Background/History
Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia, and enjoyed a
prosperous culture and civilization
during the Angkorian Era. Geographically, it is situated along the
Mekong River on wetland favourable to agriculture. The majority of Cambodians
are farmers who are honest, hardworking and traditionally friendly and
supportive of each other. However, war and a genocidal regime have severely
shattered the country. The national social infrastructure, culture, tradition
and social morality which used to be good, have severely declined. Traumas, the
loss of spouses, children and relatives, and in particular, the deprivation of
their rights, dignity and honour have been in the heart of the Cambodian
population for a full generation. These are causes affecting the daily
livelihood of Cambodians’ of all ages in this generation. Physically and
mentally disabled people, orphans without any support and poverty are heritage
which the social affairs sector has to deal with.
Demography
of Cambodian population
Of the 14 million people living in Cambodia, 52% are
under the age of 18. Some 85% of Cambodians live in rural areas, are poor and
lack access to the most basic services. For school-age children, only 52% of
primary schools offer all six grades, and the coverage of lower secondary
education is very limited. By the age of 15 years, less than 5% of the children
are still in the education system. During adolescence, many children living in
urban areas are exposed to a range of risk filled behaviours, including alcohol
and drug abuse and unprotected sex. Large numbers of Cambodian children are
also exposed to exploitation.[1]
One study[2] estimated that there were
10,000-20,000 street working children in Cambodia. Another study[3] of ‘vulnerable’ children,
including street children, in Phnom Penh found 88% had had sexual relations
with tourists, and 70.6% of the children were currently involved in sexual
relations with tourists.
In Cambodia, Phnom Penh, there are an estimated 616,023
working children aged between 5 and 17 years and 2,000 street children in Phnom
Penh. A further 15,000 children, while not homeless, spend more than six hours
a day scavenging and begging.[4]
Position
of Cambodian government on street children
With the objective of creating a permanent body to act as
a focal point for children, the Cambodian
National Council for Children (CNCC) was established by Government Sub-
degree No 83 dated 20th November 1995. The CNCC is mandated as the coordinating
body for advocacy, monitoring and implementation of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. Also established
was a unit on Child Labor as a part of an International Programme for the
Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), as well as a Youth Rehabilitation Institute
to care for children aged seven to 17 who come into conflict with the law. In January 1996, the National Assembly
adopted a law against the trafficking of children and women.
The Cambodian National Council for Children (CNCC) has
strengthened its activities as a coordination mechanism between concerned
institutions working on child protection. In this regard, community-based child
protection networks have been enhanced and expanded to other provinces, and
protection programmes for vulnerable children such as orphans, children with
disabilities and children from very poor families in the community have been
taken into account. All forms of child abuse, exploitation, illegal labour, prostitution,
trafficking, debauchery and other immoral activities are gradually prevented and
minimized. Yet, the children continue to encounter many problems such as
poverty, impact of HIV/AIDS, drug use, debauchery, conflict with the law etc.
Health and nutritional status of Cambodia’s children and women remain among the
poorest in the world.1
Roles
of NGOs in Cambodia
There are three types of institutional care currently
exist in Cambodia1:
1) 20
government children’s centres;
2) 100
NGOs, 70% of which are registered with the Ministry and offer a range of
recovery programmes aimed at reintegrating the child into society; and
3) An
unknown number of privately run children’s centres, some of which are
registered with the Ministry. These services admit orphans and abandoned
children, child victims of abuse and neglect, exploited children and children
at risk in general, including children of very poor families. Among the NGOs
some specialised in children living or working on the streets or in urban
squatter areas, while others specialised in child victims of sexual or other
abuse or exploitation.
Role
of Smile Action Team
The Smile Action Team had been visiting the Cambodian
children who are taken cared by NGOs and childcare centres in Phnom Penh and
Siem Reap yearly since 2009. Up to date, we have treated 600 children with
basic dental treatment such as tooth extraction and filling. Besides we have
also taught the children the proper way to maintain their teeth healthily via
oral hygiene instructions. More than RM20,000 has been spent on these treatment
and instruments.
The orphanage homes and childcare centres which were
benefited from our projects are as following:
1. ACODO
Orphanage
2. Sunrise
Centre
3. Harvest
Home
4. FGA
Childcare Centre
5. HOPE
Youth Development center
6. Orphanage
home neighbouring to FGA
7. Chey’s
Children’s Home
8. Angkor
Orphan Organisation (AOO)
9. Cambodian
Development Organisation (CDO)
Average there are about 50-60 children in each childcare
centre. Some centres have no access to electricity and some are suffered from
flooding during monsoon season, all these are the challenge for us to do the
necessary treatments to the children.
Future
Plan
In this year, we plan to pay our service up to nine
orphanage homes, they are Angkor Orphan Organisation, Children Development
Organisation, and a primary school in a village nearby Siem Reap as well as the
six centres as mentioned above.
In next five years we wish to negotiate with the
Cambodian Government in order to provide us a land to build a hospital as a
centre for dental team and dentists from different places to gather and make
possible treatments for the local poor people.
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