At the second U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting today in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will work with Congress to provide more than $23 million in additional support to Papua New Guinea to support peace and security programs, bolster sustainable and equitable economic growth, and support resilient communities in the areas of health and climate adaptation. 

This funding underscores the critical partnership between the United States and the Pacific Islands and follows up on U.S. commitments made at the first-ever U.S.–Pacific Island Summit in Washington, D.C. in September 2022. In Papua New Guinea, this funding will:

• Support Papua New Guinea’s peace and security programs by strengthening community capacity to prevent, mitigate, and respond to violence, including gender-based violence, and improve justice systems.
• Help Papua New Guinea strengthen the critical resources and systems needed to make communities more climate resilient, particularly in natural resource management, energy, and water systems.
• Advance efforts to address HIV/AIDS concerns in Papua New Guinea via PEPFAR, particularly to support local clinics and communities to improve HIV case identification and increase access to treatment. 

This funding underscores USAID’s commitment to support the people of Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. Our partnership aims to bolster the Pacific Islanders’ own economic and social development priorities, including in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, respecting the Pacific way. We look forward to expanding our presence and programming to benefit Pacific Islanders by re-establishing a USAID Pacific Islands mission in Fiji and elevating our presence in Papua New Guinea later this year.

Original source can be found here.