$23 mn grant for self-reliance of Tibetans in exile

Dharamsala, Oct 3 (IANS) The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a grant of $23 million over five years to strengthen self-reliance and resilience of Tibetan communities in South Asia, Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay said on Monday.

The grant will be effective from October 1 this year to September of 2021.

Sangay said the overall goal of the programme is to strengthen the self-reliance and resilience of Tibetans and their communities in South Asia while sustaining their unique identity and culture.

The key programme areas consist of leadership development, including institutional capacity building; establishing of a banking-like institution; and an integrated settlement development through community participatory process.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan administration-in-exile is based here.