ADB Announces Almost $3.2 Million in Grants to Help Fiji, Nauru, Niue Combat COVID-19

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced almost $3.2 million in grants to help three developing member countries in the Pacific finance their responses to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The total financing of $3.18 million comes from ADB’s Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) and includes $2 million for Fiji, $680,000 for Nauru, and $500,000 for Niue.

“Preparation is everything, even in COVID-19-free countries, and, at the same time, we must strongly support countries with active cases as they battle to contain its spread,” said ADB Director General for the Pacific Leah Gutierrez. “We will work closely with the health departments in Fiji, Nauru, and Niue to expedite the release of these grants so they can supplement their immediate responses to COVID-19 as soon as possible.”

The grants are financed from a contribution by the Government of Japan to the APDRF. In July, the fund provided $13.3 million to help the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu address the pandemic. In April, the fund provided $2 million to support the COVID-19 response of FSM, RMI, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

To date, the total sum of approved COVID-19 assistance to ADB’s Pacific developing member countries in 2020, including co-financing resources and technical assistance, is about $260 million.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.