I am so pleased to be able to join with all of you once again after we met about a year ago […] on behalf of the Royal Government, please allow me to welcome your presences, Excellency, Ladies, Lok Chumteavs, Ladies and Gentlemen, national and foreign guests for taking their times to participate in the Cambodian Red Cross day under the theme of “CRC is everywhere, for everyone, and no one is left out.” In more than a year now, according to the report of the President of the Cambodian Red Cross, we have learnt of successes scored in accumulating spirit of solidarity and humanitarianism. Please allow me to illustrate some more about successes CRC has scored as an auxiliary to public authority in humanitarianism.
CRC Founded by Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk in Early 1950s
Belonging to younger generation, we must know from where is the water that we are drinking and/or who grew fruits that we are eating. It was a great achievement left by Preah Borom Ratanak Kaod Samdech Norodom Sihanouk that he founded the Cambodian Red Cross in early 1950s. We must remember that when Cambodia was divided later, there were four Cambodian Red Cross between 1979 and 1994. Despites his busy tasks, Samdech Preah Borom Ratanak Kaod never abandoned his efforts to reunite the Cambodian Red Cross from four to one […] we, the younger generation, are proud of their efforts – the late Preah Borom Ratanak Kaod and the Queen Mother, to have found and leave us such invaluable achievement.
CRC Builds Homes, Dig Water Ponds … For Poor People
I wish to take this opportune moment to sincerely appreciate actions increasingly taken by the Cambodian Red Cross year after year. Those actions have ranged from providing flash assistances to building homes and water ponds/reservoirs for tens of thousands of families […] along with this, those drunk-drivers should be ashamed of the CRC youth who stand along the junctures to advise driving. Our country is facing with growing traffic accidents. The CRC youth have been actively and collectively taken actions to assist the state in collaboration with local authorities to control traffic flow to avert certain accidents.
In recent days there have been this incident of people poisoned, with some deaths, for taking moonshine and drinking water from a stream in Kratie. There was also this case of people getting sick from eating grilled sticky-rice cake too. While taking pride and appreciation for staff and voluntary youth of the Cambodian Red Cross in their effective actions, I also wish to thank the local authorities of ever levels for their facilitations provided to the Cambodian Red Cross and respect of the CRC’s basic seven principles.
Transparency, Good Use of Fund Maintain Supports Locally and Abroad
Successes scored by the Cambodian Red Cross cannot be achieved without participations and contributions from Excellency, Ladies, Lok Chumteavs, Oknha, Ladies and Gentlemen, who have generously paid a monthly and/or yearly parts. The Cambodian Red Cross has obtained tens of millions USD annually from friends and generous people locally and abroad. This has indicated confidence in transparent financial expenses and management of CRC. This has ascertained their trusts and encouraged them to increase further helps. That is the fruit of a culture or art of sharing.
Resource-Sharing People Went Though Bitter Pasts
I have asked myself why people contributed their money to the Cambodian Red Cross’s funding. On the one side, I see that there is this transparent management of the fund. On the other side, I am of the opinion that many who have resources to share had gone through the country’s past and sad experiences in time of war and in time of genocide. They had a taste of those harmful pasts. When they made themselves rich, these people never forget what they had gone through. I am so proud of local charitable people for sharing their resources to CRC. I am also proud of contributions made by foreign investment companies, either through the Cambodian Red Cross or directly to people in their investment areas.
CRC Together with RGC Prepared to Respond to Natural Phenomena
According to the weather forecast, and if it is not going to be wrong, I am calling on every concerned institution, including the Cambodian Red Cross to be prepared for the worst scenario of flooding this year. We had had small seasonal floods for a number of years now, according to the Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology, this year there could be a big flood. We, through the Disaster Preparedness and Management Committee and other state mechanisms, must get ourselves prepared. The Royal Government has kept in preparedness certain amount of cash and food. Should the flood not harmful, we could always use this prepared fund towards end of the year and the year after. CRC would wish to get itself ready too to respond to possible natural phenomena threatening our country and people.
One CRC, Good Infrastructure, Timely-Manner Intervention
Addressing the National Assembly when I became Prime Minister officially on 14 January 1985, I said that we would not leave anyone to die of hunger without our knowledge and attendance to the problem. Today, thirty years later, we seem to have something similar slogan – “CRC is everywhere, for everyone, and no one is left out.” […] the country’s situation is now becoming better compared to when we had four CRCs. Our country is now reunited, and we have only one CRC. Along with this, we also have better infrastructures, which allow us to launch distributions of assistance and/or take intervention in a timely manner […]
For everything that we are able to do now is because we have peace. We must keep peace to guarantee development. People may like to look at Syria, where millions of people could not even have access to humanitarian assistances because of fighting. We must not allow the bitter past to return. We must keep peace under one Constitution, HM the King, Royal Government, and armed forces. We also have only one CRC […]
RGC Respects Role and 7 Principles of CRC
I hope the Cambodian Red Cross will be receiving more contributions today, The Cambodian Red Cross already declares that it will contribute a sum of one million USD to the Kuntha Bopha Fund annually. Those who contribute to CRC today are also making their helps accessible to the Kuntha Bopha Fund to keep the hospital under the same name to functional. I thank the representative of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent for making a speech that encourages humanitarian actions of the Cambodian Red Cross, but also to encourage the Royal Government for its respect always to the role and seven basic principles of the Cambodian Red Cross […] There is nothing wrong to work together on this path. On the contrary, it will create a force of progress to deal with people’s challenges […]./.
