Interior Releases $3.4 Million in Compact Funding Payments to the Republic of the Marshall Islands for May 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 1, 2015) – The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs this week released to the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ (RMI) Ministry of Finance U.S. Compact grant payments totaling $3,412,800. These payments included Compact Sector Grants for the month of May, the FY 2014 Supplemental Education Grants, and grants under the Enewetak Food & Agriculture Program. The breakdown of these payments is as follows:

• RMI Education Sector Grant $ 861,000
• RMI Health Sector Grant $ 611,000
• Kwajalein Environmental Impact Grant $ 20,000
• Ebeye Special Needs Education Grant $ 210,000
• Ebeye Special Needs Health Grant $ 164,000
• FY 2014 Supplemental Education Grant $1,446,800
• Enewetak Food & Agriculture Program $ 100,000
• Total: $3,412,800

Compact grants provided by the United States to the Republic of the Marshall Islands are predetermined through the bilateral Joint Economic Management Finance and Accountability Committee (JEMFAC) meetings between the United States Government and the Marshall Islands government as established under the Compact of Free Association.

The Compact provides approximately 60% of the RMI’s annual budget for health, education, and infrastructure development and maintenance. The close relationship between the U.S. Government and the Republic of the Marshall Islands is enshrined in the Compact of Free Association, under which the United States also provides guaranteed financial assistance over a 20-year period in exchange for full international defense authority and responsibilities.

The Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas carries out the administrative responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior in coordinating federal policy for the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and administering and overseeing U.S. federal assistance to the Freely Associated States of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau under the Compacts of Free Association. The Assistant Secretary executes these responsibilities through the Office of Insular Affairs. ###