By:
• Cambodianess

• April 1, 2021 , 2:54 PM

Aid will strengthen capacity of government and humanitarian groups

PHNOM PENH--The United States has pledged $875,000 in humanitarian assistance to support Cambodia’s natural disaster response and preparedness.

The assistance will be provided through the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Last year’s devastating floods demonstrated how important it is to be ready to address the effects of natural disasters,” US Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said on Thursday. 

“We are proud to make this contribution to improve response systems in Cambodia."

The US says the assistance will enable the UN World Food Program (WFP) to further strengthen its “Innovations for Risk Informed Emergency Preparedness and Response” project, which has been supported by USAID from 2019 through March 2022.

Through the program, the capacity of government partners and humanitarian groups will be further strengthened.

In addition, through the cooperation of different stakeholders, the funding will be used to enhance the national disaster management information system, known as the Platform for Real-Time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM), improve the flood  warning system EWS1294 as well as continue to support the Humanitarian Response Forum (HRF), which will assist the emergency preparedness and response activities.  

WFP representative Claire Conan thanked USAID for the additional funding to Cambodia, which is known to be vulnerable to climate-related risks, including floods and droughts.

“This assistance will help government partners and humanitarian actors at the national and subnational level to better prepare for and respond to these events by increasing the use of information for early action and enhancing humanitarian coordination,” she said.

Last year, the US also donated $700,000 to WFP to help flood-affected communities in Cambodia.