Cambodia

Priority Projects in Cambodia

Empowering Cambodian Families Project

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Our plan in Cambodia

Plan is working at the grassroots level in Cambodia to empower communities to bring real and lasting change, so that their children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Plan began working in Cambodia in 2002 and currently has programs in the Siem Reap and Kampong Cham provinces which aim to address the following issues affecting children:

• Poor school attendance and high dropout rate
  
• Poor health and hygiene and limited access to health and sanitation services
  
• Risk of becoming victims of trafficking, domestic violence and abuse
  
• Low household income and economic security

Plan’s programs and strategies to address these issues include:

Education

Due to poor school management, insufficient teachers and resources, proximity and poverty there is poor attendance at schools in Cambodia.  Plan works to improve access to quality education by working with teachers, school administrators and committees to provide scholarships, teaching materials and remedial classes, develop curriculum and construct suitable infrastructure.

Health

With close to 40% of the population being children below the age of 15, 45% of whom are under five and underweight, health is a serious issue in Cambodia.  Poor child health is often a result of parents’ limited knowledge on hygiene practices, lack of sanitation facilities, and insufficient health care services.  Plan Cambodia works to improve health centre facilities and services, providing support to adults to deal with common childhood illnesses like respiratory infections and diarrhoea and also orientation and/or training on sexual and reproductive health for adolescents.  

Water and sanitation

Closely linked with the health program, Plan Cambodia’s water and sanitation program is to improve the health and wellbeing of children and the whole community by increasing access to safe drinking water, promoting a clean and sanitary environment (both at home and in school) and improving the understanding of the links between clean and sanitary environment and personal hygiene.

Child rights and participation

With the establishment of youth groups and children’s clubs, where children receive training on child rights, facilitations skills, building networks, Plan intends to ensure that the children and youth are able to participate in the development process and their opinions are heard in the local Commune Councils.  Plan has also supported local organisations working on anti-child trafficking, child protection in school, establishment of family protection networks in the communities, rehabilitation, legal enforcement, and the birth and civil registration system.

Household economic security

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world with one third of its 13 million people living on less than US$1 a day.  Plan is working with a local partner to provide financial services to the poor and explore employment opportunities for the youth.  With 80 percent of the workforce in the agricultural sector, improvements in agricultural practices are also being introduced to farmers to help them become less vulnerable to drought, increase their yields and increase their income.

Country Facts

Country	Cambodia	Australia
Flag
Population	13.8 Million	19.9 Million
Language	Khmer	English
Capital	Phnom Penh	Canberra
GDP per capita (USD/year)	354	$29,000
Life expectancy	56.6	80.3
Access to safe drinking water	41%	100%
Literacy	73.6%	100%
Source:	United Nations: Millennium Development Goals Report 2006