21 February 2013

Siem Reap, Cambodia – The APSARA Stone Conservation Unit (SCU), in cooperation with GIZ, recently launched a new training program for 20 young Cambodians to become stone conservation experts. In February 2013, GIZ handed over necessary training equipment and a new vehicle to the APSARA SCU to ensure safe and reliable access to remote stone conservation field sites.

“We are very happy that we can finally launch the training program. Our SCU Experts have been working hard during the last 2 years to make this training happen. Training local conservators and providing work opportunities is a major step towards Cambodia’s development process. The demand on skilled and well trained conservators is high since in Angkor region alone there are hundreds of temples in urgent need of conservation. This could mean many secure incomes for local conservators and ultimately reducing poverty.”

The training program is the only of its kind in Cambodia, and is addressing the urgent need to train stone conservationists from within-in. The program builds local capacities, contributes to the countries’ rich tradition of stone carving and aims to keep conservation in the hands of the people the historical sites belong to In 2012 the project has published a training handbook for stone conservation in English and Khmer languages compiling the practical work and techniques of conservators while working on-site. The lectures for the training and a detailed curriculum have been developed.

For more information on The APSARA Stone Conservation Unit Project with GIZ, please contact:

Ms. Josephin Rösler

Tel: +855 12 229 547

Email: [email protected]

4-7 February 2013

Pursat Province, Cambodia – Effective reforms in the health sector need strong capacities at the central level for planning, implementation, management and quality assurance, as well as in stewardship and regulation. In response to this need, the Capacity Building for Effective Health (CBEH) training programme seeks to strengthen capacities of national institutions to jointly tackle challenges of the health system.

“The Capacity Building for Effective Health (CBEH) training programme is the best course that I have ever attended. It really helps us as health practitioners. The course drew the connection from theories, policies, framework into the practice,” stated Mr. Sea Sokhon, Associate Director, Strategic Behavioral Communication (SBC).

The training course addresses decision-makers’ challenges in the field of health sector strategies, policies and administrations. Participants Cambodia, Kenya, Tanzania and Vietnam exchanged lessons learnt and plan to re-apply the knowledge in their local context.

Under the training roadmap, the Cambodian team liaised as, the “Wonder Team”, has been implementing their country project with 10 health centers in Pursat Province. Five of each Operational Districts (OD) in OD Bakaan and OD Sampov Meas  have been selected to implement the pilot project, “Effective HR Management for Health Center in Cambodia” for a period of six months, which commenced in January 2013. The  project aims to improve the capacity of human resource management (HRM) for health managers at the facility level.

From 4-7 February 2013, the “Wonder Team” started the Pilot Site’s baseline survey. The survey assesses leadership at the 10 pilot health centres. Data analysis and reports on the survey’s finding will contribute to project design, monitoring and evaluation.