PHNOM PENH: The French Development Agency, along with the French Embassy in Cambodia, will celebrate its 80th anniversary of mission in Cambodia, scheduling a cocktail party on Wednesday for launching the exhibition of photography titled “Women's Voices". Since its foundation by General de Gaulle in 1941 and its active role in Cambodia by 1993, they have been supporting development of Cambodia, being one of the first donors to support the country at the end of the civil war.
According to the announcement by the French Embassy, the French Development Agency has already donated up to 900 million euros at the past years, an average commitment of 100 million euros, as a continued humanist spirit in the fight against global inequalities and environmental disruption. FDA has stated their interest for the next one hundred years, in hopes Cambodia will have a strong society in which women participation is essential for a sustainable future.
The exhibition inaugurated on Wednesday is in the gardens of the Residence of France, alongside the French Embassy in Cambodia. It shows portraits of women, taken through the lens of young photographer Sereyrath Mech and orchestrated by the association Minor Act. The exhibition will then be displayed in front of AFD's offices and will soon be on display at the French Institute of Cambodia.
The French Ambassador to Cambodia, Jacques Pellet has reminded that since 2018 France has engaged in feminist diplomacy by the International Strategy for Equality Between Women and Men. He has also underlined that such projects of gender equality run alongside the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Paris Agreement on climate and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.
AFD’s Director in Cambodia, Ophélie Bourhis, has also stressed the importance of gender equality for the contemporary world, stressing she is delighted to be celebrating AFD's 80th anniversary around such a fundamental issue for France and AFD. She has thanked women for speaking out against inequalities and for proposing concrete solutions to improve things. Ophélie hopes the portraits displayed at “Women's Voices” exhibition will inspire people for the gender equality issue.
