I am delighted to be here today to congratulate the Ayala Foundation, the other consortium members, and the participating civil society organizations on this important achievement.
According to the WHO status report on road safety, road traffic accidents result in more than 1 million deaths globally each year. For every 1 person who dies in a road traffic crash, 20 are injured. And 1 in 20 of those injured is left with a disability. At such a scale, this is an issue that impacts each of us. We envision a world where we and our loved ones face fewer risks as we go about our everyday lives.
But the numbers don’t really describe the huge impact that accidents have. A traffic death may cost a family its wage earner. Traffic injuries may mean a child won’t be able to attend school. In short – the accidents have the potential to cost Cambodia’s government and its society heavily. What makes events like today all the more exciting, however, is that we come together not just to discuss the problem, but to celebrate a solution: the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation’s “Head Safe, Helmet On” campaign.
On behalf of the American people and the U.S. Embassy Manila’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID), I am honored to be here today for the Manila launch of the Philippine-American Fund second grant solicitation.
USAID has a powerful partnership with Bomet, and there are so many things we have already achieved together. We have been working in Bomet for a long time. There’s a reason why you see the big USAID sign on the way to Tenwek Hospital.
The idea behind Shujog is fairly simple. Impact investors are looking for a pipeline of businesses to invest in that generate both financial and social returns. Yet these investors are often unable to connect with early-stage entrepreneurs, and that means there is so much potential still waiting to be tapped on both sides. Shujog’s ACTS program, along with partners Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, and the Rockefeller Foundation, will help bring them together, by providing Assistance for Capacity Building and Technical Services (ACTS). This will help social enterprises to better attract investment; scale their businesses; and increase their impact.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good morning. It is my great pleasure to join you here this morning at the Private Sector Forum on the Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Law.
Today’s forum is important, because it addresses a challenge that Cambodia, as well as many countries around the world, are facing: How do we pursue economic development without sacrificing the health of our environment?
The U.S. Agency for International Development, which I represent, is an important supporter of education around the world. Education is a pathway to better opportunities for every person, their community, and their nation. Through the School Dropout Prevention Program (SDPP), USAID is working closely with the Ministry of Education to achieve Cambodia’s Millennium Development Goal: Universal Access to Basic Education by 2015. The SDPP program supports the Ministry’s policy on Preventing Student from Dropout of School and Information Communication Technology in education, which calls for access to ICT for all teachers and students, especially at the secondary level.
At USAID, we fundamentally believe that ending extreme poverty requires inclusive, broad-based, sustainable growth; free, peaceful, and self-reliant societies with effective, legitimate governments; human development through health and education, and social safety nets that reach the poorest and most vulnerable. Similarly, our cross-cutting efforts in promoting good governance, empowering women and girls, and mitigating climate change are all essential to ending poverty.
Globally, nearly 300,000 women and over 3 million infants die each year from complications in pregnancy and birth – with unplanned pregnancies often carrying the highest risk. Here in Cambodia, as evidenced by our last Demographic and Health Survey, 206 Cambodian women needlessly lose their lives for every 100,000 live births -- usually from preventable and treatable causes.
You all are playing an important role in promoting land reform and the sustainable management and protection of Cambodia’s environment. It is only through our combined and coordinated efforts that we can ensure a better future for millions of Cambodians.
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