The Japanese government has provided $288,473 in total for three recipient organisations under the framework of the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (“KUSANONE”).

The funds are earmarked to be used for the installation of medical equipment, braille equipment and hearing diagnostic equipment. The three recipients are Prey Kabas Operational District, Krousar Thmey Cambodia and All Ears Cambodia.

The grant contracts were signed on December 21 between Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Cambodia Masahiro Mikami and representatives from the three recipient organisations.

According to a press release from the Japanese embassy, the Japanese government has provided $87,900 to “The Project for Installing Medical Equipment at Angkor Borey Referral Hospital in Takeo province”, to be managed by the Prey Kabas Operational District.

This project will entail the installation of one x-ray machine, one ultrasound machine and one power generator at Angkor Borey Referral Hospital. Currently, the hospital is not capable of diagnosing patients sufficiently due to the lack of this equipment.

“Through this project, approximately 1,500 patients will have access to improved medical services annually,” said the press release.

The second grant goes to “The Project for Installing Braille Equipment at Special Schools in Phnom Penh and 3 Provinces”, with a funding total of $96,726.

Under the management of recipient organisation Krousar Thmey Cambodia, four braille printers and four sets of audio recording equipment will be installed at special schools that serve visually impaired students in Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kampong Cham, Siem Reap and Battambang.

According to the press release, this project is expected to help more than 210 students and their teachers by improving their learning environment.

The third grant recipient is All Ears Cambodia and their “Project for Installing Hearing Diagnostic Equipment and Strengthening Communication Therapy Services for Children in Phnom Penh and 6 provinces”, which was provided with $103,847 in funding.

For this project, medical equipment related to hearing and deafness such as a real ear measurement and speech mapping system, oto-endoscope system, tympanometer, two pure tone/speech audiometers and one middle ear analyser will be purchased by All Ears Cambodia in order to strengthen their diagnostic and rehabilitation capacity.

“[All Ears Cambodia] has been providing services to hearing-impaired people. Through this project, more than 7,500 patients will benefit from better quality of diagnostic and communication therapy services,” the press released noted.

In his remarks at the signing ceremony, Japanese ambassador Mikami said: “I am pleased to see that Cambodia has been developing rapidly recently. However, I also recognise that there are still some challenges that need to be addressed to improve people’s quality of life.”

He added that Japan will continue to contribute to addressing these challenges through various economic and development cooperation frameworks, including the KUSANONE project.

Japan’s KUSANONE project started in Cambodia in 1991, aiming to support Cambodia’s reconstruction and development at the grassroots level.

Since 1991, the Japanese government has provided over $62 million in grants, mainly to local authorities and non-governmental organisations, to implement 638 KUSANONE-funded projects throughout Cambodia.