PHNOM PENH, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia, China and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday launched a partnership to improve quality inclusive education, health, nutrition and hygiene for Cambodia's most vulnerable children, said a joint press release.
The launch event was attended by Cambodian Minister of Health Chheang Ra, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin and UNICEF Representative Will Parks, the press release said.
It added that supplies and materials would be provided to 10,000 teachers and 80,000 students in pre-primary and primary schools, including 600 children with disabilities.
The support from China Aid will also strengthen the capacity of 600 health personnel across 200 health facilities and 800 Village Health Support Group members to provide lifesaving quality health and nutrition services, it added.
Additionally, to address urgent gaps in access to WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) services, critical hand hygiene supplies will be provided to vulnerable households living in flood-prone areas, where the risk of contamination and spread of disease is high.
The Chinese ambassador hoped that children in the most vulnerable communities in Cambodia could feel the warmth and care of the Chinese people through this project.
"Children are the future of the country and the nation. We should care for the healthy growth of children together," Wang said in the press release.
"They are the inheritors of the traditional friendship between China and Cambodia and the successors of global development," he added.
Wang said China was willing to work with Cambodia and relevant international organizations to continue to strengthen support for the education and health of children in the most vulnerable communities in Cambodia under the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund.
Parks said this partnership was essential to ensure that every child, regardless of their background or circumstance, fulfilled their right to learn, grow and develop to their full potential.
"While we have made great strides in their lives and well-being, intensifying global challenges are threatening their futures, and it is the most vulnerable children who risk being left behind -- at school, at home and in their communities," he said. ■
