USAID earmarks $82.4M in grants to PH

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will extend to the Philippines at least $82.4 million in grants during the next five years to support projects for climate resilience, clean and efficient energy, faster internet, as well as women empowerment.

At the conclusion of the two-day Indo-Pacific Business Forum, which was hosted virtually in India on Thursday and Friday, the US aid arm announced financing totaling $236 million “to expand economic growth in Asia, in support of the United States’ vision of a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.”

Four projects were in USAID’s pipeline for the Philippines, including the $33.4-million better access and connectivity; $15-million climate resilient cities; and $34-million energy secure Philippines flagship projects.

Regional project

The Philippines was also included in the three-year, $9-million regional project called enhancing equality in the energy sector for Southeast Asia (E4SEA).

Besides the Philippines, E4SEA will cover Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to “increase job opportunities for women interested in pursuing careers in energy through efforts to advance gender equality, increase job opportunities for women wanting to pursue energy industry careers, and help develop solutions to address gender-based constraints to talent recruitment.”

E4SEA was also aimed at collaborating with employers in the six Asean countries to design locally led interventions to hire, promote and retain women; developing vocational education and training programs; as well as increasing mentoring and leadership opportunities, USAID said.

Climate resiliency

As for the three projects intended for the Philippines alone, USAID said the five-year Beacon “will promote an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable internet” mainly by “improving the country’s ICT (information and communications technology) infrastructure, promoting cybersecurity awareness, and bolstering ICT protections.”

The five-year climate resilient cities project, meanwhile, will “help cities in the Philippines adapt to, mitigate and endure the impacts of climate change by increasing their access to climate financing and tools to build resilience,” USAID said. Besides local governments, nongovernmental organizations also stand to benefit from this capacity-building project, it added.

USAID said the five-year ESP project “will promote the country’s key energy sector priorities and support its climate mitigation goals.”

“Through the ESP project, USAID will work with Philippine government and private sector partners to improve the performance and efficiency of energy utilities, deploy renewable energy systems, advance energy efficiency, enhance competition in the power sector, and strengthen energy sector cybersecurity,” it said.