The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched its new projects for the South Pacific region in Suva on Tuesday, aiming to build community resilience, improve sustainability of clean energy and promote forest management.

Organizations that deal with climate change issues will be allocated funding from USAID to help them promote objectives in the communities.

According to state-run Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, USAID will provide 23.6 million U.S. dollars for coastal community adaptation, 7.5 million dollars for mangrove rehabilitation, 1.5 million dollars for vocational training and education for clean energy and 690,000 dollars will be given to U.S. Peace Corps partnership.

Peace Corp Country Director Eddie Stice said their projects in the area of climate change and environmental awareness would be boosted by the assistance.

"These small amounts of funding are being available for possibly a water project for those areas that are known to experience droughts or possibly areas where drainage results in disease outbreaks," said Stice.

The USAID assistance came at the right time as around 50 villages in Fiji were experiencing the impact of flooding during high tide as one of the effects of climate change, analysts said. Endi

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