Aid and development

The United Nations Human Rights Commission in Cambodia (OHCHR) yesterday released an analysis of the contentious draft trade union law finding key clauses to be in violation of existing Cambodian law, human rights norms and the ILO’s conventions.   ...

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will continue its support for the Kingdom’s food security and agricultural sector, while also helping with market research to assist the export of Cambodian milled rice and geographically-protected pepper products, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said ...

Cambodia’s agriculture sector will benefit from a grant of $35 million by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with some of the money also going towards public health and education. ...

Cambodia’s economy is expected to remain stable this year as uncertainty surrounding China’s economic slowdown appears to ease, and backed primarily by strong performance in garment and footwear manufacturing, as well as construction, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday. ...

After police in Preah Vihear province blocked the U.N.’s human rights envoy from meeting with indigenous villagers earlier this week, Rhona Smith sat down with Interior Minister Sar Kheng in Phnom Penh on Wednesday and called for better communication between national and local government officials. ...

The U.S. pledged $35 million in development aid to Cambodia in the first part of a three-year, $137 million package announced on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon and U.S. Ambassador William Heidt, according to a U.S. Embassy statement.   ...

Korea will provide a $13.3 million concessional loan to renovate the Stung Siem Reap Phase II flood mitigation project after a deal signed yesterday between the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Export and Import Bank. ...

In a two-day closed-door meeting, the government asked its counterpart in the Russian Federation to provide assistance to renovate the historic Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital and continue supporting Cambodian tour guide training, according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement released yesterday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen asked his South Korean counterpart, President Park Geun Hye, to grant an additional $10 million yesterday for the second stage of the National Road 21 construction in Kandal province’s Saang district. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen discussed the outstanding debt Cambodia owed to Russia on Wednesday, with the prime minister urging the debt be turned into investment and development in the country. ...

The independence of the country’s judiciary was among the issues that UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Rhona Smith raised yesterday during a meeting with the minister of justice as part of her 10-day visit. ...

Japan agreed to provide Cambodia with a $181 million loan yesterday to help the renovation of National Road 5 linking Phnom Penh to Poipet, to help expand the Japanese Bridge and to assist in demining operations throughout the Kingdom. ...

The Japanese Friendship Bridge in Phnom Penh is set to receive a $29.4 million renovation courtesy of the Japanese government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday. ...

Government officials on Wednesday applauded China’s decision to take emergency measures to counter the impact of a regional drought by releasing water into the Mekong River from the Jinghong Hydropower Station in China’s southwestern Yunnan province. ...

USAID is spending $1 million on a project the aim of which will improve nutrition across four provinces by training women in farming practices that have higher yields, produce more nutrient-rich vegetables and require less resources. ...

The Swiss government signed its first framework agreement with Cambodia during a meeting between Swiss Ambassador Ivo Sieber and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong yesterday. ...

Although loans to build infrastructure from the Japanese government may fall slightly this fiscal year, when grants and technical assistance are added to the total, overall assistance is likely to rise, Naoaki Kamoshida, a counsellor at the Japanese Embassy to Cambodia, said during a recent ...

Construction of a seaport in Kampot is set to begin this year two years after being approved thanks to an $18 million loan from the Asia Development Bank (ADB), according to officials. ...

The European Union is increasing its development grants to Cambodia by almost 50 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to a Friday statement. ...

Between 2008 and 2015, the World Bank and German aid agency GIZ spent $13 million setting up eight social land concessions for thousands of the poorest Cambodians, doling out small farms they could use to pull themselves out of poverty and, after a few years, ...

Residents and evictees from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak and Bo­r­ei Keila neighborhoods re­turned to the World Bank’s country headquarters on Norodom Boul­evard on Monday to hurl eggs at the front gate and demand that the international lender leave Cambodia.   ...

In an effort to identify and address “key barriers that impede the realization of children’s rights in Cambodia,” the Cambodian government and UNICEF Cambodia officially signed a new Country Program Action Plan yesterday, entering a three-year partnership that will cost an estimated $65 million, according ...

The European Union pledged €10 million in preparation of the upcoming 2017 and 2018 elections yesterday, which the National Election Committee (NEC) hopes to add to in a new budget they will be submitting to the government, according to NEC officials. ...

Swiss ambassador to Cambodia Ivo Sieber pledged his country’s continued support of Kantha Bopha Hospital yesterday, mentioning that almost half of the hospital’s funding comes from the Swiss government. The promise was made during Amb. Seiber’s meeting with Foreign Minister Hor Namhong at the Foreign ...