Child Protection
Child protection is at the heart of everything we do. Unfortunately, many children still experience hardship, poverty, abuse, neglect, and violence. Because of alarming statistics, child protection was specifically added to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
This programme seeks to follow the model set by SDG 16.2. which aims to “end all forms of violence against children and give renewed impetus towards the realization of the right of every child to live free from fear, neglect, abuse and exploitation.” It is our mission to see that every child has their rights respected and their basic needs met.
Disability
People with disabilities remain one of the most marginalised groups in society. Worldwide, people with disabilities face discrimination due to a lack of understanding about disability, disbelief in their potential, embarrassment, etc.
In Cambodia, people with disabilities, especially those with intellectual disabilities, face additional societal stigmas embedded in karma. These lead people to believe that disability is a form of punishment for wrongdoings in a past life.
Social exclusion leads to tragic outcomes where people with disabilities are left vulnerable to homelessness, abuse and neglect and are denied access to basic care. Children with disabilities risk being abandoned at birth if families do not have the knowledge or the means to afford the care required.
Our disability programme provides care, shelter, education, and training for children and adults with disabilities and their families in the hopes of reducing the stigma of disability nationwide.
Safe Migration
Cambodia has a notoriously low minimum wage and a large informal job market with few labour regulations. Jobs for the uneducated and unskilled are scarce and typically involve low-paid, demanding physical labour. This puts families in situations where they are more likely to resort to unsafe forms of migration, including trafficking, to support themselves.
Our migration programme offers immediate assistance for children affected by unsafe migration. We have also developed programmes for adults that target the root causes of unsafe migration to prevent exploitation.
Education
In Cambodia, about 250,000 school-age children have had no education at all. An estimated 24,000 of these children are street-involved. National capacity to develop and maintain public systems such as schooling and job training remains limited. This contributes to issues of poverty for many of Cambodia’s children and youth. Low levels of and limited access to education increases the risk of human trafficking, exploitation, and poverty for the country’s most vulnerable children.
Our education programme relies on collaborative outreach to identify out-of-school children. We then support them through Non-Formal Education and during their reintegration into public school or higher education.