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Lift and Department of Social Welfare Announce $9 Million in COVID-19 Cash Support

Myanmar Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Department of Social Welfare (DSW), and Livelihoods and Food Security Fund LIFT have announced funding of $9 million (approx. MMK 12.6 billion) in social protection payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The support will be delivered to mothers of children under the age of two, pregnant women, and older people over the age of 85 who are beneficiaries of DSW’s two social protection programs; the Maternal and Child Cash Transfer Program and the Social Pension Program. Each beneficiary will receive a one-off MMK 30,000 cash payment and the disbursements will start later this week. The funding is provided by LIFT’s donors United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, the United States of America, Canada and Ireland.

In line with the Government of Myanmar’s COVID-19 Coordinated Economic Relief Plan and in support of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement’s commitment to social protection, this cash support will help ease the direct impact on 400,000 people and indirect impact on nearly 2 million people across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.