Moroni,
October 8, 2021
(As Prepared)
Thank you for coming here today. My name is Amy Hyatt and it is my honor to be the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Madagascar and the Comoros.
As you may know, this is my first trip to Comoros. Throughout the last five days, I have had the honor of reaffirming the long relationship between the American and the Comorian people. I have met with senior government officials, civil society leaders, and youth across Comoros to discuss the important ways we are working together to address challenges in education, climate change, trafficking-in-persons, human rights, maritime security, and many other areas.
These engagements have been an opportunity to underscore the United States’ commitment to the Comoros and the Biden Administration’s focus on multilateral solutions to global problems.
We just met with Ministry of Health officials and World Health Organization representatives, for example, to discuss our shared fight against COVID-19. The United States is dedicated to working with the Comoros to end the global COVID-19 pandemic, mitigate its devastating social and economic impacts, and build back a world that is even better prepared for future outbreaks.
Today, I am happy to announce that the American people, through our development agency USAID, are providing $200,000 in COVID-19 assistance for Comoros, in partnership with the World Health Organization. This assistance will support the Comorian government’s pandemic response in areas like training for health care workers, acquiring personal protective equipment, and setting up an oxygen station.
This support follows on the recent distribution of $52,000 in personal protective equipment to health care clinics on all three islands. That project was funded by the United States Africa Command and distributed with the help of UNICEF and USAID. We are grateful for the collaboration of the Ministry of Health on both of these projects.
We will continue to do all we can to build a world that is safer and more secure against the threat of infectious disease.
This announcement of $200,000 in new COVID assistance, together with our ongoing collaboration with the Government of Comoros on a wide range of issues, represent the U.S. government’s continued commitment to strengthening our two countries’ bilateral cooperation and relations and advancing our shared goal of a more prosperous future for all Comorians.
Thank you.