Speeches Shim
Speeches
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USAID has helped HPCs regulate health professions in Cambodia over the past seven years. The USAID ASSIST Project, for example, was established in partnership with the five HPCs and the Ministry of Health to strengthen health profession regulation in Cambodia between 2014 and 2018. That project also supported the development of the HPC National Strategic Plan 2015–2020.
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Congratulations to the National AIDS Authority and all partners for their hard work developing this strategic, multi-sectoral roadmap to eliminating HIV as a public health threat.
The plan highlights the efforts needed from key ministries over the next four years to create social and legal protections for people living with HIV and other key populations, along with steps to ensure the sustainability of the HIV response. Implementation of the fifth National Strategic Plan will require close inter-ministerial collaboration, and today’s meeting is a critical step to advance that agenda.
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Women entrepreneurs play a vital role in enriching the civic and political life of democratic societies not only through individual business ownership but through collective action. The U.S. government believes that networks of women entrepreneurs are the cornerstone of civic development. Cambodian women entrepreneurs can wield their economic influence to advocate for reforms that benefit the broader Cambodian private sector.
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This year we mark the 70th anniversary US-Cambodia diplomatic relations and an appreciation for the importance of the environment is yet another tie that binds Cambodians and Americans. USAID has supported environmental conservation programs for more than a decade in Cambodia. Our program currently targets the two major biodiversity-significant landscapes of Prey Lang and the Eastern Plains. Our efforts have contributed to the protection of key critical endangered species in those landscapes. We work closely with communities, government ministries, local authorities, and NGOs to help protect Cambodia’s national heritage. But we need the general public’s help. The youth, the private sector, and commitments from all stakeholders are critical if we are to successfully protect Cambodia’s remaining forest, wildlife, and biodiversity.
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USAID is proud to support these civic tech tools developed as part of the One Window for Citizens project or OW4C. This project is a three-year effort that uses technology to provide Cambodian citizens clear, transparent information on public services available to them through the government’s One Window Service Offices. We understand that technology alone is insufficient to achieve impact. We know that we need to work directly with communities to provide information on public services as well as social accountability measures such as the community scorecard. In its first year, the project works in Battambang but will expand to Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap in its second and third years.
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Yesterday we marked World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. It is an annual event designated to shine a light on victims of human trafficking and promote their rights. This is a global goal to which the U.S. government is deeply committed. While we work on this issue around the world, Cambodia is one of the few countries where USAID has a robust, standalone anti-human trafficking project.
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USAID has supported labor rights in Cambodia for more than two decades. We are proud of that support. Our Labor Rights in Cambodia Project is the newest phase in our support for workers. It is a five-year project with an ambitious set of objectives, including assisting independent trade unions in their efforts to represent and provide benefits to their member workers in the garment, construction, food and services, hotel and hospitality industries, as well as workers in the informal economy, from tuk tuk drivers to entertainment workers.
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On behalf of USAID, the EU, UNICEF, and Save the Children Hong Kong I would like to recognize the importance of these guidelines in strengthening Cambodia’s child protection system to better support vulnerable children and families.
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USAID Cambodia supports health, education, and child protection programs to enable Cambodian children to access quality education, to grow up in safe, nurturing family environments free from violence, and to be healthy. Our work is guided by the U.S. government strategy of Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity, which emphasizes the importance of strengthening the capacities of children, adolescents, and the families that care for them. This is one of the best investments a country can make to eliminate extreme poverty, boost economic growth, and promote a peaceful society.
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Cambodia faces great challenges in preserving its rich fish populations. Water availability and timing are becoming increasingly uncertain here and throughout the Mekong Basin as hydroelectric development expands. Flooded forests are being removed. More people are fishing, both legally and illegally. And a changing climate adds uncertainty to all of these factors.
But I have also learned that Cambodians – both in government and in communities across the nation – are responding to these threats through community-based fishery management, improved law enforcement, and efforts to blend rice culture with aquaculture.
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