ReliefWeb

For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Sean McIntosh
855-23 728-000

On May 31, 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that its Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Relief Assistance (OFDA) is providing $200,000 to support the Humanitarian Response Forum (HRF) in Cambodia. The HRF will strengthen emergency preparedness in the country by enhancing coordination and communication among humanitarian organizations based in Cambodia.

USAID Mission Director Rebecca Black said, “This support to the Humanitarian Response Forum is another example of the U.S. government’s commitment to the Cambodian people and recognition of the challenges they face when confronting and preparing for natural disasters.”

Following the 2011 large-scale flooding in Cambodia, the HRF was created in June 2012 to ensure improved coordination of emergency preparedness and response activities among non-governmental organizations (NGO), United Nations’ agencies, the Cambodia National Committee for Disaster Management, the Cambodian Red Cross, and other stakeholders.

Over a nine-month period beginning in June 2013, USAID will support the HRF to finalize sector-specific disaster contingency plans, which focus on education; food and nutrition; health; physical protection; shelter; and water, sanitation, and hygiene. USAID support will also help to ensure that coordination and information mechanisms are in place prior to Cambodia’s hazard season, consolidate assessment methodologies to suit the Cambodian humanitarian context, and train HRF participants, including government authorities and NGOs.

Since the 2011 floods, the U.S. government has provided more than $4.1 million in disaster response and disaster-risk reduction activities to Cambodian organizations and the World Food Program. Concurrent with HRF’s activities, USAID has supported the formation of the Cambodian Humanitarian Forum, which oversees strengthening the emergency preparedness and response capacity of local NGOs.