The European Union mobilizes more than €36 million in form of grants to support Kyrgyzstan in the response to COVID-19. Delegation of the EU to the Kyrgyz Republic reports.
It is noted that COVID-19 will have a significant health and socio-economic impact on Kyrgyzstan. There is an urgent need to strengthen the preparedness and the response of the health sector and to support the population made vulnerable by the crisis. The EU response is a comprehensive response directed towards supporting macro-financial stability, social protection and food security, health, crisis management, and support to the private sector.
For Kyrgyzstan, the EU support package includes € 30.8 million that will be disbursed directly to the Treasury to contribute to the budgetary needs created by the crisis. This includes funding specifically to protect the most vulnerable as well as to ensure social protection and food security, among other basic services.
For health and crisis management, the EU has reoriented funds from existing programmes to assist, for example, the provision of 4,750 pieces of protective personal equipment for penitentiaries and the state customs service. Several actions also support mental health of vulnerable groups and awareness-raising campaigns on COVID-19. So far, over 20,000 people have already received training through webinars on how to use, assess and disseminate online information, and on how to combat fake news related to the pandemic.
The EU became the second development partner, which allocated Kyrgyzstan financial assistance to cover the budget deficit. The first was the International Monetary Fund, which has provided $ 120.9 million.
