Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) – The government of Canada is donating ₱44.5 million to boost the supply of N95 masks and sustain reproductive health services in the Philippines in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it announced Wednesday.
In a statement, the Canadian government said it will provide 1.1 million Canadian dollars’ worth of assistance to Manila. This will be split into 120,000 pieces of N95 masks used by medical frontliners worth about ₱29.5 million, and about ₱15.2 million funding for the “unhampered provision of sexual and reproductive health services” amid the coronavirus crisis.
In total, Canada has extended a CAD$4.5 million (about ₱167 million) in-kind contribution to six states within Southeast Asia.
“This investment complements ongoing response activities, including the establishment of an emergency hotline for health services and gender-based violence, procurement of PPEs for barangay health workers, and distribution of family planning information materials,” the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines said in a Facebook post.
Canada’s government has been supporting the Sexual Health and Empowerment Philippines project of the nonprofit group Oxfam, which earlier received CAD$17.8 million (about ₱663.2 million) in funding to support about 85,000 women and adolescents in “disadvantaged” regions. The program also tackles gender-based violence in the country, mainly directed towards women and young girls.
Canada said the Philippines is also expected to receive COVID-19 testing equipment, kits, and laboratory tools from a global project with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Philippines has been relying on local and foreign donations, as well as big-ticket loans to boost funding for its COVID-19 response.
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TIMELINE: The COVID-19 response money trail
