IOM this week launched a new disaster preparedness project entitled
"Building Resilience to Natural Hazards in North-East Cambodia."

The initiative, which is funded by the Spanish Agency for
International Cooperation and Development, builds on 2009 IOM field
research mapping vulnerability to natural disasters in the
country's eastern Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri provinces.

The new project, which will also focus on Stung Treng province,
aims to increase the disaster preparedness and response capacities
of committees for disaster management at the provincial, district
and commune levels.

It will also support community-based disaster risk management
initiatives through Cambodian Village Disaster Management Teams and
promote a culture of awareness and preparedness among national
partners at all levels.

Cambodia's north-eastern provinces are highly vulnerable to
floods, drought and insect infestation. They are also at risk from
environmental degradation, climate change and were recently
affected by Typhoon Ketsana.

IOM Phnom Penh will implement the new project in close
cooperation with the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster
Management.

For more information, please contact:

Iuliana Stefan

E-mail: "mailto:istefan@iom.int">istefan@iom.int

or

Kathlyn Kissy Sumaylo

IOM Phnom Penh

Tel. +855.12900224

E-mail: "mailto:ksumaylo@iom.int">ksumaylo@iom.int