Friday, September 21, 2012

US Provides US$34 Million To Cambodia For Health, Education Development

PHNOM PENH, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- The United States will provide Cambodia with a US$34 million fund for health and education development in that country under two agreements signed here.

The two agreements were signed by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, and Flynn Fuller, Mission Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), witnessed by the US Charge d'Affaires Jeff Daigle, China's Xinhua news agency reported, citing the US embassy press release.

Under the deals, the USAID provides US$33 million fund this year to support and strengthen Cambodia's national health objectives and another US$1 million to support Cambodia's education objectives.

The funds for health will support a variety of ongoing activities to improve maternal, reproductive, and children's health; to reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS; to prevent and control major infectious diseases such as tuberculosis; and to strengthen Cambodian public health systems and support the government's national health priorities.

On the other hand the US$1 million education fund will support ongoing education activities aimed at improving the quality and relevance of basic education and increasing access to schooling for all children, including minorities, people with disabilities, and the very poor.

Activities will also focus on reducing school dropout and repetition rates through improvements in teaching quality, school management training, and measuring student academic achievement.

Daigle said at the signing ceremony that the US assistance in health and education to Cambodia now totalled more than US$297 million since 2002.

In a separate press release on Thursday, the US embassy announced that it will also sign an agreement to provide US$18.5 million to Cambodia to support the country's agriculture, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation programmes.

The agreement will be signed in Phnom Penh Friday.

-- BERNAMA

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