Vital Voices Award for Tep Vanny Helps Cambodia, Sia Phirum Says

The global leadership award land rights advocate Tep Vanny will receive Tuesday night in Washington DC from Vital Voices empowers Cambodian women and can assist citizens seeking justice, the secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force in Cambodia said Monday. Sia Phirum, speaking with VOA Khmer’s Sok Khemara in a Washington TV Studio, said he is in Washington for meetings with U.S. officials and NGOs and to support Tep Vanny. He will attend the gala event at the Kennedy Center. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden are scheduled to attend. “I think that this award can help the [Cambodian] government to reconsider how it handles land issues for the people; otherwise Cambodia’s reputation is in a downward spiral,’’ Sia Phirum said.