CLOSING SPEECH BY
His Excellency Sok An Senior Minister,
Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers
and Vice-President of Cambodian Mine Acton
and Victim Assistance Authority
at Regional Seminar on
Phnom Penh, March 26-28, 2003
- Excellency Mr. Jean Lint, President of 4th Meeting of the State Parties to Ottmva Convention
- Excellency Ms. Dominique Ait Ouyahia-McAdams, UN Resident Coordinator and Representative of the UN Secretary-General
- Excellency Mr. Enrique Rolan-Morey, Deputy Secretary General of the Conference for Disarmament of the UN in Geneva
- Excellencies Ambassadors,
- Distinguished National and International delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Royal Govermnent of Cambodia and the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, I have a great honor to preside over the Ceremony of the Closure of this very important Regional Seminar under the theme “Building a Cooperative Future For Mine Action in South East-Asia”.
First allow me to thank H.E. Sam Sotha, Secretary General of CMAA to chair this three days meeting and to H.E. Jean Lint, H.E. Enrique Roman-Money, H.E. Gerard Chesnel, H.E. Helmut Ohlraun, Ms. Judith Dunne and Mr. Kerry Brinkert assisted who have assisted all the working groups in facilitating the fruitful discussion. Indeed, it has already shown that building a cooperative future for mine action, and the success of this meeting may not have been possible without the financial support from Australia, Canada, Japan and Norway. The Royal Government of Cambodia and CMAA are extremely grateful for the participation of distinguished delegates from South-East Asia and other affected countries, donors, UN agencies and major international organizations. At this seminar, we are supported and encouraged by the remarks made by Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia and the message receiving from H.E. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations.
During this Seminar, the delegates spent yesterday at the CMAC Training Center in Kampong Chhnang Province viewing demonstrations of all operators, CMAC, MAG, HALO Trust and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces mine action capabilities. For many of the delegates the Field Day was a first opportunity to view the repertoire of mine action interventions that national and international operators have together developed. We are very proud of the good impression to show the high level of organizational maturity, professionalism and discipline that has been achieved in our national mine action.
In the presentations and discussions as summed up by H.E. Sam Sotha, some important themes emerged. One theme was the necessity for mine action to exchange information, which underscore the importance of national ownership and that mines affected States Parties should take advantage of opportunities to conimumcate the "4Ps" - problems, plans, progress and priority for assistance. Discussions in the Seminar appeared to indicate their willingness to do so.
Another discussion was that cooperation was central to the establishment of the Convention and continues to play an important role in its implementation. We highly appreciate that significant progress is being made towards the achievement of the core humanitarian aims: clearing mine areas, assisting victims, and universalizing the ban on anti-personnel mines.
On the issue of funding, from a donor perspective, it is necessary to see a direct outcome from their contribution. We appreciate the support for the national coordination and national planning as well as for mine clearance and victim assistance.
Cambodia has the local knowledge and the desire and spirit to meet the 2010 deadline of landmines clearance in Cambodia. In this regard, we are firmly confident that we will achieve our goal by the above deadline if we could get sufficient support from the donor partners and other stakeholders. This will have a very significant impact on the life of people in mine affected communities. We know our donor partners will do their part.
We, on behalf of the mine victims of our country, wish to remember you that the people handicapped by mines will still be here long after 2010. So we encourage you that to support helping the victims as they too play their part in building vigorous and peaceful Cambodia.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish you continued success, cooperation and coordination and wish all of you good health and safety journey for delegates who have to fly back.
I am now declaring this Phnom Penh Regional Seminar closed.
Thank you !