GICHD POLICY BRIEF | DECEMBER 2010

KEY MESSAGES

• Land and property are often central issues in the build up to conflict, in the strategies pursued by combatants and in post-conflict recovery

• Mine action organisations are not neutral when it comes to land rights. Releasing land which was previously contaminated with landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and making it accessible changes its status. This inevitably involves land rights issues, even if the intent is to avoid them.

* Government has had disagreements with various U.N. bodies

* NGOs say move threatens their future

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Cambodia's order to shut down a United Nations refugee office has further strained troubled ties with international organisations, casting doubt over the pro-business government's commitment to reforms.

Rights groups are incensed by the order, made public last week, to close the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees

- Consumer prices were stable as the Consumer Price Index rose by 3.2% year?on?year in November.

- Export price of Thai white rice, the benchmark for Asia, increased by 6.4% on a month?on?month basis.

- Wholesale price of mixed rice decreased by 0.5% month?on?month but increased 3.9% year?on?year.

- Retail price of lowest quality rice decreased 0.5% month?on?month but increased 3.5% year?on?year.

- Food purchasing power of households increased for the first time since July due to the slight decrease in rice

prices and increase in wages (ToT of

But for this to happen, aid groups, which have long promoted the health and hygiene benefits of safe toilets for the world's estimated 2.6 billion people who do not have a toilet, need to step aside and let the market take over, said Sim.

"The aid community has good intentions,

The ADB Board of Directors today approved a regional technical assistance grant of $4 million for the Strategic Research for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security in Asia. It will examine how countries can tackle rice yield gaps, water use problems, fragmented food supply chains and underinvestment in agricultural research.

On a visit to Sudan, Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, today announced UK funding for mine clearance programmes which will be used in a more responsive and flexible way, considering factors such as:

The number of lives that will be saved;

The number of mines in the area - known as mine contamination;

The benefit to a community socially and economically; and,

The targeting of funding towards countries

Like most developing countries, Cambodia faces increasing challenges and is greatly affected by various threats such as climate change, the global financial recession, the increase of poverty, poor overall health indicators and an exponential rise in the number of fatal traffic accidents. The Cambodian Red Cross (CRC), as auxiliary to the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), is addressing most of these issues in close cooperation with, and with close support from various Red Cross and non- Red Cross partners. The national society has observed recent

The LG Hope Family for Asia is a three-year public-private partnership through which LG will support WFP's programmes, in Bangladesh and Cambodia to provide sustainable solutions in the fight against hunger.

"LG believes passionately in a world free from hunger," said Executive Vice President Young-kee Kim of LG Electronics. "Through this partnership with WFP, we are contributing

In the context of the Asia Pacific zone, its demographic, socio-economic and environmental trends, and the IFRC's strategic priorities, the Southeast Asia regional office team continues to support the 11 national societies in Southeast Asia. The countries of the region remain vulnerable to health and disaster-related risks. Disasters which annually affect the region include cyclones, typhoons, floods and earthquakes. The goals, means of delivery and strategic framework of this Southeast Asia regional plan fit within the wider Federation Asia Pacific