(TibetanReview.net, Oct04, 2016) – The international development agency of the United States government has sanctioned a five-year grant of USD 23 Million for strengthening self-reliance and resilience of Tibetan communities in South Asia beginning Oct 1, 2016, said the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at Dharamshala, India, at a press conference Oct 3.
The agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has earmarked the amount for strengthening the self-reliance and resilience of Tibetans and Tibetan communities in South Asia by equipping them to thrive economically, become effective leaders, and to maintain the vitality of Tibetan communities and institutions while sustaining their unique identity and culture.
The CTA will partner with New York City-based Tibet Fund and other organisations to make maximum efforts to achieve the core goals of the program. These include Leadership Development, including institutional capacity building; establishing a banking-like institution, and an integrated Settlement Development through community participatory process.
The CTA Said in a press release Oct 3 that the programs will maximize local participation and ownership of the development process while a crosscutting gender component will incorporate women’s perspective and participation in the design and implementation of all sustainable livelihood strategies.
Earlier, in 2014, USAID awarded USD 3.2 million for the Tibetan Health System Strengthening Project of the CTA’s Health Department. The goal of that project was stated to be to achieve universal health coverage for Tibetan communities in South Asia that would help contribute to USAID’s Global Health Mega Goals of ending preventable child and maternal deaths by 2035 and creating TB free communities by 2030.
Before that, USAID India had supported CTA’s Health Department with an award of $896,283.16 for its Tibetan Torture Survivors Program from Oct 1, 2002 to Sep 30, 2013.
USAID has also provided funds for a number of education projects of the CTA.