The Government of Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched the Project for the Improvement of Infectious Waste Management which will support the national health agencies and other key stakeholders in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Maldives. The project was launched to address the unprecedented rise in infectious health care waste caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ambassador Takeshi Osuga, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations (UN), and Kanni Wignaraja, the Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific at the UNDP signed the Exchange of Notes in New York City, United States (US). The total value of the grant aid for two years is USD11 million.
The project will support key stakeholders in the three countries to deploy locally appropriate health care waste management practices and technologies to help protect human health and minimise the environmental and social impacts of the pandemic. As such, six atolls in the Maldives will benefit from the support.