India examining Guyana’s COVID-19 assistance request – High Commission

…approves US$1M to Antigua and Barbuda

The Government of India is currently examining a request made by the Guyana Government to divert US$1 million of development funding towards its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is according to Commerce and Development Cooperation Counsellor at the Indian High Commission in Georgetown, Vijayakumar Kizhapate.
Head of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), Moses Nagamootoo had disclosed on April 11 that Guyana is “pursuing assistance from India by way of the Indian grant to Caribbean countries of US$14 million. We are making approaches for them to – it’s a low hanging fruit as it were – to utilise Guyana’s allocation for supplies relevant to COVID-19.”
During the first India-Caricom (Caribbean Community) Summit in New York in September 2019, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had announced three offers of assistance to the Caribbean including a US$14 million grant (US$ 1 million per Caricom member state) for quick impact community development projects in Caricom countries.
However, when asked for an update on Guyana’s request to redirect its share of the grant, that is, US$1 million, towards its fight against the novel coronavirus, Kizhapate told Guyana Times on Tuesday that, “…we are working on Guyana’s request.”
While Guyana is awaiting permission, the Indian Government has given approval to its sister Caricom country of Antigua and Barbuda.
A statement from the Indian High Commission in Georgetown, which also has responsibility for the island-state, disclosed that in the context of the current situation of COVID-19, India has approved US$1 million for community development projects in Antigua and Barbuda, with immediate assistance of US$150,000 for medical supplies and equipment.
This assistance, the Mission noted, is extended considering the urgent nature of the request involving procurement of life-saving equipment. It said the United Nations Development Programme Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (UNDP OECS) and Barbados have indicated that procurement of medical supplies and equipment has already been completed, and they are now waiting to receive the shipment in two weeks.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda had submitted a proposal in early April for assistance and collaboration under a project entitled “Strengthening national health capacities and reducing socioeconomic and human development negative impacts of COVID-19 crisis in Antigua and Barbuda”. The project was received under India-UN Development Partnership Fund which is managed by the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
The project aimed to address the negative effects of COVID-19 on the population of Antigua and Barbuda by strengthening national health capacities and reducing socioeconomic and human development negative impacts of the crisis, with the following specific objectives to address: the immediate challenges in providing healthcare services to respond to COVID-19, including support for purchasing equipment for a specially designed infectious disease and isolation centre; and support to assess the socio-economic and human development impacts of the crisis, provision of policy recommendations and support the implementation of agreed recommendations.
It is also aimed at supporting food security through economic transformation and economic recovery interventions in main industries: (tourism, the gig economy, fishing and small businesswomen and men). These will be targeted with short-term measures designed to mitigate the immediate impact of the crisis and strengthen the capacity for medium and long-term recovery.
According to the Indian High Commission, this project was processed under the guidelines of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the UNDP as the implementing agency and will be partnering with the national institutions of Antigua and Barbuda. The modalities for implementing the project will follow the guidelines of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund.
This proposal was jointly coordinated by the Indian High Commission in Georgetown and Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York along with the Foreign Ministry of Antigua and Barbuda and its Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Prime Minister Modi has been interacting with a number of world leaders in connection with India’s initiatives and efforts to fight the global pandemic of COVID-19 together. He has offered assistance to friendly partner countries the world over to share the best practices of India in controlling and containing COVID-19, as well as to share the strategy, methods adopted and efforts taken by India in this regard.
India has since assisted 55 countries with medical supplies and equipment. Essential medicines like Paracetamol, Hydroxychloroquine, etc to fight the pandemic are being supplied on a priority basis when the world is facing an acute shortage of these medicines. India also plans to assist 108 countries in the near future in their fight against the coronavirus.