By YANGE IKYAA
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced an additional $10.6 million in development assistance to continue support for the goals outlined in a 2021 bilateral agreement between the United States and Nigeria.
According to a statement released Thursday by Aishah Gambari, who is a public affairs specialist at the United States Embassy in Abuja, the notification for the latest assistance to Nigeria was given earlier on March 1, 2022.
This funding increases the total US assistance to Nigerian people to $179 million under the five-year $2.1 billion “Development Objectives Assistance Agreement” signed between USAID and the ministry of finance, budget and national planning, as affirmed by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken during his visit to Nigeria in November 2021.
“Given the significant progress Nigeria has made, we are pleased to provide more funds to improve COVID-19 vaccine delivery services,” said USAID Mission Director, Anne Patterson, adding furthest that “these new funds will deepen our support for all levels of government to meet their vaccination targets.”
Most of the new funding will finance boosting COVID-19 vaccination efforts to reach targets of 600,000 people a day. The funds will also support integrating COVID-19 vaccinations into routine immunization and primary health care systems, state level data collection and analytics, health worker training, and expansion of vaccination access points at the community level.
USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help nations progress beyond assistance. In Nigeria, USAID supports health systems strengthening, transparent and accountable governance, basic education, and a more market-led, trade-friendly economy.
