Press Releases
United States Provides $34.8 million for Health and Education in Cambodia
September 4, 2009
The United States and Cambodia will sign amendments to two bilateral agreements on September 8 that will provide $34.8 million in 2009 funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support Cambodian priorities in health and education. U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Carol A. Rodley will attend the ceremony and sign as a witness. H.E. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Flynn Fuller, USAID Mission Director, will sign on behalf of their respective governments. The new funding brings to over $250 million that the United States has provided in support of health and education in Cambodia since 1999.
The amendment to the first agreement consists of $31.6 million in grant funds to achieve health objectives. Funds will be used to promote a variety of activities to reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS; to prevent and control major infectious diseases such as tuberculosis; to fight avian influenza and other influenza-like illnesses; to improve maternal, reproductive, and children’s health; and to strengthen Cambodian public-health systems.
The amendment to the second agreement will provide $3.2 million in grant funds to support the Cambodian government’s education objectives. These funds will support the launch of a new program that will build on USAID’s ongoing education program, which is 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.
In addition to health and education activities, USAID supports a broad range of programs designed to benefit all Cambodians in areas such as human rights, rule of law, local governance and decentralization, anti-corruption, natural-resource management, economic growth, and combating trafficking in persons. USAID expects to commit $61.8 million in assistance to Cambodia in 2009.
The signing ceremony will take place on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, at 9:00am at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Members of the press are invited to attend the ceremony.
