June 20, 2021 – Cambodia News Gazette

June 20, 2021June 21, 2021

Cambodia Receives New Batch Of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 Vaccine

PHNOM PENH A plane carrying a new batch of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, yesterday, giving another boost to the kingdom’s inoculation drive.
Cambodian health ministry’s secretary of state, Yok Sambath, who received the vaccine at the Phnom Penh International Airport, said, the jab was purchased from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.
“With the subsequent arrivals of the vaccines, we’re confident that our vaccination plan will be achieved on schedule,” she said.
The Southeast Asian nation has planned to inoculate at least 10 million out of its 16 million population, by the end of this year or early next year, at the latest, she said.
The kingdom launched an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb 10. To date, some 5.92 million vaccine doses have been administered, with 2.66 million people having been fully vaccinated with two doses, the health ministry said.
Cambodia logged 471 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, pushing the national caseload to 42,052, the ministry said.
The kingdom also recorded 20 new fatalities, taking the overall death toll to 414, so far, the ministry said, adding that, 928 patients had recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 36,868.

Source: NAM News Network

June 20, 2021June 21, 2021

Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from the Venezuelan Migration in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – Regional report

Adolescent Venezuelan girls feel unsafe in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
For World Refugee Day, Plan International launches a research study on the situation of refugee and migrant girls and adolescents from Venezuela, living in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The majority of girls who have fled Venezuela’s political and economic crisis do not feel safe in their new country, a study has found.
A study – conducted by the girls’ rights organization Plan International – has revealed that rape, sexual abuse, harassment, and commercial sexual exploitation are the main concerns for refugee and migrant girls in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia.
Of the 452 girls who were interviewed, all of whom are aged between 10-19, 50% say they feel unsafe in the streets, while 21% of girls and 13% of adolescents have witnessed violence, sexual abuse or verbal aggression against their peers.
BEING A MIGRANT PLACES GIRLS AT RISK OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
The study, called “Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from the Venezuelan Migration in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – Regional Report”, shows how being a migrant places girl at risk of gender-based violence.
The reasons for this are many, but include a lack of official documents (20%), a shortage of school spaces (20%), early pregnancy (15%), and other factors such as lack of economic resources and having to work.
“When I first entered school they called me ‘veneca’, [a derogatory way of referring to Venezuelan migrant] they bullied me and told me I was a starving person”. (15 year-old adolescent, Soledad, Colombia)
40% of girls also don’t have access to basic health services, and of those aged 15 and older, one in five (19%) told Plan International that they are or have been pregnant. The average age of pregnancy was 16 years old. This contrasts with the expectations to become a mother, set by themselves at around 25 years of age.
GIRLS FACE BARRIERS AS THEY TRY TO REBUILD LIVES
Debora Cobar, Executive Director of Plan International in the Americas, said: “Migrant girls have the right to a life free of violence and we are all responsible for making this a reality. Our report shows that having already endured so much, girls are facing unimaginable barriers as they try to build a new life outside of Venezuela. States, however, must guarantee girls’ access to social services and justice systems”.
“Plan International calls on the states of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to make adjustments in public policies, legal protection and systems for the restoration of rights, so that as signatories of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, they can fully protect each one of them without distinction of nationality, race or migratory condition.”
More than half (52%) of the girls have been worried about not having food, with nearly half (44%) saying they have sometimes gone to bed hungry and had to resort to begging or asking for discarded food.
Plan International has been supporting Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and works through partners in Venezuela. The organisation’s programmes reach 385,000 people, 35% of them children and adolescents, promoting child protection, access to quality education and youth empowerment.
CONTACT
MIRANDA ATTY
Global Press Officer (West and Central Africa, and Asia-Pacific)
TELEPHONE + 44 (0)1483 733264 / 07989065738
EMAIL miranda.atty@plan-international.org

Source: Plan International

June 20, 2021June 21, 2021

ADB, UNICEF send Fiji urgent medical supplies to battle second wave of COVID-19

SUVA, FIJI (19 June 2021) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today supplied more than 1.6 million urgent medical supplies and 9,450 diagnostic testing kits to support Fiji in the ongoing detection and containment of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The $US513,000 worth of medical supplies, cofinanced by ADB and UNICEF and transported by the World Food Programme (WFP), will help to strengthen the country’s COVID-19 response during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic, while supporting the continuation of essential health services. In addition, ADB funded 9,450 testing cartridges and swabs worth US$201,000, procured by UNICEF.
“The Government of Fiji and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services thank the ADB and UNICEF for the tremendous support towards the response effort for this second wave of COVID-19 cases,” said the Hon. Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete. “The generous donation is timely and will greatly assist our frontliners and health institutions to safely and effectively deliver the public health response that is needed to identify and interrupt the transmission of the virus in our communities, and to nurse the positive cases, which includes children, back to recovery.”
The medical supplies include about 308,000 medical grade masks, 15,000 N95 respirators, 47,000 gowns, 2 million gloves, and 23,000 face shields, biohazard bags, and other essential items. Diagnostic equipment including GeneXpert testing cartridges and swabs will be used to help the government detect cases of COVID-19.
Arriving in staggered shipments, with the first shipment today, the medical supplies will help to build the capacity of the local health system and support in managing rising numbers of COVID-19 cases as well as limiting transmission.
“This second wave of COVID in Fiji, with the corresponding spike in community transmission, puts the health of all Fijians at risk. These supplies will enable healthcare workers to safely provide services to those who need it most, including children,” said UNICEF Pacific Representative, Sheldon Yett. “We thank the Government of Fiji for their leadership in combatting this pandemic, ADB for their partnership and WFP for their assistance in helping to transport the supplies.”
Many frontline health care workers in Fiji are based in remote health care facilities. UNICEF is working closely with the Government of Fiji to ensure the new supplies reach these remote health care workers to ensure they are protected.
“Together with UNICEF, we remain committed to support Fiji’s latest fight against COVID-19,” said ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office Regional Director Masayuki Tachiiri. “These supplies will ensure frontline health workers can safely conduct their work to stop the spread of the virus. This is an important part of ADB’s support package, which includes financial support for the COVID-19 response budget, liquidity support for Fiji Airways, and various technical assistance.”
Notes to Editors:
About ADB:
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
For more information, please contact:
Sally Shute-Trembath, ADB Pacific, Tel: +612 82709444, sshute-trembath@adb.org
Zubnah Khan, UNICEF Pacific, Tel: +679 9988137, zukhan@unicef.org

