Japan Gives U.S.D. $10M to UNICEF Regional COVID-19 Efforts

The Government of Japan has contributed ten million U.S. dollars to strengthen cold chain systems and COVID vaccine management in Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras. This additional funding complements a 2021 donation of eleven millions U.S. dollars to six other countries in the region.  According to UNICEF’s regional director Jean Gough, as the impact of COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on families and children in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNICEF is scaling up its support to governments to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are effectively delivered to the most vulnerable populations. Japan’s Ambassador in Belize, Iryu Kazuhiro says Japan will continue to make its contributions in order to supply vaccines and strengthen the delivery and vaccination capacities through the Last One Mile Support and via the COVAX Facility. Additionally, community health workers, epidemiologists, nurses, and laboratory staff will receive continued training for quality improvement, operation, and maintenance.