The Japanese government has given a grant to procure a hearing and a vision screener for Autism Association of Maldives.

This grant was given under the Grassroots Human Security Projects Scheme. Japanese government gave USD 41,133 to the Autism Association. In an event held today the grant contract was signed between the Embassy of Japan in Maldives and the Autism Association of Maldives.

Japanese Ambassador to Maldives HE Keiko Yanai signed the agreement on behalf of Japan while Dr.Ismail Shafeeu signed on behalf of the Autism Association.

The equipment funded through this project will enable to identify visual and hearing impairments at an early stage and enables to intervene earlier. The visual screening can be conducted from 6 months onwards and hearing screening can be conducted for newborn babies.

The GGP scheme is part of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) implemented by the Embassy of Japan in Maldives in order to empower the people at the grassroots level. The GGP in Maldives has been widely implemented in areas such as education, environment, health, transportation and energy since 1996. To date, 16 projects have been implemented under this scheme, which exceeds USD 1.6 million in total value, and most recently a grant contract was signed on October 24, 2019 for provision of a minibus to Fiyavathi in Hulhumale.