My respects to His excellency Rui Araujo, Aurelio Ximenes, Ambassador Abel Guterres, Brigadier Aluk, and CAPT Pedro.
This afternoon, the Embassy of the United States of America is donating a large supply of disinfectants and cleaning supplies to the Integrated Crisis Management Office to be distributed to various schools, health clinics, and offices.
As the United States fights a difficult battle against COVID-19 at home, we continue to support Timor-Leste and our partners around the world to prevent the spread of this pandemic.
As of today, the United States has have provided over $1.6 million to Timor-Leste in this effort. This includes the $1.1. million we provided in March.
Last week, I was very proud to launch a new collaborative project with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF with a $500,000 contribution from USAID. This project will provide water and sanitation facilities for a number of health clinics in Timor-Leste.
Last week, at the Ministry of Education, I had the opportunity to donate 15,000 reusable masks the Embassy procured from hard-working Timorese women. The project supports your efforts to safely re-open schools.
Today, the contribution of $15,000 worth of these supplies I hope will further help the Government of Timor-Leste clean schools and health clinics for its citizens to return to.
These materials are capable of making up to 750,000 liters of cleaning solution and will benefit thousands of school children and promote a safe and healthy learning environment. They will also assist the Ministry of Health to mitigate the spread of a “second wave” of COVID-19 and the spread of other communicable diseases.
We are including information cards – written in Tetum – so that cleaning staff can safely utilize these items. We applaud the work of all frontline workers who play an essential role in keeping us all safe.
The United States Military’s Indo-Pacific Command provided the funding for this project and provided over $125,000 in COVID assistance. My thanks to our US Embassy Defense coordinator US Army Major Pablo Valerin for his efforts in making this happen.
We salute the Timorese people for their courage in facing COVID-19. Even as some aspects of the State of Emergency have eased, the United States remains committed to working with the Government of Timor-Leste to prevent the spread of this and other communicable diseases.
Thank you!
