The health ministry and Seoul’s international development arm co-hosted the 2nd National Coordination Committee Meeting on May 20 to discuss “The Project for Strengthening Maternal and Child Health in North-Eastern Regions of Cambodia”.

The meeting was presided over by Ministry of Health director-general for Health, Hok Kim Cheng, and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) country director Hyunjun Rho.

It was also attended by all members of the National Coordination Committee, comprising representatives from the Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provincial health departments, National Maternal and Child Health Centre, and National Centre for Health Promotion.

The meeting was held to share information about project activities and to collect input from relevant stakeholders to fine-tune overall implementation.

On its Facebook page, KOICA said that over the past three years, the project has improved the availability of basic health services in the Kingdom’s northeast.

This has been achieved by “building the capacity of health workers and providing medical equipment to local health facilities”, it said, adding that “the construction of five buildings for maternal and child healthcare services will be completed soon”.

The project has also developed an improved patient transfer system, provided ambulances and boats, and performed health outreach in rural and underserved communities.

Although launched in 2020, the four-year project is scheduled for 2019-2023, and is implemented solely in Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces – hence dubbed “Kiri” – under a $7 million grant from KOICA, according to online media outlet Fresh News.