Speeches
Ambassador Rodley’s Remarks for Clean Hands Concert
Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh
May 30, 2009
I’m pleased to represent the United States at this exciting event. I’m happy to see so many young faces in the crowd. You are the future of Cambodia, and by coming here today, you are publicly voicing your opposition to corruption.
Corruption is a problem that affects every single person in Cambodia. But it is you, the youth of Cambodia, who arguably have the most to lose.
Every year, 250,000 young people enter the workforce but cannot find employment. There is a deepening global economic recession that is hitting Cambodia as foreign investment shrinks and exports decline. Countries that govern justly and democratically and are actively combating corruption will feel fewer effects of the global recession and will recover and return to prosperity more quickly. A faster recovery means more job opportunities for the youth of Cambodia.
According to various studies, corruption costs Cambodia up to $500 million per year in terms of forgone state revenue; revenue that could otherwise be spent on public services in education and health care and jobs for Cambodian youth. $500 million is equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six room school buildings or the ability to pay every civil servant in Cambodia an additional $260 per month.
I urge the Cambodian government to deliver on its promise to enact the anti-corruption law. During the campaign for the 2008 general election, all political parties promised to enact the law. Now is the time to act.
The draft anti-corruption law is being revised by the Office of the Council of Ministers and it is hoped that an anti-corruption law that meets international standards can be enacted this year.
More than one million Cambodians demonstrated their support for passage of the anti-corruption law through the Million Signature Campaign. This was a tremendous show of grass-roots support, and now it is up to the government to respond to the will of the people.
Some might say that corruption in Cambodia is too big of a problem to tackle, that it will always be here. But that does not have to be true. Every refusal to engage in corruption and every act of integrity, no matter how small, brings us that much closer to a corruption-free Cambodia.
This concert is just one more step in a genuine popular movement to stamp out corruption. Today, some of Cambodia’s leading artists and performers are taking a stand with you, the people of Cambodia, against corruption.
The United States is your partner in this fight. This is your concert and your movement, but we are here to support you in any way that we can.
