EU Aid Volunteer: Cambodia Photostory
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

Every year, Cambodia receives a lot of rain, but it is almost all compressed in a few months - the monsoon time.

Monsoon rains turn Cambodia’s central plains into a giant in-land lake every year…

… but sometimes this has severe consequences for the people living there and they are forced to move.

In fact, in the last 6 years, Cambodia has been affected by severe floods twice (2011 and 2013) followed by drought (2016), impacting the lives of millions through displacement and loss of livelihoods. Kampong Chhnang province is located at the end of the Tonle Sap lake where water flows into the Tonle Sap river. These areas experience large fluctuations in water levels.
People In Need (PIN), with funds from the European Union, is developing an Early Warning System designed to reach as many people as possible in the event of a possible emergency.

We are joining PIN Early Warning System specialist Lundi to tell us more as he provides a training to community leaders.

The difference between having time to evacuate and being unprepared can mean the difference between life and death.
The Early Warning System allows provincial departments for disaster management to quickly alert those who might be affected by recording and sending out a voice message to a database of subscribers.
Those who have signed up will then receive a phone call free of charge with the message from the provincial department explaining the danger and advise on what to do.

During the workshop, Lundi shows how the system works by calling 1294 and registering and he encourages the participants to do the same.
Participants are asked by the provincial department to inform people in their communities about this service, so that it will reach as many people as possible.

With this campaign, People in Need was able to register more than 12.000 new phone numbers from 3 provinces in the last few months alone!

The system can now reach over 250.000 people within acouple of minutes.

Developing the Early Warning System is part of “Building Disaster Resilient Communities III” funded by European Union Humanitarian Aid and implemented by PIN Disaster Management Program team in Cambodia (EWS1294 is developed in collaboration with WFP and ActionAid).

Eline de Jonge Mulock Houwer, EU Aid Volunteer (People In Need)