Source: Asian Development Bank

June 20, 2021June 21, 2021

US Sending 2.5 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to Taiwan

The United States says it is sending 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, substantially increasing its initial promise of 750,000 shots.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said the increased doses from the U.S. are a “moving gesture of friendship.” U.S. President Joe Biden has said his administration will distribute 80 million vaccine doses to countries around the world.

The doses are a fraction of the 500 million shots the United States has committed to distributing free of charge over nearly 100 destinations over the next two years.

The Biden administration plans to distribute 200 million shots this year and another 300 million in 2022 to 92 countries as well as the African Union.

The announcement comes as roughly 45% of Americans have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

By contrast, India, with a population of over 1.3 billion, has vaccinated just over 3% of its population.
India’s Health Ministry said Sunday that it had recorded more than 58,000 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period. India has recorded close to 30 million COVID-19 cases. Only the U.S. has more, with 33.5 million.
A Ugandan athlete has tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, according to an Associated Press report. The athlete was not named and has been placed in quarantine in a government facility. The other eight members of the team tested negative in Japan. The Ugandan team was fully vaccinated and tested before their flight to Japan, AP said.
Brazil became the second country, behind the United States, to record more than half a million COVID-19 deaths, a Health Ministry official said Saturday.
Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweeted “500,000 lives lost due to the pandemic that affects our Brazil and the world,” according to an Agence France-Presse report.
Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist from Espirito Santo University, told AFP, “The third wave is arriving, there’s already in a change in the case and death curves. … Our vaccination [program], which could make a difference, is slow and there are no signs of restrictive measures, quite the contrary.”
Britain held its first full music festival since all mass events were canceled in March of last year, the start of the pandemic.
About 10,000 fans attended a three-day Download Festival held at Donington Park in central England. The event featured 40 U.K.-based bands. The event ends Sunday.
All of those who attended, which was only about a tenth of the festival’s prepandemic audience, were required to take COVID-19 tests before the event. Neither masks nor social distancing protocols were required, event organizers said.
Britain has recorded nearly 128,000 COVID-19-related deaths, the fourth most in the world and the worst in Europe. It also ranks seventh in the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 4.6 million.
Earlier last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson delayed by four weeks a planned lifting of coronavirus-related restrictions on June 21. Britain is battling the highly contagious delta variant of the virus, which was first identified in India.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday more than 178 million global COVID-19 infections and almost 4 million global deaths. More than 2 billion vaccines have been administered around the world.

Source: Voice of America

June 20, 2021June 21, 2021

Cambodia Marks 44th Remembrance Day of “Journey to Overthrow the Pol Pot Genocidal Regime”

Cambodia commemorated the 44th Remembrance Day of “Journey to Overthrow the Pol Pot Genocidal Regime” in Koh Thmar village, Tonloung commune, Memut district, Thbong Khmum province this morning.
The inauguration ceremony of an inscription in Vietnam and other achievements in Cambodia as well as the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Building and tree planting ceremony in Cambodia were part of the commemoration.
The event was presided over by Samdech Pichey Sena Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence and his Vietnamese counterpart H.E. Phan Van Giang, with many senior civil and military officials of both countries in attendance.
In a Facebook message this morning, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia said, “June 20 is the 44th anniversary of the day that I decided with pain to use my life to invest in the struggle to rescue the Cambodian people from the Pol Pot genocide regime (June 20, 1977-June 2021).”
The Premier continued that even though now, he and the Cambodian people are living in happiness, he has never forgotten the time when he left the country and the people who were suffering, especially his poor pregnant wife. “I had no better choice because we could not ask for pity from the Pol Pot group. It was that risky and tearful choice had brought about happiness and progress [to the country] until currently,” he added.
On June 20 1977, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, along with four comrades, fled Cambodia to Vietnam through Tonloung commune, Memut district, Kampong Cham province (currently Thbong Khmum province), to form a movement to liberate Cambodia and its people. In 1978, Samdech Techo Hun Sen became a founding member of the United Front for the National Salvation of Kampuchea (UFNSK).
In collaboration with other patriotic movements and with the support of Vietnamese volunteer forces, on Jan. 7, 1979, the UFNSK rescued Cambodia and its people from the genocidal regime of Democratic Kampuchea.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press