Micronesia, Federated States of : Health Expenditure and Livelihoods Support Program

Health / Disease control of communicable disease - Health system development

Public sector management / Economic affairs management - Public expenditure and fiscal management - Social protection initiatives

The FSM is a remote Pacific small island developing state encompassing 607 islands that are spread over the world's 14th largest geographic exclusive economic zone. It is a lower middle income island nation with a small population of 104,468 in 2018, of which approximately 45% live in Chuuk, 37% in Pohnpei, 11% in Yap, and 7% in Kosrae. The country is vulnerable to climate change, facing frequent natural hazards and rising sea levels. The public sector dominates the economy, with private economic activities focused mainly on subsistence farming and fishing, wholesale and retail trade, transportation, and tourism services. Less than 15% of the population was under formal employment in 2010, with significantly more people under the age of 15 (36%), outside of the labor force (27%) or in the subsistence sector (16%). In FY2018, the government and public enterprises account for 32% of gross domestic product (GDP), followed by households (26%), and private enterprises (19%), and financial institutions (16%). The FSM has one of the highest estimated rates of poverty in the Pacific with 41% of the population living below the poverty line and 10% below the food poverty line. The FSM was ranked 135th out of 189 countries by the United Nations Development Programme's human development index for 2019.

Despite the geographic isolation of the Pacific, the risk of COVID-19 transmission on vulnerable population remains high, with confirmed cases in Fiji and Papua New Guinea. As a small-island developing state, the FSM faces a set of distinct challenges to counter the pandemic and mitigate impacts such as having weak health infrastructure, a narrow economic base, geographically dispersed population, and a fragile environment that is already vulnerable to climate change. While the spread of COVID-19 has not reached the FSM with no confirmed cases to date, the projected health, economic, and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are already significant.

Effective health preparedness and mitigation to COVID-19 ensured

Economic activities in FSM restored, with adverse impacts of COVID-19 to vulnerable segments mitigated

Adverse effects of COVID-19 on citizens and businesses reduced

Measures to combat the entry and spread of COVID-19 in the FSM delivered

Measures to provide economic stimulus relief to businesses implemented

Measures to provide social protection to poor and vulnerable groups enhanced