Improvement of Living Conditions and Future Prospects of Cambodian Children in Rural Areas

Context

Statement

The provinces of Takeo and Kompong Speu are respectively ranked 10 th /21 and 20 th /21 in the last Human Development in Cambodia report . They are located near the capital Phnom Penh . The villages covered by the project witness an increase in child and teenage trafficking for their sexual exploitation in establishments all around the country and also to supply unqualified cheap labour to textile plants in the Phnom Pen suburbs. Local living conditions are such that this is not likely to stop any time soon. Practices and beliefs about health, nutrition and education, especially of girls, create a rise in poverty and social uncertainty. Reliable statistics show that 49% of students drop out of school or repeat a class during the first year of elementary school and 55% of children under 5 living in rural areas show signs of chronic malnutrition.

The project is made up of a series of activities. It acts on the interactions between the education, health, food security, Children's Rights, micro-economy and training sectors, and more particularly the links between uncertain socio-economic situations for rural populations and their consequences on living conditions for children. The project thus aims to contribute to the survival, development and protection of young children and teenagers.

Project objectives:

Education:

•  Improve family and community education environment of children in villages

•  Improve access to elementary school

•  Increase adult literacy

Health:

•  Improve mother and child health in villages

•  Develop health education among the population, especially among children and teenagers

Child protection:

•  Promote and encourage community participation in terms of the role and responsibility of parents towards their children

•  Encourage children's participation in the project

•  Promote Children's Rights inside the community and amongst leaders

•  Train young girls to weave silk

Food security:

•  Diversify and increase animal and agricultural production

•  Reduce the number of malrnourished children

•  Reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and increase the use of natural fertilizers instead

Micro-economic activities:

•  Improve living conditions of the poorest families

•  Ensure their access to rotating credit funds

•  Reinforce village development committee skills in managing rotating credit funds

Location

In 2004, the project covered 45 villages of the Samrong and Prey Kabas administrative districts in the Takeo province and 35 villages of the Kong Pisei administrative district in the adjoining Kompong Speu province.

Beneficiaries

Direct beneficiaries of the project are children and their families living in rural areas and in very uncertain conditions. They live under the poverty line defined by the UNDP (less than 0.50 euros /person/day).

Today the project reaches 2,734 families out of a total of 14,383 individuals including 4,087 adult women and 6,887 children under 18 (3,398 girls) in the 35 villages of Kompong Speu. In the Takeo province, the project reaches 6,582 families and their children in 45 villages out of a total population of 33,193 people including 10,777 adult women and 15,116 children (7,438 girls).

Even though the activities target specific families, villagers as a whole can indirectly benefit them. The activities are carried out inside the villages by Village Development Committees and some can be easily reproducible by richer families.

Local Partners

In 2004, the project was supported by:

(1) Village Development Committees (VDC), identified as being the best development players and the better able to offer guarantees

(2) District Councils (DC) elected in February 2002 and essential to the government decentralization process

(3) Provincial and especially district offices (education, health and agriculture) that operate near the beneficiaries and are thus fully aware of their situation and needs.

Project duration: 2001-2005

Funding

- European Union

- Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- Community Action and Development Association (CADA)

- Private Funding

Staff

Expatriates: None

Local personnel: A locally based team has been recruited to help implement the project.

The report uses 1997 data