldives through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The additional funding was announced at the USAID’s ‘Democracy Delivers’ event held on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly underway in New York.

During the event, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, in partnership with the Ford Foundation, convened fellow government leaders, philanthropic partners, and civil society to increase support to Maldives and other countries experiencing democratic openings around the world.

According to a statement released by USAID, the USD 4.4 million in new funding includes:

• An additional USD 3 million to support new efforts to strengthen media literacy programing and promote information resilience in the Maldives by increasing transparency in the public and media sectors and equipping the public, particularly youth, with tools to be better informed and discerning consumers of media and social media content.
• An additional USD 1.4 million to support awareness raising for democratic rights and civic engagement, continued work with local councils and women’s development committees, and advocacy for transparent and accountable democratic processes.

Wednesday’s event was attended by Ali Naseer Mohamed, Permanent Representative of Maldives to the UN, alongside leaders and senior representatives from countries experiencing democratic openings – Armenia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Guatemala, Malawi, the Maldives, Moldova, Nepal, Tanzania, and Zambia – to highlight Maldives’ democratic progress and to welcome new investments and collaborations furthering democratic resilience.

Like-minded partners, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, committed to join USAID in supporting democratic openings throughout their development and diplomatic agendas and to bolstering information resilience.

Expanding the Democracy Delivers Commitment to Action launched at UNGA in 2023, philanthropic partners also announced new commitments Democracy Delivers countries and objectives.

According to USAID, the additional resources will be invested strategically to align with Maldives’ ongoing effort to increase transparency in the public and media sectors, expand opportunities for civic engagement, and promote transparent and accountable democratic processes.

“USAID is committed to partnering with Maldives to implement economic and democratic reforms and build a robust civil society that creates an environmentally sustainable and inclusive economy,” said the agency.

USAID has been working in Maldives since 2001. It has provided over USD 45 million in funding to the Indian Ocean island nation since 2019.