The rapid spread and escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted the local economy, livelihoods, and resulted in a deep impact of incomes of the formal and informal sector. As part of the economic relief response, the government of Maldives rolled out various support packages to retain employees and mitigate the income loss faced by workers in the market
One of the key initiatives under this response was the COVID-19 Emergency Income Support Program implemented with assistance from the World Bank. This project will assist the GoM to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and build better social protection systems to improve responsiveness and resilience in the future. Under the first component of the project, (a) financing the COVID-19 Support Allowance, has been implemented by the MoED in partnership with NSPA. During the program, which was carried out in 2020, over 20,000 affected individuals has been supported through an allowance. Although it is a temporary program, the data collected on beneficiaries will provide a basis for further government support, activation and reinsertion activities over time, with the objective of ensuring both the immediate welfare of beneficiaries and the rapid recovery of the economy and employment. As part of the second component, (b) the World Bank is providing technical assistance (TA) to the government over a period of two years, to strengthen its social protection systems and programs with the objective of making the safety net more adaptive to future economic crises and disasters
With improved economic sentiment within the economy and the extensive coverage of vaccine administration, the GoM aims to gear the project activities to incorporate essential upskilling, training and outreach programs, and to create a pathway for affected workforce to reintegrate back into the market
As part of these activities, the GoM aims to create a support program for the self-employed individuals who are impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of the program is to support and sustain MSMEs through financial assistance, intending for a sustainable labor market to preserve the employments, that has been affected onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key activities within this project will include
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