The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has committed an additional $250,000 (700 million MNT) to support the Government of Mongolia’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional funding will enable USAID’s implementing partner, the World Health Organization (WHO), to work with the Mongolian Ministry of Health (MOH) to improve their preparedness and response coordination, multisource surveillance system, and national emergency logistics management vaccine distribution.

“As President Biden has made clear, the United States will work as a partner to address global challenges. This pandemic is one of those challenges. It gives us an opportunity, not only to get through the current crisis, but also to become more prepared and resilient for the future,” said U.S. Ambassador Michael S. Klecheski.

With this additional assistance, the United States has provided over $4 million (11 billion MNT) to help Mongolia respond to COVID-19. USAID is focused on building Mongolia’s ability to fight the disease through infection prevention and control; strengthening laboratory systems for large-scale testing; and enhancing risk communications and advocacy to promote healthy behaviors among the public to prevent the spread of the virus.

The United States is the world’s largest provider of assistance in public health. Over the past two decades, the United States has provided more than $140 billion in global health assistance. This includes being the single largest donor to COVAX, the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access initiative—with an initial pledge of $2 billion through USAID and $4 billion total planned—to support the purchase and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines for Mongolia and 91 other countries.