Cambodia holds Asian Festival of disabled artists

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Festival of inclusive arts attended by disabled and able-bodied artists has started in Cambodia, an event official said on Thursday.

The festival event in Siem Reap province is to be held from Feb.21 to 24 and the event in Phnom Penh will be held from Feb. 23 to March 1, said Chum Noy, an official for Bophanana Audiovisual Center, which is a supporter of the event.

"We encourage the artists to expand their skills and help society," he said.

For the first time, disabled and able-bodied artists from across Asia come together in Cambodia to present an exciting festival of performance, film, workshops, music and visual arts with a spotlight on the abilities of all people, said a press release of the event.

This arts extravaganza will celebrate the talent and diversity of not only Asian culture, but also the human spirit, it said.

"This isn't about putting disabled people up on the stage. This is about changing the way people perceive disability," Hannah Stevens said on behalf of Epic Arts in the press release.

Funded by The Nippon Foundation and produced by Epic Arts, spotlight is a world standard, multi-arts program which will provide powerful role models for people with disabilities, it said.

By involving the international community, the aim is to build opportunities and networks for artists with disabilities within the region, through workshops, collaborations and shared experiences, it added.

Cambodia raps Laos over Mekong dams [-Can Cambodia really bypass VN to order Laos to stop building dams on the Mekong?]

Siem Reap, Cambodia (dpa) - After facing the wrath of environmental groups earlier this week, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) member countries engaged in their own battles Thursday during a meeting of the four-member body with donors and observers.

Although the meetings were closed to media, Cambodian delegates made their frustration with what they called neighbouring Laos' lack of transparency clear outside as tensions over six proposed hydro- electric dams in a number of countries on the lower Mekong mounted.

Scientists said in May they feared Laos' proposed dams in particular could destroy fish migration and spawning, decimating the catch people in MRC member countries Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam rely on and causing irreversible environmental damage.

"We sent an official letter to Laos months ago to voice our concern and ask for an explanation, but so far we have received no answer," vice chairman of the Cambodian National Mekong Committee, Sin Niny, told Deutche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Cambodian MRC representative Lim Kean Hor said the MRC was a complicated organization which relied on cooperation from members and donors - which include energy-hungry China - to reach consensus. However, that cooperation may be fraying in some areas, he added.

"At the moment this is just an initiative by Laos. When they begin to build them we will stop them," he said, saying the MRC needed independent expert studies of environmental impact assessments.

The six dams across the Lower Mekong River are currently in the planning stages, more than a decade after they were dismissed as too costly and environmentally damaging, non-government organizations said in a press conference in Bangkok earlier this week.

At least one is believed to be the project of a powerful Lao politician's son, raising questions about whether the environment is taking a backseat to money, one environmentalist said on condition of anonymity, adding now was the time for the MRC to stand up.

"Since early 2006, Thai, Malaysian and Chinese companies have been granted permission to conduct feasibility studies for six large hydropower dams on the lower Mekong mainstream," they said in a press statement.

China delegate Biao Ling Sheng, however, urged a balance of development and conservation Thursday as that country announced continued strong funding for the MRC. "We need sustainable conservational development," he said.

In the end, however, the onus remained on the MRC to prove its role as a strong, independent forum for member countries and other interested parties to raise concerns which was transparent and had teeth, World Conservation Union representative Kate Lazarus said.

"The role of local communities should be given a higher priority by the MRC. There is some important information which is not being made public by the MRC," the Laos-based representative said.

Cambodia lauds China's green drive along Mekong

November 15, 2007
China Daily

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) in Cambodia's Siem Reap province is satisfied with China's cooperation in preserving the eco-system and upgrading people's lives along the river.

Addressing the commission's 12th Dialogue Meeting yesterday, MRC Joint Committee, 2007-08, Chairman Nguyen Hong Toan said: "We are pleased to note that our Dialogue Partners are conscious of the needs of those downstream when considering new developments and working toward regional integration and prosperity."

Representatives of China and Myanmar, too, attended yesterday's meeting.

In the past year China has supplied the MRC with 24-hour water level and 12-hour rainfall data for flood forecasts, while the MRC Secretariat has provided China with the monthly flow data gathered from the hydrological stations in Chiang Saen, Thailand, and Stung Treng, Cambodia, a press release said.

Discussions were held on increasing MRC's technical cooperation in the fields of navigation and hydro-meteorological data gathering, too, the release said.

The cooperation between the MRC and its Dialogue Partners such as China has been strengthened with each passing year, Nguyen Hong Toan said in the release.

"We feel we have moved to a new phase of understanding for a practical framework of cooperation particularly over the past two years. Through such an approach we can all reap the benefits of sustainable water resources development in the Mekong River Basin," he said.

The meeting heard the Dialogue Partners' plans for water resources development in the Lancang-Mekong River and the improvements made on a navigation project.

Areas of potential cooperation, including flood management and mitigation, mathematical models, educational exchanges in government and private sectors and environmental issues were also discussed at the meeting.

The Dialogue Meeting is held every year where the MRC discusses its cooperation framework with its Dialogue Partners and hold talks on how the four member states of the MRC - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - can increase cooperation with the upstream neighbors.