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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has allotted grants to five indigenous community-based organisations to improve the well-being of indigenous communities through participation in forest protection and land use management.

The UNDP said yesterday that the grants were provided to the indigenous community-based organisations from Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Kratie, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Battambang provinces through the UNDP Climate Promise Initiative.

“As part of the UNDP Climate Promise Initiatives, we provide small grants to indigenous community-based organisations to tackle environmental challenges while also addressing local Sustainable Development needs,” UNDP said.

The organisations that received grants from the UNDP are O’som Community Forestry in Kampong Thom (Kuoy indigenous community based organisation); Kampong Damrey Community Protected Area in Kratie (Kuoy indigenous community based organisation); Anlong Phe Community Protected Area in Stung Treng (Kuoy indigenous community based organisation); Bunong Indigenous Community of Antres village in Mondulkiri; and North-Eastern Cottage Organisation in Battambang (Por indigenous community).

A statement from the UNDP said that the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the donor of the initiative that aims to help countries scale up and accelerate their efforts to protect forests, land and nature to address climate change.

Alissar Chaker, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Cambodia, said, “I am honoured to sign new partnership agreements with indigenous community-based organisations, on behalf of UNDP Cambodia, to enhance their contributions to forest protection and land use management. Special attention is paid to indigenous women and young people’s empowerment.”

The indigenous Kuoy, Bunong, Stieng, Brao, Tampuon, Por, Jarai and Rade are the biggest communities in Cambodia. They are spread across 22 provinces, most of them are in the north and northeast, particularly in the provinces of Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Preah Vihear, and Stung Treng.