On July 19 2005 World Vision Cambodia’s HIV and AIDS programme announced plans to implement its new project “Caring and Protecting for Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC)”, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project aims to improve the quality of care and support for OVC by providing day-to-day support and building the capacity of foster families and communities to protect and prevent the exploitation of children.

Rommel Caringal, Senior Operation Manager for the Sectoral programme, announced, “Three years from now, we hope to see greater community involvement in the care and support for orphans and vulnerable children, and that these children live ‘life in all its fullness’.”

“This is both a day to celebrate and a day to mourn. We celebrate for the launching of a new project that will help children that have lost either one of both parents due to AIDS. It is a day to mourn, as these children no longer have their parents to care for and protect them,” said Jonathan Ross, representative of USAID.

H.E. Prak Deoun, Battambang provincial Deputy Governor, expressed his concerns about the impact that HIV and AIDS has had on both individuals and communities in Cambodia. He thanked World Vision Cambodia for establishing the new project and hoped the project would protect vulnerable children from abuse and discrimination due to HIV and AIDS.

The project will work in the five World Vision Cambodia Area Development Programme-targeted areas in Battambang and Kompong Thom province.