In Cambodia, we work to change the lives of thousands of girls and boys by helping them overcome the obstacles that prevent them from obtaining a quality education. In particular, our initiatives aim to provide pre-primary education, to support teachers, and to offer important information for the health and wellbeing of children. We work in the remotest rural areas of the country, where opportunities for change are declining and access to fundamental rights is becoming problematic.

In the province of Kandal, on the border with Vietnam, boys and girls of Vietnamese descent and their families are denied Cambodian citizenship.

This situation results in marginalisation, depriving the children in question of fundamental rights such as education and access to Cambodian state schools. This prevents them from becoming an integral part of the country’s social and economic fabric.

We work with families to reintegrate children who were sold and later fled from exploitation and violence. Data from Unicef shows that Cambodia is one of the world’s worst countries in terms of child trafficking. Many girls and boys are exploited and are often forced to turn to prostitution. In the capital, Phnom Penh, about 23,000 children live on the streets, while there are about 380,000 orphans across the country whose families are not able to provide for them.