Street Children in Phnom Penh

Friends-International works with Phnom Penh's street children. While there is currently no precise count of street children in Cambodia, it is estimated that approximately 600-1,000 children have completely cut off ties with their families to live on the street while 10,000 children work on the street and continue to return home to their families from time to time. Most come from the Tonie Bassac area of Phnom Penh, a squatter community home to over 50,000 people including 30,000 children. These children are at high risk of violence, trafficking, and prostitution. Without intervention, these children do not have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to contribute to the development of their communities or to raise healthy families. They are at high risk of infectious diseases and HIV and AIDS. 

Artisan Voices

Thol Chantha, widowed mother and AIDS victim in Phnom Penh: "Everything I had was gone – my house, my rice fields and my husband. I had no money and was very depressed. I slowly became sick with the effect of the HIV virus...Now I am a part of Mith Samlanh's [Friends-International's] project, I can earn up to $30 per week and can send my daughter to study at Mith Samlanh full-time – she will be re-integrated in to the Cambodian schooling system later this year. I am very happy to have a job and to know that my daughter is attending school and has the chance for a bright future. She no longer has to beg on the streets." 

Creative Recycling

All Friends-International products are made by the parents of high-risk children. The program allows them to earn an income so that their children can go to school rather than work on the streets. Products made by Friends-International are crafted from local, recyclable materials that can be easily sourced by the producers. Friends-International favors production processes that minimize their environmental footprint, using found and recycled materials, including newspapers, comics, magazines, packaging, rice bags, tin, and sarong fabric. The bags available for purchase from the Global Goods Partners website are made from colorful newspaper comics collected from the French embassy in Cambodia. Seventy percent of their sales revenue is paid directly to the producers, while the rest is reinvested in a social fund for families, which promotes the long-term sustainability of the project. 

Region: Southeast Asia 

Capital: Phnom Penh

Population: 14,701,717 (2011 est.)

Size: Slightly smaller than Oklahoma

Languages: Khmer (official, 95%), French, English

Major religion(s): Buddhist (96.4%), Muslim, other

Literacy rate: Total 73.6%; Men 84.7%; Women 64.1%

Poverty rate: 31% of the population lives below the poverty line

Human trafficking: An estimated 20.2% of 20,829 sex workers are trafficking victims (2003)

Landmine victims: 1 amputee for every 290 people

Did You Know: Cambodia is the only country in the world that depicts a building on its flag: Angkor Wat. One of the oldest and largest surviving religious complexes in the world, Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century. The name is derived from Sanskrit (“angkor” comes from the word for city, and “wat” comes from the word for temple).

All statistics from CIA World Factbook 2011

Cambodia has a rich history marked by soaring achievements in art, religion and architecture and prolonged periods of entrenched war and grueling repression.  Today, Cambodia is a nation at peace, ruled by a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy. While its economy is growing steadily and the country has increasingly become a popular tourist destination, millions of Cambodians live in poverty. 

Cambodia was colonized by the French in the 19th century and obtained independence following World War II. It endured years of conflict both domestically and internationally with neighboring Vietnam; indeed, Vietnam occupied Cambodia from 1979 to 1989. Under U.N. authority, a comprehensive settlement was reached in 1991, paving the way for a supervised cease-fire, repatriation of displaced Cambodians and free and fair elections. With national elections in 1993, Cambodia reemerged as an independent democratic country.   

The Khmer Rouge Regime

From 1975 to 1979, Cambodians were subjected to the brutal Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot. Under his control, years of development were undone as Cambodia was turned into an agricultural society. Those who were highly educated, held strong religious beliefs, were associated with the former government, or were not ethnically Khmer were labeled "enemies of the state" and executed in what are now known as the "killing fields." The postal service, currency, hospitals, telephones, books, music, and art were banned or destroyed. In 1979, the Vietnamese invasion ousted the Khmer Rouge, but not before two million people were murdered and the country's infrastructure ruined. In the past 15 years  Cambodia has begun to recover from the devastation caused by the Khmer Rouge; many continue to fall victim to hidden landmines left over from the war.

Rural Poverty and Urbanization

Today, Cambodia is more stable politically, but still faces a number of challenges in its transition to democracy. Migration from rural areas to the cities is becoming a problem for the country, as in much of the developing world. Droughts, decreasing natural resources, and the rise of large business-style farms are making it difficult for small subsistence farmers, who make up 70% of the population, to support themselves. As a result, many move to the cities in search of jobs. The large numbers of poor migrants creates slums, where violence, drugs, and the sex industry thrive. Human trafficking is a major issue; women and children are often either kidnapped or sold by their impoverished families out of desperation. Unemployment has a direct effect on human trafficking; an increase in one leads to an increase in the other. To address the large-scale migration and its associated problems, rural poverty must be addressed at its source by creating strong and sustainable local economies in rural areas.

Labor Practices

More than half of Cambodia’s population is under the age of 20, which makes finding gainful job opportunities within Cambodia difficult and contributes to the prevalence of cross-border migration. Many migrants to cities find work in one of Phnom Penh's factories, producing exports for the U.S. garment industry. Previously, labor practices and sweatshops in the factory areas of Phnom Penh were major concerns. Women and children laboring in factories endured poor working conditions and low wages. In 2001, the International Labor Organization (ILO) created the "Better Factories Cambodia" program to ensure that all garment export industries follow labor standards and grant rights to workers. A 2005 World Bank study gave Cambodia good marks for its labor environment, higher than for any other Asian country. Although it still has a long way to go, Cambodia's people are taking great strides to rebuild their country.