Secretary of State Blinken and USAID Administrator Power Spotlight Democratic Progress in Maldives and Announce New Commitments from the United States

New commitments announced at UN General Assembly will support improvements to public services as part of USAID’s Democracy Delivers Initiative

Today, at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) “Democracy Delivers” event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power, in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, convened philanthropic and private sector partners to invest in Maldives and other countries.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel joined the event alongside leadership from USAID’s first cohort of Democracy Delivers countries – Armenia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Malawi, Moldova, Nepal, Tanzania, and Zambia – to discuss ways to channel new and diverse resources that will support governments and citizens in their countries who are building democracies that deliver for all. USAID’s Democracy Delivers Initiative, launched in 2022 by Secretary Blinken and Administrator Power, aims to surge support, resources, and attention to nascent democracies around the world.

At the event, USAID announced new funding commitments to support Maldives’ economic development, improve debt transparency, and increase resilience of vulnerable communities.

• Approximately $3 million in Local Works funding to empower local leaders and communities to address key challenges in Maldives. USAID will support democratic and economic empowerment working with local island organizations to increase the resilience of vulnerable populations and at-risk groups, and work with communities – especially youth – to build social cohesion, economic empowerment, and local ownership of solutions.
• An additional $300,000 in funding for Public Financial Management (PFM) in Maldives to support improved debt transparency and sustainability through assistance to the Finance Ministry’s Debt Management Department for debt monitoring and analysis; to produce timely, accessible, and auditable statistics and published reports; to pay for development of Maldives’ Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) framework; and to provide analysis related to borrowing covenants and risk management.

“Democracy truly delivering its full promise for the people of a nation means that economic empowerment comes in concert with democratic development,” said Gabriel Grau, Mission Director for USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives. “USAID is working for both with its new investments in Maldives targeting local island solutions and public financial management.”

The additional resources will be invested strategically to align with Maldives ongoing effort to expand inclusive representation and participation and improve debt sustainability. USAID is committed to partnering with Maldives to implement economic and democratic reforms and build a robust civil society that creates an environmentally sustainable and inclusive economy.

As part of the U.S. government’s commitment to protecting and strengthening democracy around the world,  USAID pledged $35 million in new funding toward the Democracy Delivers cohort to support job growth, green energy expansion, supply chain integration, economic stabilization, public financial management, local leader empowerment, and more.

USAID and its partners are dedicated to ensuring that democracy delivers for all. Robust evidence links democracy to improved development outcomes. Democracies deliver public goods at higher rates than non-democracies, and they do so more equitably. USAID is calling on all organizations, businesses, and individuals committed to expanding rights and opportunity to join the Democracy Delivers Initiative in thought and action partnerships dedicated to advancing democratic reforms to deliver better lives and livelihoods.