The Australian Government has announced its largest ever package of food aid to Cambodia in order to help address persistent food shortages among the Southeast Asian nation's poorest people.
The food aid package was announced at a meeting on May 6 between visiting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior Sar Kheng and Australia 's Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan.
''To help around 800,000 Cambodians living in hunger, including 578,000 children, the Australian Government is providing the World Food Programme with 6 million AUD (5.3 million USD) in 2009-10 to purchase and distribute more than 8,600 tonnes of rice,'' McMullan said in a press release on May 6.
This assistance will also include new food-for-work programmes, ensuring food for more than 145,000 farmers and labourers and their families during the pre-harvest season, as well as a home-based care programme for up to 77,000 Cambodians affected by HIV/AIDS.
According to the Parliamentary Secretary, to help Cambodia address its critical human resource needs, Australia will also double the number of scholarships to Cambodia over the next four years, bringing the total number from 25 in 2010 to 50 by 2013-14. Since 1992, more than 260 Cambodians have completed postgraduate qualifications in Australia with the support of the Australian Development Scholarships programme.
During the visit to Australia by Cambodia 's Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, there's also a new joint declaration for better co-operation on all forms of transnational crime, reported the Australia Radio./.
The food aid package was announced at a meeting on May 6 between visiting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior Sar Kheng and Australia 's Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan.
''To help around 800,000 Cambodians living in hunger, including 578,000 children, the Australian Government is providing the World Food Programme with 6 million AUD (5.3 million USD) in 2009-10 to purchase and distribute more than 8,600 tonnes of rice,'' McMullan said in a press release on May 6.
This assistance will also include new food-for-work programmes, ensuring food for more than 145,000 farmers and labourers and their families during the pre-harvest season, as well as a home-based care programme for up to 77,000 Cambodians affected by HIV/AIDS.
According to the Parliamentary Secretary, to help Cambodia address its critical human resource needs, Australia will also double the number of scholarships to Cambodia over the next four years, bringing the total number from 25 in 2010 to 50 by 2013-14. Since 1992, more than 260 Cambodians have completed postgraduate qualifications in Australia with the support of the Australian Development Scholarships programme.
During the visit to Australia by Cambodia 's Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, there's also a new joint declaration for better co-operation on all forms of transnational crime, reported the Australia Radio./.
