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Contacts: In Phnom Penh: Bou Saroeun (855) 12-217-301
sbou@worldbank.org
In Washington: Elisabeth Jane Mealey (202) 458-4475
emealey@worldbank.org
Cambodia Signs Multi-Donor Agreement for $11 Million Grants to Support National
Bird Flu Plan
PHNOM PENH, May 8 — The Royal Government of Cambodia signed the agreement with a group of donors Thursday for three grants totaling $11 million, which will go to help Cambodia
strengthen its response to any outbreak of the avian and human influenza in the future.
The signing ceremony was presided over by H.E. Ouk Rabun, the Acting Minister of Economy and Finance. World Bank Country Director for Cambodia, Ian Porter, Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy, Kenchi Kobayashi, and Daniel Costa Llobet, First Secretary of the European Commission Delegation to Cambodia also attended the ceremony.
H.E. Ouk Rabun said, “Strong leadership role by the National Disaster Management with its full and seamless cooperation with other relevant RGC’s Ministries as well as national and international development partners is crucial for the successful implementation of the Project. All the agencies responsible for the delivery of the Project must ensure that the Project is implemented under the framework of the Cambodia National AHI Comprehensive Plan.” The $11 million grants go to support the Avian and Human Influenza Control and Preparedness Emergency
Project (AHICPEP). This 3-year project will complement Cambodia’s Comprehensive Avian and Human
Influenza (AHI) National Plan, aimed at minimizing the threats from avian and human influenza
and preparing the country’s health systems to deal with any possible outbreak. AHICPEP aims to help the government contain the spread of the H5N1 virus; reduce livelihood losses among commercial and backyard poultry growers; limit damage to the poultry industry; diminish the viral load in the environment; and prevent or limit human morbidity as well as mortality.
The latter is to be carried out by stemming opportunities for human infection, strengthening curative care capacity; and containing or stopping macroeconomic disruption and losses by
reducing the probability of a human pandemic and improving emergency preparedness and response. Prior to its approval, the AHICPEP was appraised by a joint team that included representatives of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission (EC) and UNICEF.
Out of the $11 million total, $6 million is provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries through
grants and interest-free loans. The Government of Japan contributed $3 million from its Policy and Human Resources Development (PHRD) Fund, while the Avian and Human Influenza (AHI) Facility, a grant-making mechanism supported by the European Commission and eight other donors, contributed $2 million.
Both the PHRD Fund and the AHI Facility are administered by the World Bank. The project consists of three components: (i) to strengthen animal health systems; (ii) to improve human
health systems; and (iii) to strengthen the inter-ministerial cooperation for pandemic preparedness.
It will be implemented by units within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Health, and the National Committee for Disaster Management.
“We very much welcome and appreciate the support of the World Bank and other donors to Cambodia’s Comprehensive Avian and Human Influenza (AHI) National Plan,” said H.E. Nhim
Vanda, Vice President of the National Committee for Disaster Management. “The Government is now focused on the development of an integrated AHI control and human pandemic preparedness and response plan, and is working closely with the international community to build its capacity for disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, and emergency response.”
“The World Bank has been working with multilateral, bilateral, and other partners in country and at the international level to prepare the Global Program for Avian Influenza Control
and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response,” said the World Bank’s Country Director for Cambodia, Ian Porter. “In Cambodia, the Bank has been working with the United Nations Development Program, other agencies of the UN system such as FAO, WHO, UNICEF, the EC, and other partners to help the Government assess and improve its National Comprehensive AHI Plan.”
Daniel Costa Llobet, First Secretary of the Delegation of the European Commission to Cambodia, said: “Together with other donors, via the AHI Facility, the European Commission is continuing to help many countries around the world to implement their national action plans on avian
influenza. The improvements that the Cambodian government will be able to make in its veterinary and public health services should serve to protect the population not only against avian influenza, but also against other potential health threats.”
In his speech that prepared for delivery at the signing ceremony, Katsuhiro Shinohara, the Ambassador of Japan to Cambodia, noted the importance as well as the timeliness of this
World Bank initiative. “I sincerely hope that, in close cooperation with all the institutions concerned, the project will play an important role in minimizing the threat that AHI poses to human beings as well as the poultry sector in Cambodia,” he said.
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