The U.S. government, through the United States Agency for Internation-al Development’s (USAID) Pacific American Fund, has awarded two grants of $150,000 each to organizations based in Palau—the Palau Pro-tected Areas Network (PAN) Fund and the Palau Office of the Interna-tional Organization for Migration (IOM).
The USAID grants aim to support local communities in their recovery from the impacts of Typhoon Surigae in 2021, and to enhance the capac-ity of Palau communities to better prepare for, and respond to hazard events and natural disasters. Through the USAID support, IOM and Pa-lau PAN Fund, respectively, to conduct intervention-specific training with communities, and to expand efforts to plan and implement disaster mitigation strategies.
"These new grants build on over $259,000 in humanitarian assistance provided by the U.S. Government to Palau since Surigae made landfall," Acting Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, Mr. Craig Hart said. "Across the Pacific, USAID remains committed to locally-designed and locally-led solutions that families and communities can feel and see in their own lives. I hope you share my belief that these new grants are a testament to this commitment and I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish together as we build a more resilient Indo-Pacific region."
Both grants will promote active participation of women and underrepre-sented populations.
“USAID has a long-standing commitment to gender equity and social inclusion. We look forward to seeing increased opportunities to empow-er and support women, girls, and underserved and marginalized popula-tions through these grants,” added Mr. Hart.
Launched in 2020, the Pacific American Fund awards grants on an open and competitive basis to qualifying local, national, and internationally operating civil society organizations, including private small-and-medium enterprises, non-governmental organizations and institutions, universities, and faith-based organizations. The grants to the Palau PAN Fund and IOM are the first two grants to be awarded to organizations operating in Palau.
USAID