Samantha Power’s visit brings $ 60 million in aid to SL

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power speaks during a press conference in Colombo yesterday – AFP

• Says political reforms and economic reforms must go hand-in-hand
• Assures US will continue to stand with SL
• Highlights Govt. transparency imperative to gain public support for reforms

By Maneshka Borham

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power announced an additional $ 20 million in assistance bringing the total aid promised to Sri Lanka during Power’s two-day visit to $ 60 million.  Power said the additional $ 20 million would go to addressing hunger and malnutrition in the country while the $ 40 million assured previously would support Sri Lanka’s farmers.

On disbursement of the aid, the administrator said USAID will work with several partners including the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to ensure the aid receives the intended beneficiary groups. “The FAO has tried and true systems for identifying beneficiaries and safeguards to make sure that the intended beneficiaries are the actual recipients,” she said, adding that they will implement necessary oversight measures.



“We are aware that sometimes assistance has been politicised in this country. This is not the only country in which this happens but we are very alert to that risk and thus it is very important for us to work with trusted partners who will identify beneficiaries and will follow up and monitor to make sure that those individuals who have been identified as the most in need are in fact the recipients of that assistance,” she added.

Power made these comments at a press conference held yesterday at the US Embassy premises on the last day of her visit to Sri Lanka. Earlier in the day Power had held meetings with the President, leaders of the Opposition, civil society organisations and various stakeholders including those from vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka including women and farmers.

The administrator expressed her dismay at seeing Sri Lanka amidst economic turmoil. “I want to reiterate that the US is right here standing with you in your hour of need,” she said. “The US has long stood with the people of Sri Lanka, Asia's oldest democracy and this latest assistance demonstrates that we will continue to do so,” she added.

However, Power stressed assistance alone would not put an end to Sri Lanka's woes. The Administrator said it was stressed during her meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier in the day that political reforms and political accountability must go hand-in-hand with economic reforms and economic accountability.

She revealed during their meeting Wickremesinghe also reaffirmed many of the political commitments he has made including repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and assuring that civil society would have the space to operate in Sri Lanka. Power noted transparency of the Government’s process, prioritisation and the timeline of implementation is imperative to gain public support.

Power noted that international investor confidence will only increase if the Government tackles corruption and proceeds with long-sought governance reforms while citizens will support tough economic reforms only if they see the Government visibly following through on the commitment to bring about meaningful change.

Noting that Sri Lanka’s economic crisis had many sources, Power said as Sri Lanka seeks to emerge from this economic crisis the US as a creditor and as a member of the Paris Club stands ready to participate in the restructuring of Sri Lanka's debt.

“It is imperative that all of Sri Lanka's creditors, most notably the People's Republic of China cooperate in this process openly and on comparable terms with each other,” she added.

The USAID administrator also expressed a hope that soon the US-Sri Lankan relationship would become strictly a trade relationship and not an aid relationship as now.